:howdy: How do you totally clean out your personal information from a computer? I got a laptop, so I no longer need my desktop but don't want it to get in the wrong hands. Thanks much!

Take out the hard drive.

Take out the hard drive.
:yay:

reformat the hard drive. :shrug:

fdisk the drive, format it, fdisk it again and reformat it one more time..........copy date from another drive to fill up the drive........random data, the Windows CD over and over again will work.......until it's full

fdisk the drive, format it, fdisk it again and reformat it one more time..........copy date from another drive to fill up the drive........random data, the Windows CD over and over again will work.......until it's full

:confused:





:lmao:

it's how you sanatize a drive..........was I not clear enough :cornfused:



:confused:





:lmao:

Take out the hard drive.
Do this.

reformat the hard drive. :shrug:
Do this.

fdisk the drive, format it, fdisk it again and reformat it one more time..........copy date from another drive to fill up the drive........random data, the Windows CD over and over again will work.......until it's full
Do this.

When it's all done, take the drive outside and smash it with a hammer. The run over it with a car. Then throw it off a cliff.

it's how you sanatize a drive..........was I not clear enough :cornfused:

Used to be Scan disk had the cability to read & write to the drive. Or was it Defrag? Can't remember. But once you fdisked could have probably have just used that.

For me it's easier to remove two screws and smash the drive with a hammer. :lmao: Allot funner too.

Do this.


Do this.


Do this.

When it's all done, take the drive outside and smash it with a hammer. The run over it with a car. Then throw it off a cliff.

:yay: great minds think alike. (Don't know what our excuse is though) :lmao:

Reformatting it a few times will work in most cases. To be absolutely sure, we use a DoD overwrite utility which erases the drive, then writes a pattern of 1s, then 0s, then a random pattern, does that 7 times.

Do this.


Do this.


Do this.

When it's all done, take the drive outside and smash it with a hammer. The run over it with a car. Then throw it off a cliff.


That should work...:killingme

Used to be Scan disk had the cability to read & write to the drive. Or was it Defrag? Can't remember. But once you fdisked could have probably have just used that.

For me it's easier to remove two screws and smash the drive with a hammer. :lmao: Allot funner too.


Unce upong a time, in the 286 and 386 days, Norton had a program that fdisk the drive, formatted it and then wrote the hexadecimal equivilant of F6 all over the drive to santatize the drive.............


of course, a large magnet does a good job too. :yay:

Do this.


Do this.


Do this.

When it's all done, take the drive outside and smash it with a hammer. The run over it with a car. Then throw it off a cliff.

ah ha ha ha........that's more my speed

it's how you sanatize a drive..........was I not clear enough :cornfused:

His brain stopped processing as soon as he saw the word "hard." :shrug:

His brain stopped processing as soon as he saw the word "hard." :shrug:


True :ohwell:

Any data that you have on your hard drive is accessible even if you delete it. There are programs out there that recover data even if it has been over written. The best thing you can do is go to Best Buys or any computer store and purchase the cheapest hard drive that you can find for a desk top and replace the one you have in your computer. Or have any computer shop replace the Hard Drive and give you back the old one. It is very easy to do. Any computer shop can format the drive for you as well.

Dispose of your computer in-what-ever way you want and you will be safe. Keep or destroy your old hard drive.

If your comfortable what RACK’M says, then have at it.

I vote for smashing the hell out of the old one.:yay:

Use a low level format tool. Here is one that is freeware - HDDGURU: HDD Low Level Format Tool (http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2006.04.12-HDD-Low-Level-Format-Tool/)

Degaussing machine

Any data that you have on your hard drive is accessible even if you delete it. There are programs out there that recover data even if it has been over written. The best thing you can do is go to Best Buys or any computer store and purchase the cheapest hard drive that you can find for a desk top and replace the one you have in your computer. Or have any computer shop replace the Hard Drive and give you back the old one. It is very easy to do. Any computer shop can format the drive for you as well.

Dispose of your computer in-what-ever way you want and you will be safe. Keep or destroy your old hard drive.

