Question about the use of active@killdisk kprogram

hummer7 · 19 Dec 2011

I got a new computer. So I am going to dump the old computer. I would like to erase everything in both C- and D-drives with "Active@ KillDisk" program. Before doing that, I have following queswtions:

a) Once a hard drive is erased with Active @killdisk, can the erased disk be re-vived by re-formatting?
b) Can the Ative@kill program also erase everything on C-drive (because Active@kill program must be installed on C-drive before use?

Please comment

ignatzatsonic · 19 Dec 2011

Usually, those programs can't be run on the active drive---they run on a re-boot or from another disk, such as a CD or USB stick.

I would expect the drive can still be formatted, but the data on the previous partitions would be unrecoverable--at least by mere mortals.

It says here:

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail...-/1246986445/1

That the free version does nothing more than a format would do.

You can write zeroes to a drive with Windows built-in Diskpart program, using the "clean all" command.

Golden · 19 Dec 2011

hummer7 said:

Once a hard drive is erased with Active @killdisk, can the erased disk be re-vived by re-formatting?

No - it cannot be "revived" once it has been wiped.

I agree with ignatz : Use the CLEAN ALL command via DISKPART from a Windows Installation disk this way:

1. Insert and boot from the Windows installation disk
2. At the screen that prompts for Language and Keyboard setup hold SHIFT and then hit F10
3. You will now have a CMD window open with the prompt X:\Sources
4. Type diskpart and hit enter
5. Type list volume and hit enter
6. Once you know which volume you want to clean, type select volume <number of volume>
7. Now type clean all and hit enter

This will wipe the selected volume by writing zero's across the entire disk, making any data on it unrecoverable. Depending on the size of the disk this can take several hours.

Regards,
Golden

hummer7 · 20 Dec 2011

Thanks for the useful information. BTW, I chose a wrong word in the post: revive.
I did not mean to restore the original data from the cleaned drive. What I meant is that once the drive is cleaned, can it be reformatted in NTSF and then re-used as a "new drive"? That was my question.

Golden · 20 Dec 2011

Correct - yes it can be reformatted and used again, no problem.

Regards,
Golden