Complete Clean of Hard drive

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  1. Posts : 5,440
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #1

    Complete Clean of Hard drive


    Three members of my PC club are prepared to donate their old PC's to help older people get started in Computing. They all want me to guarantee that the hard drives will be completely cleaned so that no data can be recovered. They are all savvy enough to know that formatting is not enough! I'm sure I can remember seeing a link to suitable free software that will do the job but for he life of me I can't find it now. I thought I saw it in one of Gregs tuts but can't see it there. I have found via Google this:
    http://easyfileshredder.com/landing/...etedFiles.html

    Do you think this will do the job?
    Any comments appreciated!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 10,994
    Win 7 Pro 64-bit
       #2

    I think the "Clean All" option using the Diskpart command will do what you want.

    Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command

    Another free tool often recommended is Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN.)

    Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 19,383
    Windows 10 Pro x64 ; Xubuntu x64
       #3

    Another option:

    Attach these disks to your PC.

    1. Delete files from HDD as normal, or format HDD, thereby creating free disk space, then
    2. Run the Windows inbuilt cipher command using this:

    Cipher Command - Overwrite Deleted Data in Windows

    Very easy to do, and any previously deleted data is completely unrecoverable.

    Regards,
    Golden
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #4

    diskpart
    list disk (now select the correct disk!)
    sel disk 0
    clean all
    exit


    clean all puts zeros on all sectors. it takes a long time to complete.
    Can older people that are going to use windows use a totally blank disk?? Peolpe starting to get computing can't install windows themself!
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 5,440
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Thanks all for the info. I should have given more detail. I would anticipate more PC's being donated in the future. Some if not the majority will be Win XP. It will down to me to clean the HD's and I will re install whatever OS was on there in the first place. I know it would be better to start people off with the most modern setup but beggars can't be choosers and many potential users will give up after a short while. I aim to just give people an idea of what it is like to use a keyboard and a mouse. Very low key stuff. But first I must protect the integrity of the people kind enough to donate the PC's in the first place. I am trusted to see what is on their old and new machines so I need to maintain that level of trust.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 3,724
    Windows 10x64 Build 1709
       #6

    I can't remember the name of the last one I used...... something to do with ocean? I'll see if I can dig it up...... but other than that you could try one of these: 5 Free Programs to Completely Wipe a Hard Drive
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #7

    Kaktussoft said:
    diskpart
    list disk (now select the correct disk!)
    sel disk 0
    clean all
    exit


    clean all puts zeros on all sectors. it takes a long time to complete.
    Can older people that are going to use windows use a totally blank disk?? Peolpe starting to get computing can't install windows themself!
    this had been suggested already.

    Also CCleaner has a disk wipe utility too. Lotsa ways to do it.:)
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 5,440
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Well I have studied all the replies for which Thank You all. I really want a program that will clean the HD completely. That will allow me to swap HD's among the PC's if I need to. I am anticipating that if I get 4 PC's donated I might make 3 decent ones. So far Darik's Boot and Nuke looks the best bet and I am trying this on an old XP machine at the moment. It looks like it will take about 4 hours to do all three passes so I will leave it going while I doze in front of the fire and report back tomorrow. Thanks to all again!
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 10,994
    Win 7 Pro 64-bit
       #9

    Look forward to your report, John.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 5,440
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Well Darik's Boot and Nuke has just finished and as far as i can tell all looks OK. Tomorrow I will try to retrieve some data from the HD and see what happens. Just as an exercise
      My Computer


 
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