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    Erase Hard Drive

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by keving, Jan 10, 2008.

  1. keving

    keving Notebook Guru

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    How do I erase my hard drive before selling my computer? I have a laptop with a 8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability.
    I had looked at IOLO Drive Scrubber when I sold my desktop but inorder to use it fully you need a floppy drive to creat a boot disc, and it didnt have one (floppy drive). And my laptop does not have a floppy drive.


    What do I do? Any suggestions.

    Also once that is done, do I re-install my Vista Premium? Or does it just clean the drive?

    OR would it be easier to take out the hard drive and install a new one ( seems safer) then sell it? Or would that be costly? Sorry not know much about computers.
     
    keving, Jan 10, 2008
    #1
  2. bmwrob

    bmwrob Notebook Virtuoso

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    DBan is what I like best, but I've read that KillDisk also works well. You could also just reformat and reinstall Windows. Guess it just depends on what you store on your drive and how determined you are to erase the data.
     
    bmwrob, Jan 10, 2008
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  3. keving

    keving Notebook Guru

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    I dont have any financial docs saved in word. Just mainly used computer for accessing bank website on internet and browsing internet.....will that be on the hardrive?

    But Kill Disc says it "Works on any system capable of boot from floppy in DOS mode".
    I dont have a floppy drive though.
     
    keving, Jan 10, 2008
    #3
  4. Relativity17

    Relativity17 Notebook Evangelist

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    From the KillDisk site, it looks like you can save it to a USB thumbdrive or burn it onto a bootable CD...
    http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm

    Yeah, the safest way to go about data integrity is to remove the used hard drive and physically destroy the platters, and install a new one, but a replacement can cost between 40 and a couple hundred dollars, depending on size and spindle speed.
     
    Relativity17, Jan 10, 2008
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  5. bmwrob

    bmwrob Notebook Virtuoso

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    Kevin, I've never had any problem with DBan and it's simple to use; it just completely wipes your hdd. When it finishes its job, you just reinstall Windows. If you decide to give it a shot, read all the instructions and warnings prior to use.
     
    bmwrob, Jan 10, 2008
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  6. sinstoic

    sinstoic Notebook Deity

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    You are overreacting. Just repartition, format and install the OS/Application using the restore/original discs.
     
    sinstoic, Jan 10, 2008
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  7. B2TheEYo

    B2TheEYo Notebook Deity

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    Reformatting the computer does NOT ensure everything is gone forever and some things can be recovered.

    If you want EVERYTHING to be entirely gone, impossible for ANYONE to get information or data, I'd suggest download Boot and Nuke (also known as Boot'n'Nuke), and running that. It will literally, nuke the data by formating the machine 7 times, each time doing a special overwriting procedure.
     
    B2TheEYo, Jan 10, 2008
    #7