How do I wipe info from Harddrive?

Crescendo_2

My harddrive has developed a fault - it's being exchanged by manufacturers.

I do on-line banking - how can I get rid of the information ie. passwords, account numbers, or will the info' not be on the drive?

If it is on the drive, then any advice will be appreciated to sort it (non-techie terms will also help)

Cres

albertross_2

what is the nature of the fault? Is it spinning/booting/clicking?

The usernames/passwords will only be on the hard disk if you have put them there, not just by going to a https site

ormus

when u send off the hdd, change your PW at your online bank too, just to be sure.

byyp

Crescendo wrote: »

My harddrive has developed a fault - it's being exchanged by manufacturers.

I do on-line banking - how can I get rid of the information ie. passwords, account numbers, or will the info' not be on the drive?

If it is on the drive, then any advice will be appreciated to sort it (non-techie terms will also help)

Cres

if your hard drive has been replaced then it means the information on the previous hard drive has been probably wiped out already..so no worries..just confirm about your old hard drive that whether its going to the service centre for repair or its not waste..coz if its wastethen again the info can not be collected by anyone and if its been taken to the service centre then there are only slightest chances of getting your info parsed and passed coz the engineers soon clear everything over the disk if its faulty to remake it if it can be used again ..so in any case you are safe..

Crescendo_2

The best way to describe the problem is that it sounds like a Micro-light (sp?) in the distance.

The PC is under guarantee so it's no charge.

Thanks for your advice.

Cres

albertross_2

Does it boot though?

If it is so dead that you can't boot and the disk isn't recognised by the bios, then there is little you can do. If it is spinning, and visible by the bios, then dban would wipe it completely, but everything will be gone, windows, data etc.

If you can get into windows, you could delete all your data, then run ccleaner and clean disk security on it, to give you some piece of mind

Crescendo_2

Hi
Yes it boots up - and runs okay except for the noise.
How would I delete the data - I'm not on that PC right now - but would really like to get rid of everything - just in case of any fall-out from the bank in the future. I already have Ccleaner.

I am really grateful for your time.

Cres

albertross_2

For a general cleanup, backup anything important, delete all your personal files/favorites/emails, then run these
one after the other (tick all the boxes).

http://www.ccleaner.com/
http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/clndisk.html

To completely wipe you hard disk, and make all data unrecoverable (including windows) create a boot floppy or CD from one of these:


http://www.cbltech.ca/data-shredder.html
http://dban.sourceforge.net/
both free. Overwrite 7 or more times.

Crescendo_2

Sorry for taking so long to say many thanks for your help.