i would like to know how does one totally clean out a hard drive?

Answer 1

i've already posted this answer,but to answer your question,i'm posting it again,somewhat modified to fit your question..so here goes...

first you have to understand how your hard drive works.inside the HD casing are platters of smooth-surfaced magnetically-coated metal platters (disks),usually two or (usually) more stacked on top each other on a spindle which spin at high speed.
these platters have spaces between them for the arms with the read/write heads,which hover very,very close to the surface of these platters.
these arms have endpoints which give off small electrical impulses which leave a magnetic charge on the surface of the disk rearranging the electrons in the magnetic coating,
creating these series of one's and zero's which your computer understands and work with,...the binary format.
so your data is stored as one's and zero's magnetically implanted on the surface of the disks.

ok,so far?

ok,now when you format a hard disk,you are not really wiping out the data,the one's and zero's....the data is still there,even recoverable with some software tools.what really happens is you are just removing or erasing the pointers to those data."low-level" formatting is done in the factory just to establish the track and sector areas of the disk while "high-level formatting" is done when you either -

#1 - "quick format" - (erases just the start of the disks,like the table of contents in a book)

#2 - "full format" - erases each and every start of each track.(like the chapter markers and page numbers on books...more or less.)

and at the same time,formatting also creates a new blank table of contents for your hard drive.it will fill it up as you install the os,your programs,or as you save your files,etc., giving each single file an "address"(usually multiple addresses because your file is not saved in a single or continous space in your disk,but that is another matter)...and doing so in their respective formats,ie,fat 32 or ntfs for windows and hfs for macs,..etc.

so now it seems that your data is now inaccesible,but it is still physically there,the series of one's and zero's which make up your files are still there.just that the file system cannot see the data because there are no pointers or references to that data,..your table of contents.

even the "fdisk" dos command doesn't erase the data,it just rewrites the partition information on a disk.
so if formatting removes and changes your "table of contents" in the book analogy,..then fdisk removes and changes all the "signs and labels and directions" from the entire library.

still ok,so far?

but there are programs out there that can recover data from formatted hard drives,like - UNFORMAT, UNERASE or RecoverPRO(discontinued software)...etc.

and you can reformat and fdisk your disk a million times,or use any other software,but a good forensic program can still recover some data from that disk.and it has been proven.
because even data-destruction software ,however good,do not erase the data.
the only way to really and completely wipe a disk clean is to go to the one's and zero's level.the magnetic charges implanted by the read/write heads on the disk surface.

so now what you really want to do to make that data disappear completely is to "ZERO-FILL" your hard drive (it's basically low level formatting).like a factory reset type of thing.basically you are converting all that data into zero's.you will erase each and every bit of data on that hd...99.999% unrecoverable...even forensic software like OnTRACK cannot recover zero-filled hd's.....you will be wiping that hd clean....some very hard-to-kill boot sector viruses are removed and eradicated this way.

so if you really want to permanently and irrevocably erase all that data,and wipe your hd clean,get someone,or a program to "zero-fill" your hd.try going your hd manufacturer's website,look under hd utilities and diagnostic tools...
example - like western digital's Data Lifeguard Diagnostics
(other than diagnostics and error correction,i think it has a low-level format option to wipe clean disk information,sort of data protection.)

very important! - check your hd manufacturer,do not use a zero-fill utility other than your hd brand.because your hd is a precision electro-mechanical device with onboard electronics,spindle motor,servo controlled voice coil actuator,etc...feeding it wrong instruction sets will unsynchronize all these components,thus,leaving you with a very dead disk.

or try this if you want just a data-destruction software:

it's an open source linux boot floppy.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban...

another thing is never to zero-fill your hd under windows (in a master-slave configuration with another hd).windows is a multi-tasking os,you have do it in a DOS environment by booting up from a floppy.

so it really depends on how "clean" you want the drive to be.
usually you can just format the drive.you can even do that during the windows installation process,in the "format target drive" option in setup.
or from dos using a boot floppy,or from windows itself as long as windows is not installed in the drive you're trying to format (windows won't let you anyway).
or use a data-destruction program.