If your comfortable what RACK’M says, then have at it.


Bobbyb: this makes sense. thanks :howdy:

Just install VISTA on it.. Probably won't work again anyway

Bobbyb: this makes sense. thanks :howdy:

SO nothing the rest of us said made sense?

Just install VISTA on it.. Probably won't work again anyway

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Too true. :roflmao:

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Too true. :roflmao:

Don't encourage him....




:killingme

Don't encourage him....




:killingme


Like he needs ANY encouragement. :lol:

Like he needs ANY encouragement. :lol:

No he surely doesn't...:geek:



:killingme

Reformatting it a few times will work in most cases. To be absolutely sure, we use a DoD overwrite utility which erases the drive, then writes a pattern of 1s, then 0s, then a random pattern, does that 7 times.

Little overkill for a personal computer don't you think?

A simple Format c: for a personal computer would be fine, unless you're Bill Gates, or a Nuclear Physicist that worked from home.

Worried about credit card info being taken from your computer? A formatted Hard Drive is the least of your worries if someone REALLY wants it.

Format Hard Driver: How to Format a Hard Drive, Reinstall Windows, Wipe ALL Data (http://www.whitecanyon.com/format-hard-drive.php?gclid=CJ2h8fOI6pcCFQwDGgodJVsgCw)

I haven't done anything illegal on my computer, so when and if I sell it or give it to one of the kids, format and move on.

There are programs out there that recover data even if it has been over written.


:bs:

Define overwritten.

What a bunch of Chicken Littles in here. You all are a riot.

The Great Zero Challenge (http://16systems.com/zero/)

I vote for smashing the hell out of the old one.:yay:

Your computer have the Nuclear Football codes on it?

DOD is finally realizing how much money they've wasted, and how much they've added to the landfills unnecessarily, because they've had the same mind set. Someone convinced them that a HD couldn't be erased.

Careful, I might go Tom Cruise up in here.

Get over yourself, Bob. Most people aren't as allegedly computer savy as you. We fear what we don't really understand, and we'll buy into all sorts of things; the more outlandish, the better. Witness NMCI.

:howdy: How do you totally clean out your personal information from a computer? I got a laptop, so I no longer need my desktop but don't want it to get in the wrong hands. Thanks much!
If it really, really concerns you, take out the hard drive, give it a good hard whop with a framing hammer then toss it in the garbage. This takes no more time than a simple format. If you're going to give it to the kids, a simple format should be OK and they will have it overwritten with games before sundown.

Used to be Scan disk had the cability to read & write to the drive. Or was it Defrag? Can't remember. But once you fdisked could have probably have just used that.

For me it's easier to remove two screws and smash the drive with a hammer. :lmao: Allot funner too. What is cability?:whistle:

If you take the drive apart you can get some good little magnets out of it.

What is cability?:whistle:

Forum speak :whistle:

Degaussing machine

:yay:

The only real way to wipe all data off a hard drive AND render it inoperable.

Maxim said that using a 1/2 drill bit put holes in each quadrant of where the disk would be, seems like a fun way to drill some holes.

Speaking of getting info, my little bro got a couple computers from one of his friends and he was going through the hard drives only one was formatted, but you could still get the onfo. The other ones had tax info, as well as personal emails, he formatted them and installed linux. He wasnt worried about getting info but some people dont make any effort and this was some people lives for the last 3-4 years.

:howdy: How do you totally clean out your personal information from a computer? I got a laptop, so I no longer need my desktop but don't want it to get in the wrong hands. Thanks much!

BCWipe (http://www.jetico.com/bcwipe3.htm)- DoD wiping tool, approved by multiple agencies for sanitizing hard drives.

I use DBAN Nuke it free

DBAN Download | Darik's Boot And Nuke (http://www.dban.org/download)

SO nothing the rest of us said made sense?


Hi misshelper, a lot of the suggestions make sense. I appreciate each one of them.:flowers:

I vote for DBAN.
But only if you don't want the powerful magnets or the opportunity to see the inside of a hard drive. Platters and actutor et al.