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Slightly OT : Disk wiping?



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 19th 05, 09:30 AM
Grendel
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Default Slightly OT : Disk wiping?

Hi,

As my hard drive has to go back, has anyone got any recommendations for any
good, free, disk wiping software? I don't want anyone seeing some of the
data that I've got.

Thanks,

Grendel.


  #2  
Old April 19th 05, 10:27 AM
thorn
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Default

Grendel wrote:

Hi,

As my hard drive has to go back, has anyone got any recommendations for any
good, free, disk wiping software? I don't want anyone seeing some of the
data that I've got.

Thanks,

Grendel.


I ran this on someone's computer and the hard drive was History:

Hard Drive Killer 4.0
http://www.hackology.com/programs/hdkp/ginfo.shtml

  #3  
Old April 19th 05, 11:01 AM
Grendel
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Default


"thorn" wrote in message
...
Grendel wrote:

Hi,

Grendel.


I ran this on someone's computer and the hard drive was History:

Hard Drive Killer 4.0
http://www.hackology.com/programs/hdkp/ginfo.shtml

Thanks, I'll give it a go tonight.


  #4  
Old April 19th 05, 01:33 PM
BruceM
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Won't be worth sending back if you use that!!!!!!!!!



"Grendel" wrote in message
...

"thorn" wrote in message
...
Grendel wrote:

Hi,

Grendel.


I ran this on someone's computer and the hard drive was History:

Hard Drive Killer 4.0
http://www.hackology.com/programs/hdkp/ginfo.shtml

Thanks, I'll give it a go tonight.



  #5  
Old April 19th 05, 02:19 PM
Grendel
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"BruceM" wrote in message
...
Won't be worth sending back if you use that!!!!!!!!!


It says it shouldn't do any physical damage, but it might do. It's got a
*lot* of bad sectors anyway after just a few weeks, so I don't think it will
really make any difference.


  #6  
Old April 19th 05, 03:44 PM
SteveH
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"Grendel" wrote in message
...

"BruceM" wrote in message
...
Won't be worth sending back if you use that!!!!!!!!!


It says it shouldn't do any physical damage, but it might do. It's got a
*lot* of bad sectors anyway after just a few weeks, so I don't think it
will really make any difference.

Except you could end up sending it back with a different fault to the one
you reported to get the RMA.

SteveH


  #7  
Old April 19th 05, 04:22 PM
JAD
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DO NOT USE THIS ON A RMA'd DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!

You will lose your warranty.



"thorn" wrote in message
...
Grendel wrote:

Hi,

As my hard drive has to go back, has anyone got any recommendations for

any
good, free, disk wiping software? I don't want anyone seeing some of the
data that I've got.

Thanks,

Grendel.


I ran this on someone's computer and the hard drive was History:

Hard Drive Killer 4.0
http://www.hackology.com/programs/hdkp/ginfo.shtml



  #8  
Old April 19th 05, 09:26 PM
dawg
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Use zero fill utility. I writes zero's to the whole drive.Run it a few times
to make sure

"Grendel" wrote in message
...
Hi,

As my hard drive has to go back, has anyone got any recommendations for

any
good, free, disk wiping software? I don't want anyone seeing some of the
data that I've got.

Thanks,

Grendel.




  #9  
Old April 19th 05, 10:14 PM
Aldwyn Edain
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Default

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 09:30:59 +0100, "Grendel" wrote:

Hi,

As my hard drive has to go back, has anyone got any recommendations for any
good, free, disk wiping software? I don't want anyone seeing some of the
data that I've got.

Thanks,

Grendel.


This is the best one to use. It has a number of wipe methods you can
use. Depending on the size of your drive it can take a long time too.
The Guttman wipe method overwrites the drive 35 times and takes a very
long time. If you just want to write zeros to the drive (low level
format) it is fairly quick.

http://dban.sourceforge.net/
  #10  
Old April 20th 05, 12:40 AM
Dorothy Bradbury
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Default

Actually, there are few ways of truly wiping data:
o When a HD head records data it does so by following a servo track
---- following the track results in data being recorded to the side
o Data is recorded as a probability distribution around the servo track
---- it is admittedly a very tight distribution, but it is one none the less
o An edge of layers of dated data remain distant from the servo track
---- over-wiping in theory reduces that incrementally

The problem is in theory isn't necessarily in practice:
o Mil spec wiping requires as I recall 4 overwrites
---- so diminishing such edge data to an unrecoverable level
o Overwriting also requires attention to the pattern used
---- otherwise it is possible to predict what was there
---- reverse-ECC, signal level & other tricks counters that

Remember a HD is an analog device - not digital - in recording.
Yes the signal is 1s & 0s, but analog techniques can interpret what
data was there before based on its particular value re 0.83 v 0.85 etc.

The reality comes down to security level required:
o NSA can pull your platters & use lots of tricks to get data back
o For basic financial, email etc data a decent program will suffice :-)

The most critical military/gov't uses a different method:
o Either a belt sander to remove the physical magnetic media
---- platters once aluminium are now glass in most instances
o Alternatively they just melt them down
---- probably more economic in terms of labour

Wiping data is an important consideration:
o MS-IE / XP regularly store auto-complete info for passwords
---- auto-complete on email address, get from ISP/Outlook settings
o Take someone's HD and you can access all financial info
---- transferring funds, pensions, bank contents
---- expenditure on credit cards, debit cards

At present identity theft is easier via your dustbin in the street,
but a stolen laptop owned by a financial adviser is a potential risk.
USA tends to have more problem with advisers bunking with money,
which overshadows that done more legally by CEOs & Wall Street :-)

For critical applications it is worth keeping a spare original HD, a
fully as-delivered-drive-O/S ready to go. That way if a laptop or PC
has to be sent for repair that can be enclosed with it, and also very
useful if your machine keels over (particularly if a laptop). It is then
just a matter of re-installing kep apps, your ISP settings & your data.
--
Dorothy Bradbury


 




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