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    DBAN won't work...

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Zagarinsky, Jul 10, 2009.

  1. Zagarinsky

    Zagarinsky Notebook Consultant

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    Sending by computer back to Dell and I want to wipe the HDD using DBAN.

    The CD/DVD doesn't work so I have to go for a USB method ( like so)

    What I've tried:
    -WinRAR extract 1.0.7 iso to usb
    -WinRAR extract 2.0.0 iso to usb
    -Installing via 1.0.7 exe

    What I get, either:
    -Blinking line
    -"Boot failed"
    -"BOOTMGR" is missing
    -"Remove disks or other media. Press any key to restart."

    Any ideas? Anything I'm doing wrong? Any other whole-disk-wipe programs I could use?
     
    Zagarinsky, Jul 10, 2009
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  2. Hep!

    Hep! sees beauty in everything

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    Take the drive out, hook it up to a desktop, and wipe from that.
    The problem you're having is probably because DBAN doesn't have support for your chipset :p
    Other than that, Gutman or DOD wipes are really unnecessary. No one is going to recover a zero'd drive, so just boot from your favorite linux live cd, and from a command line, issue
    $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=1M

    ...I'd be fine even just deleting the partitions with GParted (unless you've got some serious stuff on there, top secret or such), it's not like Dell is going to try recovering your stuff.
     
    Hep!, Jul 10, 2009
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  3. Zagarinsky

    Zagarinsky Notebook Consultant

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    I see. Thank you.
     
    Zagarinsky, Jul 10, 2009
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  4. BlackRussian

    BlackRussian Notebook Deity

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    Tumido try this enable USB support in your bios and save and exit.(if you can enable USB device as 1st boot device all the better)
    Power up PC without USB key/device in PC once your bios post loads up connect your USB key before your see the Windows screen.
    This should work if you had issues booting from a USB device.
     
    BlackRussian, Jul 10, 2009
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  5. Zagarinsky

    Zagarinsky Notebook Consultant

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    I don't think it's that's the problem... I previously installed Windows 7 through the use of the very same method and USB key.

    I'll give it a try though.
     
    Zagarinsky, Jul 10, 2009
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