I am selling my laptop. What can I use to clean the hard drive to ensure that no data recovery is possible?

Answer 1

Darik's Boot and Nuke. It's designed for just this purpose.

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

Answer 2

If you have a mac you can do an erase and write 0's to the hard drive. This is the most secure way (you can do this in Disk Utility using a Mac OS CD upon startup). If you have a PC, you'd need a third party utility to not only erase the drive, but overwrite it with generic data to ensure recovery is not possible.

Answer 3

You can't really get a complete answer to this as there just are too many factors... read on..

Ok what you need to be aware of is that data written to disc can be recovered (in certain extreme situations) even when written over or a system has been re-installed.

The Department of Defense uses a routine that writes over the data at least 7 (SEVEN) times before it deletes it. So a thorough and careful deletion would be to completely erase your entire hard drive, with a routine that over-writes every byte on the hard drive 7 times. Then do a re-install of your system from scratch.

That having been the extreme answer -- A program that simply over-writes existing data with "FF 00" then "00 FF" (hexadecimal) 7 times then deletes it should be enough to at least stop anyone from recovering your most recent and currently existing data, and thoroughly mess up a real expert.

The explanation for this -- there's a "ghost" magnetic image that can be recovered unless you over-write that area of the hard drive with opposing values multiple times. (hence 7 times mandated by DoD)

This does not address questions of clearing any private information from your Registry, install files, etc.. If you're giving it to your average Joe user who's more or less like you don't worry about him getting your private info past a file shredder app that over-writes data at least once, deleting the files and emptying the trash-bin. I'd also try to find a way to clear any stored passwords and such. I deliberately do NOT use the password entry programs for this reason. I don't want to end up leaving passwords behind that someone can sniff out later. I'd of course also clear all of the cookies, temporary internet files, and web-history. Any of these could contain ways to log into a site automatically. (mainly cookies)

I hope this gives you enough info to go by...

Regards,

Roger Tiedemann
roger at rogertdj.com

Answer 4

Chances are, your PC came with a set of product-recovery CDs and not with a freestanding Windows XP operating system disc. These discs contain the operating system files, plus whatever else the manufacturer threw into the package -- special drivers required for supplied hardware, "value added" features, and so on. It's also possible your PC has a hidden recovery partition containing all that's needed.

In case of doubt (or if you've lost your recovery discs), contact the manufacturer to order a set, which should cost you somewhere in theAU$50-$100 range. Don't think this is a cheap way to buy Windows XP, though; the discs are of no use on any system other than the one for which they're designed. The recovery package probably comes with little or no instructions, other than perhaps a vague reference to starting off with the "bootable recovery CD," which is otherwise unidentified. If so, insert disc 1 in the CD drive, reboot, and follow the onscreen instructions. You'll also see a warning that your hard drive will be reformatted during the operation. Agree with whatever shows up onscreen and swap discs when prompted. You'll see an endless stream of progress reports, and there'll be some lengthy periods of seeming inactivity and a few reboots along the way. The whole operation may take an hour or two to complete, so have a good book handy.

Post-op procedures
Your squeaky-clean operating system may have installed some "features," whether you wanted them or not. So before you start reinstalling the applications you do want, pay another visit to the Add or Remove Programs list to look for things you don't. If you see any uninvited guests -- a trial version of someone's antivirus software, updates for applications you don't use, whatever -- wipe them out right now.

With the operating system in as good shape as it's ever going to be, now's the time to make a fresh drive-image backup and stow it away so you won't have to go through all this again. You'll make subsequent backups later on, of course (you will, won't you?), but this is the one you'll want to use the next time your system needs to be put back into good-as-new condition.

With this task done, you can now reinstall each major application. As you do, choose each application's custom-install option, if it has one. You'll be prompted to make various selections as the installation progresses, and this is a good time to opt out of options or add-ons you know you don't want. On its own, an application may install an outdated version of QuickTime or Adobe Acrobat Reader, pick up file associations you don't want it to have or make other unwanted decisions for you. So take charge of the installation and accept only the options you want, not the ones the application wants you to.

Also consider creating a system restore point before installing each major application. If the application causes grief later on and won't uninstall itself nicely, you can restore the system to the condition it was in just before the installation. On the downside, the system restore will also take out anything installed after the troublesome application, so you'll need to reinstall these applications. So think of this as an "if all else fails" line of defense -- definitely unpleasant, but possibly faster than other means of damage control.

Wrapping up
These procedures are certainly no one's idea of a pleasant way to spend the day. In fact, you may not even consider subjecting your PC -- or yourself -- to such an intense round of cleaning. But if you're spending more and more time trying to figure out why your system isn't quite right these days, the virtual scrub brush just may be your most effective tool.

Answer 5

I just came across these website which may help you. A lot of info on hard drive data recovery :

http://the-hard-drive-data-recovery.blogspot.com

Answer 6

http://www.pcworld.com look in security downloads and get evidence nuker. it will wipe it clean for sale. good luck.