SIGforum
Wipe a lap top hard drive?
December 27, 2019, 09:19 PM
WarhorseWipe a lap top hard drive?
So as not to derail another thread, I will ask this question here.
I bought myself a new lap top computer because my old one did not have the RAM, hard drive size, and processor to run PS/LR to edit, and store my photos. It is still very serviceable for many other uses such as surfing the net, word processing etc.. Is there a way to securely remove all my data from it? I would like to sell/give it away.
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December 27, 2019, 09:22 PM
comet24It's been a few years but you can find programs that will do this. You want to write over the entire drive a bunch(technical term here
I don't remember how many)of times to ensure no data can be recovered.
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Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. Jack Kerouac
December 27, 2019, 09:39 PM
BurtonRWWipe? You mean like with a cloth?
BleachBit seems to work well.
-Rob
I predict that there will be many suggestions and statements about the law made here, and some of them will be spectacularly wrong. - jhe888
A=A December 27, 2019, 09:58 PM
gearhoundsYou can either pull it and wipe it with a Stanley 12 oz hammer and donate the corpse laptop if it’s still viable or format the hard drive repeatedly, over and over. Beyond that, not many average folks can do any harm with sifting through the HD for data.
If you’re giving the laptop to someone you trust, you can always remove every shred of personal data from it and keep the operating system intact so they don’t have to buy new software. What OS does it have? Which processor?
“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown December 27, 2019, 10:17 PM
Warhorsequote:
Originally posted by gearhounds:
You can either pull it and wipe it with a Stanley 12 oz hammer and donate the corpse laptop if it’s still viable or format the hard drive repeatedly, over and over. Beyond that, not many average folks can do any harm with sifting through the HD for data.
If you’re giving the laptop to someone you trust, you can always remove every shred of personal data from it and keep the operating system intact so they don’t have to buy new software. What OS does it have? Which processor?
I bought it about 3-4 years ago, upgraded it to Win 10 shortly after when it was still a free upgrade. I would have to boot it up to tell you the processor type in it. It was only a $200 computer at Best Buy.
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December 28, 2019, 12:21 AM
shovelheadWarhorse, does it happen to be a Toshiba? If so, what model?
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————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman)
December 28, 2019, 02:36 AM
AeteoclesCreate windows installation media. You might have some preloaded on your computer in a recovery partition that has the hardware drivers for your laptop, or you might have to download the installation media creation tool for Windows.
Recover the Activation Key for your version of Windows.
Download the network card driver onto a USB stick from the internet.
Wipe hard drive with DBAN.
Reinstall Windows using installation media.
Reinstall network card using downloaded drivers.
Once able to connect to the internet, go to the manufacturer website to download the other drivers for the other peripherals.
December 28, 2019, 04:54 AM
mbliss57At that original price point it won't have much resale value. Even if you donate or sell it to a stranger there is little (very little) chance they would know how or want to recover your old data. I would feel secure myself just reformatting the HD 2 times and calling it done.
I would also look on E Bay to see what that particular laptop is bringing. It may be just enough to buy you a tank of gas or a box of ammo which is better than a kick in the shins... or you may also find a relative or friend who needs a word process and surfing tool and donate it. I just bought a refurbished/ warrantied HP laptop with Windows 10 and MS Office for $200. This was about a $900 laptop new.
West German Sig P220, P6, P226, BDA
December 28, 2019, 05:20 AM
Blume9mmJust about every other episode of NCIS Abby recovers the data from some type of stored memory device that has been erased or destroyed in some kind of way.... burned, blown up, beat on, eaten....you name it....
My Native American Name:
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December 28, 2019, 06:15 AM
kramdenquote:
Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Wipe? You mean like with a cloth?
BleachBit seems to work well.
-Rob
LOLOLOLOLOLOL!
December 28, 2019, 08:17 AM
PASigIf you can remove the drive relatively easily, just keep it or drill a couple holes in it.
