Solved Another question Re erasing C:Drive

Johnw January 22, 2021 at 15:00:54

Best way gep, use a Windows install disk/thumb drive & during the install Delete all the partitions. Keep hitting Delete until Delete & Format are greyed out. You are then left with an Unallocated drive. At this point, you can exit the install. message edited by Johnw

gep January 22, 2021 at 15:08:26

Hello John, where do I get one of those?? Thanks, Gep

trvlr January 22, 2021 at 15:29:32

Are you saying you want to wipe the drive in your old computer - after you've safely transferred all data from it to wherever; and "know" that the copies in the new location are actually fully accessible and intact? Almost "any" windows installation CD will allow that drive erase? CCleaner is a pest and junk file removal tool; it doesn't wipe a drive.

Jeff Root January 22, 2021 at 16:32:26

There is a tool in CCleaner called "Drive Wiper" that lets you "Securely erase the contents or free space on a drive". I've never used it, but I have no reason to think that it doesn't do what the name suggests. On the other hand, just removing the partition information doesn't make the data on a drive unrecoverable. -- Jeff, in Minneapolis

Johnw January 22, 2021 at 16:42:50

Wiping is for the paranoid, it takes many, many hours. How to Recover Data from Hard Disk After Disk Wipe? https://recoverit.wondershare.com/h...

gep January 22, 2021 at 23:56:36

Thanks all for you replies, Gep

Kilavila January 23, 2021 at 03:35:42

I use DBAN to wipe disks.

Jeff Root January 23, 2021 at 05:04:05

I hung around a computer recycling place a little bit a few years ago. When they received a computer for recycling, they gave the donor the option of either wiping the drive so that it could be re-used, which they said would take two hours, or pound a cold chisel through it, which I saw done. Either way, it was done while the donor was in the shop. That was at Free Geek Twin Cities. -- Jeff, in Minneapolis

It's relatively simple to retrieve data from a drive that's been formatted or wiped. How concerned are you about your data? The only 100% sure way is what Jeff mentioned - physically destroy the platters in the HDD.

T-R-A January 23, 2021 at 08:50:06

✔ Best Answer

Unless you have plans to sell the drive, best thing is to just hang on to it and put it in a USB case and use it for an external drive. Otherwise, if you're concerned about someone stealing your private data, destroying it is the best option. "Channeling the spirit of jboy..."

trvlr January 23, 2021 at 09:13:48

Only secure way to prevent someone accessing an olde drive... Smash as above with a hammer; then crush and grind/shred the parts; then burn the shredded parts in a very hot fire; then collect the ashes; then hire a hecilopter and fly out over an ocean. Once out beyond the national costal waters limits, hover a few feet above the waves and scatter the ashes... Job dun 'n dusted... Return to base and have a cuppa char or kawfee...

Jeff Root January 23, 2021 at 12:37:29

I hope you scatter the ashes over a subduction zone so they will be pulled down underneath the Earth's crust, where the data should be safe for a few million years, at least. Even if it does resurface in volcanic eruptions, it will be pretty well scattered around the globe. But a simple one-pass wipe seems adequate to me. -- Jeff, in Minneapolis

trvlr January 23, 2021 at 12:47:05

Neva do tings by half... grasshopper