How do i format my pc a 100% without leaving any trace behind??

well my question was if there were any programs that did the same job as dnb,but instead of not using the dnb cd or cmd

You'll save hours if you run HP System Recovery and be handing over the PC exactly like it came from factory, whereas if you Secure Wipe you'll need either make Recovery Disks first to run, or do the Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 .

Many HP's have a Minimal Recovery option on the F11 menu which is nearly a Clean Reinstall and does everything itself.


Factory Recovery also will delete all of your files sufficiently enough that you don't need to worry about remainders.

Take the time and do the DBAN. It works very well. It can take many hours but that's your assurance that everything is wiped beyond recovery.
A program that runs on Windows can't erase the program it's running on. That's why you do it from a disk that in a sense has it's own operating system.
I've sold two computers with the hard drives running DBAN first then reloading a fresh copy of Seven.
Jim

otisdog said:

Take the time and do the DBAN. It works very well. It can take many hours but that's your assurance that everything is wiped beyond recovery.
A program that runs on Windows can't erase the program it's running on. That's why you do it from a disk that in a sense has it's own operating system.
I've sold two computers with the hard drives running DBAN first then reloading a fresh copy of Seven.
Jim

Speaking of disk overwriting, is the one pass method as effective as multiple pass methods? Since disk drives are so huge now, even one pass could take hours.

I'm going to be flat out honest here realmadrid25, if you are that paranoid about your privacy and security concerning your personal information that might remain on your computer's hard drive then I advise that you remove the hard drive that is currently installed and physically destroy it.

The only truly guaranteed way to ensure that your personal information on your computer is erased completely is to physically destroy the HDD that contains that information. DBAN has been used for absolute deletion of personal information, but it's still a software solution and there are no guarantees especially if you are very paranoid about it all.

If the OP was worried about deleted but recoverable data, what about CCleaner's 'wipe free space' ? I tested this function a while back using recovery software and a before/after test. Deleted stuff seemed overwritten. One consideration with this method, is that with IE10+ browsing history is stored in a locked file webcacheV01.dat. CCleaner doesn't wipe this file, but does erase Firefox data. IE history is still readable.

thread on webcache -
Delete WebCacheV01.dat, WebCacheV01.dat Viewer & Deleter | Wilders Security Forums

I find this and the previous method of storing browser history (index.dat) a bit sinister
index.dat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

now where's that tinfoil hat . . .

Use the full recovery option if still available. Then fill the rest of the space with some 10GB video copied into folders until full hd :O) then delete all that and run a wipe free space program a few times. Or image the recovery partitions unto a new inexpensive hd, and do a full refresh (haven't tried that, but should work). Or if you have access to correct install media, do a fresh install on a new hd, and install drivers from the manufacturer website as needed (and make use of the old hd for personal backup\files). Good luck.