Otherwise DBAN works well, but the OP may not be familiar with the whole process of creating a bootable CD or thumb drive and booting off that to run DBAN.
December 28, 2019, 08:28 AM
gearhoundsquote:
Originally posted by Warhorse:
quote:
Originally posted by gearhounds:
You can either pull it and wipe it with a Stanley 12 oz hammer and donate the corpse laptop if it’s still viable or format the hard drive repeatedly, over and over. Beyond that, not many average folks can do any harm with sifting through the HD for data.
If you’re giving the laptop to someone you trust, you can always remove every shred of personal data from it and keep the operating system intact so they don’t have to buy new software. What OS does it have? Which processor?
I bought it about 3-4 years ago, upgraded it to Win 10 shortly after when it was still a free upgrade. I would have to boot it up to tell you the processor type in it. It was only a $200 computer at Best Buy.
No family or extended family that needs a cheap browsing laptop? Family friends? It would be fairly simple to delete any personal stuff off of it and give it to somebody trustworthy. It’d be a shame to trash the hard drive with windows 10 installed.
As to the machine being “old” or “cheap”...Recently a friend gave me a Dell Inspiron base model laptop (AMD processor and only 4gb of RAM) that was excruciatingly slow. I happened to have a 250gb SSD lying around waiting for repurposing as external picture storage and the laptop had a WD drive in it. I cloned it over with Acronis and now it is lightning fast- as fast as any computer I already own. And I haven’t even messed with the RAM yet. Food for thought.
“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown December 28, 2019, 08:41 AM
BillyBonesNYDBAN if I don’t want to pull the drive.
To destroy, I usually use a sledge hammer and put the drive between the curb and street.
Then use compound clippers to cut the disks.
When I decommission a large amount I have a drive shredding service certify destruction.
December 28, 2019, 08:48 AM
Warhorsequote:
Originally posted by shovelhead:
Warhorse, does it happen to be a Toshiba? If so, what model?
It's an Acer.
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December 28, 2019, 08:53 AM
Warhorsequote:
Originally posted by mbliss57:
At that original price point it won't have much resale value. Even if you donate or sell it to a stranger there is little (very little) chance they would know how or want to recover your old data. I would feel secure myself just reformatting the HD 2 times and calling it done.
I would also look on E Bay to see what that particular laptop is bringing. It may be just enough to buy you a tank of gas or a box of ammo which is better than a kick in the shins... or you may also find a relative or friend who needs a word process and surfing tool and donate it. I just bought a refurbished/ warrantied HP laptop with Windows 10 and MS Office for $200. This was about a $900 laptop new.
Yeah, that's what I figured. I will probably just trash the HD. Maybe play with a cheap new HD, just for learning purposes.
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December 28, 2019, 10:41 AM
Aeteoclesquote:
Originally posted by mbliss57:
At that original price point it won't have much resale value. Even if you donate or sell it to a stranger there is little (very little) chance they would know how or want to recover your old data. I would feel secure myself just reformatting the HD 2 times and calling it done.
Reformatting a drive does not remove the data from it.
If a hardrive is analogous to a book, reformatting is like pulling out the table of contents. The data still remains on the rest of the pages.
You need to use a utility to securely wipe the drives by writing 1s and 0s over the existing data. DBAN is free and can be deployed from a USB stick.
This is not an NCIS level recovery technique. It's really basic. People have literally used these recovery techniques here on the forum to help others recover photos off of memory cards. You need to 1) securely wipe your drives and 2) stop giving people bad advice.
December 28, 2019, 10:56 AM
0-0Use DBan.
Then install Linux Lite or Mint on the wiped drive and use another utility to overwrite the blank space left. It's overkill but will ease your mind and leave you with a fully functioning laptop where you can learn Linux.
0-0
"OP is a troll" - Flashlightboy, 12/18/20
December 28, 2019, 04:35 PM
Scurvyquote:
Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Wipe? You mean like with a cloth?
BleachBit seems to work well.
-Rob
Damn, took the words right out of my finger tips.