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Windows 7: Going to sell my 500g Passport to upgrade, how many times to Format?
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23 May 2011
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#1 | |
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Going to sell my 500g Passport to upgrade, how many times to Format?
Ok I currently have a 500g WD Passport that I am going to sell only because I need to upgrade to the 1TB Passport.
Now I used the Passport for my entire computer backup, so it has personal & sensitive files.
How many times should I do a full & complete format to make sure everything is as deleted as possible so no one could ever restore any of my info?
I've always read that even with formatting you can still pull up old data... | My System Specs |
| System Manufacturer/Model Number Built it myself
OS Windows 7 64 & Ubuntu 64
CPU Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.40GHz
Motherboard Asus
Memory 8g
Graphics Card Nvidia 9600 GT & 9800 GT
Sound Card Turtle Beach 5.1
Monitor(s) Displays Three 19" Dell's & one 46" Samsung 750
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23 May 2011
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#2 | |
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Use something like dban on it. | | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Self-Built in July 2009
OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64
CPU Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
Memory 8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
Graphics Card EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
Sound Card Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
Monitor(s) Displays 23" Acer x233H
Screen Resolution 1920x1080
Keyboard ABS M1 Mechanical
Mouse Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
PSU Corsair 620HX modular
Case Antec P182
Cooling stock
Hard Drives Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
Internet Speed 15/2 cable modem
Other Info Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
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23 May 2011
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#3 | |
Windows 7 HP 64bit, Windows 8 Pro w/Media Center 64bit Covington, La |
Try Eraser to securely overwrite your data.
Jim  | | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number Home Built
OS Windows 7 HP 64bit, Windows 8 Pro w/Media Center 64bit
CPU Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard ASUS M5A99X EVO
Memory Crucial Balistic 8gb DDR3-1866 CL9
Graphics Card MSI R6850 Cyclone IGD5 PE
Sound Card On Board
Monitor(s) Displays ASUS VE258Q 25" LED with DVI-HDMI-DisplayPort
Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
Keyboard Logitech K120
Mouse Logitech Marble Mouse USB, Logitech Precision Game Pad
PSU Seasonic X650 80 Plus GOLD Modular
Case Corsair 400R
Cooling Antec Kuhler H2O 620, Two 120mm and four 140mm
Hard Drives Two WD Cavier Black 2TB Sata III, WD My Book Essential 2TB USB 3.0
Internet Speed 15MB
Antivirus Norton IS 2012, Malwarebytes Pro
Browser IE-10, FF-19
Other Info APC UPS ES 750, Netgear WNR3500L Gigabit & Wireless N Router with SamKnows Test Program, Motorola SB6120 Gigabit Cable Modem. Brother HL-2170W Laser Printer, Epson V300 Scanner
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23 May 2011
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#4 | |
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Which is better, dban or Eraser?
Are they both free?
So the normal formatting that Windows 7 offers isnt enough? | | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Built it myself
OS Windows 7 64 & Ubuntu 64
CPU Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.40GHz
Motherboard Asus
Memory 8g
Graphics Card Nvidia 9600 GT & 9800 GT
Sound Card Turtle Beach 5.1
Monitor(s) Displays Three 19" Dell's & one 46" Samsung 750
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23 May 2011
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#5 | |
W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE Indian Territory |
Quote: So the normal formatting that Windows 7 offers isnt enough? No. How many times to format depends on just how securely that you want to erase the drive. If I recall, the government standard is 32 passes, but for the average person that is an overkill. I would settle for a single low level format pass. | | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number DIY
OS W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
CPU Phenom II 1090T w/Noctua NH-D14 /**4400+ X2 w/CM Hyper TX 3
Motherboard ASRock 890FX Deluxe 4/**A8N-SLI
Memory 2 x 2GB Patriot PGS34g1600LLKA/**4x1GB Corsair VS
Graphics Card EVGA GTX460 SC/**EVGA 8800GTS
Sound Card Asus Xonar D2X/**Xonar D1
Monitor(s) Displays Acer X233H, Dell E152FPc /**LG M237-WD
Screen Resolution 1920x1080 & 1024x768/**1980x1080
Keyboard Logitech Media USB/**Saitek Eclipse
Mouse Cordless Trackman Wheel/**Ditto
PSU CM RS600 w/ APC BX1000G/**Antec 500 TP w/ APC BX1000
Case HAF922/**Antec 1040IIB
Cooling 3x200mm, 1x140 and 1x120mm/**5x80mm fans
Hard Drives WDC 2TB, 1.5TB, 1TB, 500GB,Seagate 500GB , Maxtor 80GB /**500GB Seagate & WDC 1TB Black
Internet Speed 3.3Mbps
Other Info SB 560 5.1 w/ Sennheiser RS140/**Creative T20 speakers, Dvico FusionHDTV7 Gold RT, Cisco E3000, HP 5510V AIO, Linksys E3000, Belkin F5U237 hub and **F5D8055 adapter
(** = 2nd rig)
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23 May 2011
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#6 | |
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Ok, so is dban or Eraser better?
