HDD overwriter
 

Looking for recommendations for HDD overwriter to clean HDD before selling
it. Free would be nice.

Get BootItNG from www.bootitng.com. Create the floppy installation disk
using the downloaded EXE, then restart. After the system is booted from
the floppy, it will prompt you to Install. *Cancel* that installation,
dropping you into Maintenance mode, whence you want to choose Partition
Work. Delete the existing partition, choosing both to clear the boot
sector and to Wipe. You will be offered a "Security Wipe", which is up
to 35 passes with varying data. Leave it run as long as you feel like
it.

If the disk has more than one partition, you can first delete them
without wiping, then create a new partition encompassing the entire
disk, then delete that partition using the Security Wipe.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Stan" wrote in message
...
Looking for recommendations for HDD overwriter to clean HDD before
selling
it. Free would be nice.

Eraser: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Freeware that overwrites the "blank"
data on a
hard drive.


--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP Windows 98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Stan" wrote in message
...
Looking for recommendations for HDD overwriter to clean HDD before selling
it. Free would be nice.

On 3/17/05 7:07 PM India Time, _Stan_ wrote:

Looking for recommendations for HDD overwriter to clean HDD before selling
it. Free would be nice.



Free would definitely be nice. Do send your hd to me. Thanks. :)

--
Rawat

"Stan" wrote in message
...
Looking for recommendations for HDD overwriter to clean HDD before selling
it. Free would be nice.


just go to website of your harddrive mfg...
they prob have a lo-level format utility

Low-level format won't overwrite the disk with several passes, which is
wha tyou want to do if you're concerned abotu security.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"philo" wrote in message
...

"Stan" wrote in message
...
Looking for recommendations for HDD overwriter to clean HDD before
selling
it. Free would be nice.


just go to website of your harddrive mfg...
they prob have a lo-level format utility

No. Low-level formats are done at the ide HD factory only. Writing zeroes
or ones, or both alternately, which is the current subject, can qualify as a
medium level format at best. This what the HD mfr makes available.

Recovery of files, after a such a "medium-level" format, are beyond most
users resources. And, as a consequence, is a waste of time to go beyond
that type of security wipe in my humble opinion.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
Low-level format won't overwrite the disk with several passes, which is
wha tyou want to do if you're concerned abotu security.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"philo" wrote in message
...

"Stan" wrote in message
...
Looking for recommendations for HDD overwriter to clean HDD before
selling
it. Free would be nice.


just go to website of your harddrive mfg...
they prob have a lo-level format utility