Destroy your data!
Most of the time you want to avoid destroying your data. But eventually you will actually want to destroy it. For instance, if you were selling your hard drive, complete PC or Laptop on such a service as Craigslist or eBay; you would want to make sure that person doesn’t have access to your files, email or personal info. Even if you fdisk your drive and format it, that’s not enough.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought computers or drives full of this information. Fortunately for those people, I’m not malicious. And fortunately for you, I’m going to show you a great program.
(Check out this article on destroying data on memory cards from digital cameras, phones, etc.)
Darik’s Boot and Nuke! DBAN for short.. This little program packs a mean punch and will completely wipe your disk based on your preference of level. You can download in either floppy or CDrom formats. Once you boot up you will have some options (please make note of the warning!):
Typing in autonuke and pressing enter will wipe the data on every disk in the system its booting in with the DoD Short Pass method. That’s 3x pass, which should be good enough for most people.
Pressing the enter key will present you with this screen:
Press the space bar to select the partitions and/or disks you want to wipe. (Selecting the disk itself will automatically select all the partitions on that disk):
Next press M to change the method (if desired). From there you can choose all sorts of modes including one that will wipe it and write data 35x!:
After choosing your method you may want to change the rounds. This will be on your comfort level. Press R on the main screen. You can choose from 1 to 999999999 rounds. Although I don’t recommend the latter because not only will it take just short of forever, but it’s probably a bit overkill!:
After that you can modify the verification settings by pressing V, but the default is to verify the device is empty after the last wipe. So you probably don’t need to modify that. To start the wipe process, please F10.:
That’s it, after a long time (it all depends on your disk size and method, but I’d start this at night then go to sleep!) you can get rid of that old PC or hard disk and not regret it!
15 Trackback(s)
- Jul 12, 2006: thisblogblo.ws - How to destroy your data!
- Jan 2, 2007: thisblogblo.ws - Destroy more of your data!
- Jan 6, 2007: 煎蛋 » Destroy your data, the easy way!
- Jan 6, 2007: CheezyArmadillo.com
- Jan 6, 2007: zean.no-ip.info » Destroy your data!
- Jan 6, 2007: Funtoosh.org - Hosting Blog » Blog Archive » Destroy your data, the easy way!
- Jan 7, 2007: meneame.net
- Jan 8, 2007: wagthis.com
- Jan 8, 2007: Insanity On Stage » Archiv » links for 2007-01-09
- Jan 11, 2007: TomCoyote Security News » Blog Archive » Destroy your data, the easy way!
- Jan 12, 2007: Wipe out old hard drives before desposing them - OSXUnderground.com
- Jan 21, 2007: Information Security Awareness & howtos » Destroy your data, the easy way!
- Jan 30, 2007: Destroy your data, the easy way! : Electronic Cash News
- Oct 5, 2007: Destroy your data, the easy way! « Security News
- Nov 18, 2007: Is it Safe or Not ? » Destroy your data, the easy way!
Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.
26 Responses to “Destroy your data!”
So it’s a “Full Clean” and you can start a new, with an OS of your choice?
By Rampagegfx on Jan 19, 2007
Any of the options will enable you to start with a new OS of your choice, but the “Quick Erase” would be the fastest if all you’re trying to do is reload.
By thisadminblows on Jan 20, 2007
I’m not a pc pro. I want to sell an older emachine and I have a reload cd to put back all factory installed software. If I use this program to delete data will I still be able to put the reload cd in the drive and put everthing back on as it came from the factory? I dont have a separate OS cd, just the reload cd from the factory. Thanks
By Deb on Jan 21, 2007
Yes, but just wipe the big (and probably last partition). The eMachines recovery CD just activates a ghost image to restore the factory OS and settings.
By thisadminblows on Jan 21, 2007
Hi,
I need help in recovering all my old photos and personal information from my PC. What happened was that my two teenage daughters borrowed a Windows XP cd from one of their girlfriends and then installed it into our PC. Our PC worked for a while and then it started saying in a black screen with white letters that there was a corrupt file and to install the cd, then there was numbers and letters after this. Well since then…my daughters friend & family have moved and I don’t know whats wrong! What do I do? Please if you can help…I would appreciate it GREATLY! Alma
By Alma on May 30, 2007
LOL. Pay money to destroy data? As I tell my clients a hammer is your best solution. Just smash the the drive until you reach the actual disc. No need for programs or silly people claiming to erase your data.
By EvilMagi on Jul 1, 2007
The only thing funny is you thinking there is anything that costs money here. Maybe you just didn’t bother to read it, I don’t know. Smashing the drive is not the best solution as you could compare it to burning money.
Show me someone who can retrieve data off a drive that has been wiped to meet DoD specifications…
By thisadminblows on Jul 1, 2007
will using the program pictured above remove the os?
By Kyle Newman on Jul 8, 2007
yes, it will remove the os and everything you have on the disk or partition you run it against.
By thisadminblows on Jul 9, 2007
I have a question. What does the hard drive actually look like? Because i always thought it was the big(ish) thing that slides out of your computer from the side but ive been told that is the battery. So how do you actually get to the hard drive? And also, does this program wipe out the installation of the internet? Does it get rid of absolutely everything including pics, music files, and just programs you’ve been on on the internet in the past?
By Leo on Sep 6, 2007
There are some pictures of hard driver here: http://www.harddriveupgrade.com/jumper_pins.shtml
This program once you download it and burn it to a CD or floppy and boot your computer off it, will completely destroy every bit of data on your hard drive. You don’t need to dismantle the computer or anything to do this.
Also, the internet is not “installed”, but your access would be gone as all programs you had including your operating system would be gone.
By thisadminblows on Sep 6, 2007