BUT TOTALLY CLEAN - ZERO-FILL IT.


hope that helped....cheers.

Answer 2

How secure do you want to be? If you are trying to hide porn surfing or the like, download Eraser 5.7 (free). It overwrites your HDD to Department of Defense standards using several predetermined patterns (All 0's, all 1"s, 1's and 0's, 0's and 1's, etc.) You can set it to run as many "passes" as you like (7 is DoD standard). However, if you are trying to pull an "Enron", even that is not safe. The FBI has tools that are far beyond anything commercially available. The ONLY way to render a HDD unreadable is to physically destroy the disks inside it. A sledgehammer works well, if you have some excess energy to burn off. Using a carbide drill bit and drilling several dozen holes through the disks will also work. However, if you really want to be safe, I suggest the following:

1. Drill your holes, as above.
2. Use your sledgehammer, again as above.
3.Find the nearest road construction site, the biggest d*** steamroller at the site, and give the operator $20 to roll over the d*** thing.
4.Explosives (do not attempt without supervision from a certified demolitions expert)
5.Can any one say "Incinerator"? (Preferably at least 1500 degrees)
6.Acid Bath (Preferably Hydrochloric)

Answer 3

If you have been looking bad places, or have love letters from an illicit affair online that you want to hide from your husband -- which one suspects from the tone of your question -- physical destruction of the hard drive is the only way to do it. But be warned. If this issue comes before the courts, your service provider may be able to fill in some blanks about sites visited, times and dates for the authorities.

The best way to have a clean hard drive is to keep your online activities clean. Some people learn that the hard way. There's no 100% anonymity in cyberspace.

Answer 4

Hola 7!!!

It depends...

If you have the FBI on ya bank you gonn' probably want to hit in with a hammer of format is 7 - 20 times..

If you just want to clean up some old porn then follow the following steps:

* if its a secondary hard drive or a slave- right click on my computer | select 'manage' | select 'disk management' | right click on drive you wish to clean up and select 'format'

* alternative if its a master drive (only disk on computer) load the operating systems dc (Windows XP) and restart pc, boot from CD and after about ['so maar' (south african lingo, you should learn some if you're going there for the world cup] you will be asked to press 'Enter to format disk... do as you're asked and thou shall have a formatted hard disk.

* Start | Run | cmd | type 'format /q' and though shall have an empty drive... make sure the drive letter specified is the correct one...


Hope I am not late, have they arrived yet (The FBI)???


out to the suid koast to speak the lingo..
Sharp sharp ne?

Answer 5

To totally wipe out all info from a hard drive you must use a "degausser." I don't know if you can purchase those these days. Check with the techies at a place like "Best Buy."

Answer 6

Formatting a hard drive is the only way to wipe out any data. It's a pain because you have to take a lot of steps to do it. That, I leave up to someone else to explain.

Answer 7

In order to reformat a hard drive safely deleting all information and possibly viruses is by writting zeros to the HD.
ONTRACK makes a program called DIS manager that would the job for you. Completely erases everything and in case you want to recover information they might also help.

What I can tell you is that you can do it with the right tools

Answer 8

Use a DOS boot disk and then format.exe 3 or 4 situations. the thought is that the disk heads on no account bypass somewhat to the comparable place each time and making use of this methodology different situations eliminates the residual information on the track/sector edges besides as on the biggest track itself.

Answer 9

Pull the hard drive out of computer and smash it to pieces go to best buy and get a new one you cant completly clean it ever

Answer 10

Want to wipe out everything??

If it's an XP OS, then just make sure that when you reboot, **the first boot device, is CD-ROM, and then insert your installation cd, reboot, when it restarts, it will have "press any key to boot from cd". press enter. It wil l...o...a...d.... and then it will come up....do you want to format your computer? select yes, run through the steps...this can be very slow if done on an older PC. When you're finished, you will have a brand new PC. Please note, this wipes out EVERYTHING on your computer......


**If you don't know how to do this....ask.