I'm looking for a good free one... | | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Built it myself
OS Windows 7 64 & Ubuntu 64
CPU Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.40GHz
Motherboard Asus
Memory 8g
Graphics Card Nvidia 9600 GT & 9800 GT
Sound Card Turtle Beach 5.1
Monitor(s) Displays Three 19" Dell's & one 46" Samsung 750
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23 May 2011
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#7 | |
7 Ultimate x64 California |
A hammer and nail will also work wonders. Of course, this route will make it more difficult to sell, but at least you would be assured the drive would never again be read. | | My System Specs | | OS 7 Ultimate x64
CPU i5-2500k
Motherboard Asus P8P67 Pro
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH 1866MHz 8-9-8-24
Graphics Card EVGA GTX 570 SC
Sound Card X-Fi Titanium Fatality
Monitor(s) Displays Samsung S27A550H 27" LED
Screen Resolution 1920x1080
Keyboard MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
Mouse Logitech G500
PSU PC Power & Cooling Silencer 760
Case Lian Li Lancool K62
Cooling Thermalright Venomous X Black/Scythe S-Flex/Shin-Etsu X23
Hard Drives OCZ Vertex 3 120GB.
1TB Samsung F3.
2TB Samsung F4.
Internet Speed 6MB/768
Other Info Logitech Z-5500 505 watts.
D-Link DGL-4500.
Tripp-Lite Smart Pro 1500.
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24 May 2011
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#8 | |
W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE Indian Territory |
Quote: Originally Posted by JohnnyScience  Ok, so is dban or Eraser better?
I'm looking for a good free one... I really don't think that it matters which program that you use, in terms of effectiveness, as long as it does do a low level format. The only difference in these programs is their ease of use, and the number of passes they can make.
If you happen to have a drive recovery program, you could use it to test the drive after formatting, to see if it could recover any files. That would help you decide whether to run more passes or not. | | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number DIY
OS W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
CPU Phenom II 1090T w/Noctua NH-D14 /**4400+ X2 w/CM Hyper TX 3
Motherboard ASRock 890FX Deluxe 4/**A8N-SLI
Memory 2 x 2GB Patriot PGS34g1600LLKA/**4x1GB Corsair VS
Graphics Card EVGA GTX460 SC/**EVGA 8800GTS
Sound Card Asus Xonar D2X/**Xonar D1
Monitor(s) Displays Acer X233H, Dell E152FPc /**LG M237-WD
Screen Resolution 1920x1080 & 1024x768/**1980x1080
Keyboard Logitech Media USB/**Saitek Eclipse
Mouse Cordless Trackman Wheel/**Ditto
PSU CM RS600 w/ APC BX1000G/**Antec 500 TP w/ APC BX1000
Case HAF922/**Antec 1040IIB
Cooling 3x200mm, 1x140 and 1x120mm/**5x80mm fans
Hard Drives WDC 2TB, 1.5TB, 1TB, 500GB,Seagate 500GB , Maxtor 80GB /**500GB Seagate & WDC 1TB Black
Internet Speed 3.3Mbps
Other Info SB 560 5.1 w/ Sennheiser RS140/**Creative T20 speakers, Dvico FusionHDTV7 Gold RT, Cisco E3000, HP 5510V AIO, Linksys E3000, Belkin F5U237 hub and **F5D8055 adapter
(** = 2nd rig)
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24 May 2011
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#9 | |
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 bit Los Angeles |
i use white canyon wipe drive. works excellent | | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number love-amd...also love-nvidia
OS Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 bit
CPU AMD Phenom II x6 1075t 3.0 OC'd to 3.85
Motherboard ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ SATA III
Memory 8GB G.Skill Sniper 1866 9-10-9-28 1.5v
Graphics Card EVGA GeForce GTX 560
Sound Card HD on board Audio
Monitor(s) Displays LG FLATRON E2260, Vizio 47 inch LCD 1080p
Screen Resolution 1920x1080
Keyboard Microsoft Sidewinder X4
Mouse CM Storm Spawn 3500 DPI
PSU OCZ Fatal1ty 550w
Case Cooler Master CM II Advanced Nvidia Edition
Cooling Corsair H70 Hydro Cooling
Hard Drives Crucial CT64M4 SSD
Western Digital 750Gb Caviar Black 7200RPM 32MB Cache
Western Digital 2 TB Cavier Green 7200RPM 16MB Cache
Internet Speed 25+ mbps
Other Info Sound Blaster Tactic Alpha THX headset
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25 May 2011
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#10 | |
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Quote: Originally Posted by lovewin7yea i use white canyon wipe drive. works excellent Hmm, seems that's a $20 program while Eraser is free.
Do you guys think Eraser is effective enough that I can rest easy at night knowing the drive is completely wiped? | | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Built it myself
OS Windows 7 64 & Ubuntu 64
CPU Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.40GHz
Motherboard Asus
Memory 8g
Graphics Card Nvidia 9600 GT & 9800 GT
Sound Card Turtle Beach 5.1
Monitor(s) Displays Three 19" Dell's & one 46" Samsung 750
Going to sell my 500g Passport to upgrade, how many times to Format? problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:08 PM. |  |
