Batboard

I have a laptop I was planning on E-Baying. My plan was to re-format the machine using the recovery disks to blank the machine. I asked someone I know who is more computer savvy than I (which is probably most of the population) who told me someone 'in the know' could still recover data after such a re-format. He mentioned a program to do a complete scrub but couldn't recall the name of this program. Anyone know what's needed here ?

There are lots of "disk wipers" out there. Here's one of my favorites:
http://dban.sourceforge.net/

Install to floppy/CD, boot from that, and nuke it. Be aware, it will take quite awhile, and could take a *long* time depending on what settings you use, HDD size, etc. Budget 24hrs.

Once you do this, your data is GONE. A TLA, a clean room, and a bunch of high-end equipment *might* revive it, but that's about it. Make sure you know exactly what you're doing before you hit go.

http://whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php

THIS IS A PROGRAM I HAVE USED MANY TIMES AND ITS GREAT, ITS THE ONLY THING YOU WILL EVER NEED FOR WIPING A HARD DRIVE / COMPUTER BEFORE RESALE

-NATE

Thank you gentlemen. After wiping I'd be able to use recovery discs provided with machine to re-install to original configuration ?

Yep.

You have to be careful though, because some of the programs do a low level format, writing the entire drive with zeros, and some computer manufacturer's store all the software including the OS on a hidden partition which the recovery or restore disk then uses for the reinstall of the OS and software.

Stupid in my opinion. After all, if the hard drive fails now you not only lost your running installation but also the backup for reinstalling. The only choice then is to get a new hard drive from the manufacturer under warranty, hopefully, otherwise you have to purchase a replacement preloaded drive. Or of course just buy a new hard drive and start from scratch on your own!

If your recovery discs actually contain the OS and software then no big deal!

I prefer to download the disk utility from the manufacturer of the drive, all of them have free utilities that can be downloaded to low level format and recertify the drive.

The Maxtor MaxBlast software will low level format most brand names, but some of the other manufacturer's software will only do their drives.

Use Encase. about $2000 I think for the dongle... Great piece of software.

One of the guys did an experiment at work once - purchased 20-30 hard drives off ebay of varying sizes, couple computers, etc, and he was able not only to get almost ALL of the data back off of it, but also was able to also find enough information to know the persons address, place of work, even a best guess at their photo.

Of course this very's from program to program that you use - but there's nothing like an industrial shredder and a hard drive platter!

I do have access to encase at work, I haven't gotten around to purchasing a couple of drives, but it would be a neat experiment to see - not for elicit purposes of course, but mainly one of those "It would be interesting to see myself."

-Alex

As mentioned, make sure you get the Manufactures (of the hard drive, not the computer) setup software.
I had a drive in a Sony that was hosed by spyware etc.
The recovery discs were USELESS!!! (plus they install lots of buy-this, sign-up-for-that bull).
I recovered the drive, and had to use OEM discs for the programs.
Lukily the keys were on the back of the computer, and MSN accepted the XP setup...

Regardless of what you pick, look for Department of Defense approval of the product. This will give you the piece of mind that it will do what it is supposed to.

Res168cue wrote:http://whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php

THIS IS A PROGRAM I HAVE USED MANY TIMES AND ITS GREAT, ITS THE ONLY THING YOU WILL EVER NEED FOR WIPING A HARD DRIVE / COMPUTER BEFORE RESALE

-NATE

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:07 am Post subject: what ever you use

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Regardless of what you pick, look for Department of Defense approval of the product. This will give you the piece of mind that it will do what it is supposed to.

Wipedrive is Dept of Defense approved and you can go to their website to confirm and check out the software its a really great program again very highly recomended.
-Nate

The only Department of Defence approved method for erasing hard drives is melting, for anything but the very lowest levels of classification.

My state's police doesn't allow the hard drive to go to auction/back to the lease company in ANY computer, even though most of their machines will never even see sensitive data in their lifetimes (because everything is displayed in a 3270 terminal session from the mainframe).

One thing to watch out for when zeroing out a hard disk is if the drive was already on the way out (even if you didn't know it was), zeroing it for a day will probably put the final nail in its coffin.

Yeah, speaking of melting it down..

I was watching a show a while back about the NSA on the Discovery Channel.

They were talking about how they disposed of a hard drive when retiring a computer. The hard drive is removed and placed in secure storage for a period of time first, just to make sure something on it isn't needed, then it goes to the dissasembly stage where they take it apart. The platters are placed back into secure storage while the hard drive chassis and other components are smelted for recycling, they actually showed some getting melted, the platters were gone and then rest of the drive was just dunked into a vat of molten metal.

Then the platters are not only melted but literally incinerated to the point of being dust or ash, then that material is then stored for a set period of time, for whatever reason i have no clue, and then it's released for disposal. Like someone could get data from the ash? Weird...

Anyway, anal retentive is just a start when it comes to government procedures.

In all honesty, if you do a low level format then reinstall the operating system on the drive there should no longer be anything recoverable since the entire drive was written over in the low level format. If someone is dead set in trying to recover something there is easier ways to get info.

However.. I have bought used computers from garage sales and rummage sales, auctions, etc. Mainly to scrap them out for parts, and have come across plenty of hard drives full of personal info. One had six years worth of email still sitting in the inbox of Outlook Express. Another had a persons complete financial records in Quicken for the last three years, etc.

I guess some people just aren't worried!

If you aren't sure try some different methods then use software like r-studio or recovery2000 to try and recover any data.
always fun and interesting to do.

Wipedrive by Whitecanyon as mentioned is the best I have come across. It does take at least a day to use the DOD 3 writes option on a 160GB HD. I have both Wipedrive and WipedrivePro. Wipedrive Pro was supposed to be quicker but it took longer. Supposed to be faster if you use it in Linux rather than DOS.


Sean

Anyway, anal retentive is just a start when it comes to government procedures

Well, just ask Tricky Nixon why hard drives --or tapes-- should be destroyed

hows this one? I haven't used it. several others swear by it.....

http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/