how do you completely wipe out hard drives?

Question

I've bought 2 hard drives from other people that have been used , i want to have them completely clean , just like new never before used , i dont want anything to be able to be recoverd

Answer 1

If you are planning to sell it, just reformat and reinstall the operating system. Other than the CIA or the FBI nobody will be able to get anything out of it.

Answer 2

I would recommend two steps:

First, delete any files, links, etc... that you consider private and then run an eraser utility to overwrite the resulting free space on your hard drive. A good program for this, which allows several security levels by the number of times overwritten, is Eraser which is free and can be found at:

http://www.download.com/Eraser/3000-2092_4-10231813.html?tag=lst-0-4

You can actually use Eraser to delete / overwrite the files at the same time and then use it to wipe the free space.

Then, second, if you want to be really secure, re-partition and re-format the drive and re-install the O/S with associated laptop utilities. The main problem with this second part it that is takes some time and has to be done properly or some things might not work properly, like battery life being dramatically reduced. The manufacturer configuration and utilities need to be reinstalled properly. Hopefully, you will have some CDs specifically for this, like I do from Compaq.

Answer 3

The BEST way to completely wipe out a hard drive is a low level format. Since that option isn't always available, its best to FDISK which is to delete your primary and extended partitions, create a new partition or partitions, THEN FORMAT your drive

Answer 4

Darik's Boot and Nuke is excellent for wiping hard disks. You can create either a bootable floppy or a bootable CD. You boot to the floppy or CD and follow the onscreen instructions.

Here's the link: http://dban.sourceforge.net/

Answer 5

If you have a Operating System Disk, you can restart your computer and boot off of the CD-ROM.

If you can't boot off of CD-ROM when you restart the computer you have to go into the system setup.

Answer 6

kill disk - it is a low level formatting program that will wipe everything off of your hard drive.

http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm
click download free version - follow instructions on the screen to format.

Answer 7

Second the suggestion for DBAN. That tool is your best bet, and the price is right too. ;)

Answer 8

i usually take them out and crush them with a pickaxe...if your getting rid of it that is