Wiping Old Laptop

monkey84

Hello,


Here's hoping there is somebody out there who is more computer savvy than I and can help! :-)


I want to wipe my old Toshiba laptop before sending it to be recycled. I know that I could just reformat the machine but am aware that this doesn't completely remove everything. I have also heard of programs like Killdisk and Nuke that do seem to do this.


My question is, is it necessary for me both to reformat and run one of these programs as well or would just running program get rid of everything?
Which should I do first if I do need to do both? Does anyone know of any programs that are better than the above?


The CD drive on my old machine doesn't work so I can't create any sort of recovery or boot disk, but I'm not sure this is necessary as I'm not planning reusing the laptop anyway.


Many thanks in advance.

colin79666

You don't need to reformat as well. The disk wiping utility should remove every shred of data on the drive. You only need to reformat as part of a new Operating System install (which you won't be doing).
I'm a fan of http://www.dban.org/ On a working computer you can create the disk. If you can't use a CD in the laptop then you could create a usb drive with DBAN. Instructions here: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/install-dban-to-a-usb-flash-drive-using-windows/

prowla

beware that DBAN states up-front:

"DBAN users should be aware of some product limitations, including:

• No guarantee that data is removed"

An approach I have previously used is to boot from alternative media (eg. a Linux "Live" CD), then delete all partitions and reformat the disk, and then copy movies & songs onto it to fill it up.

mutley74

IT chap at work said they is a free MOD software that is used for wiping hard drives...sorry cant remember the name

somersethillbilly

mutley74 wrote: »

IT chap at work said they is a free MOD software that is used for wiping hard drives...sorry cant remember the name

SA80? Ooops, that's the hardware solution

closed

http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/support/items/faq/71

http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/wiping-free-disk-space

5 minutes effort no discs required, machine will work like new afterwards, with no data recoverable.

or take the disk out and use it in a £3 usb caddy for backup.

prowla

Using my approach you could overwrite the disk with songs by The Who and The Small Faces?

henm2

prowla wrote: »

beware that DBAN states up-front:

"DBAN users should be aware of some product limitations, including:

• No guarantee that data is removed"

DBAN has been recognised for years as highly effective for wiping hard drives. However as free non commercial software it does not meet various worldwide compliance standards (particularly US ones) which is why commercial organisations no longer use it.

It is fine for me. Just be careful when you use it. If you boot it off a usb flash drive just remember to quickly remove it as soon as you press start or you will wipe that as well. It does not have the word 'Nuke' in its title for nothing.

prowla

henm2 wrote: »

[/LIST]
DBAN has been recognised for years as highly effective for wiping hard drives. However as free non commercial software it does not meet various worldwide compliance standards (particularly US ones) which is why commercial organisations no longer use it.

It is fine for me. Just be careful when you use it. If you boot it off a usb flash drive just remember to quickly remove it as soon as you press start or you will wipe that as well. It does not have the word 'Nuke' in its title for nothing.

Sure - it's just that there are few products which say in the 1st sentence on their web site that there's no guarantee that it works...!

monkey84

Thanks guys. That's all really useful.

securityguy

prowla wrote: »

Sure - it's just that there are few products which say in the 1st sentence on their web site that there's no guarantee that it works...!

"Guarantee" is an awfully strong word. If you want to go and buy an accredited disk wiping product and use it such that the assurance is valid, prepare to have your wallet emptied. It would be far, far cheaper to just destroy the disk than to wipe it in an accredited manner, which is why disks that have contained data exotic enough to require accredited sanitisation are usually just destroyed unless they're being kept inside the same organisation (see, for example, NIST SP800-88 Figure 4.1).

DBAN works well. Once can conjecture attacks on it, mostly involving messing around with disk firmware, but they aren't relevant for civilian applications. If you're doing something such that DBAN, run off a memory stick, isn't certain enough, then just destroy the disk.