Solved Installing windows 7 after wiping hard drive?

[newbiegirl]

Hey,

So basically I'm selling my laptop, and obviously I want to get rid of all my data/make sure it cannot be recovered again. Now I'm a complete newbie but I'm not really sure as to what's the best method to go about doing this.

I was thinking of running DBan to overwrite the hard drive and then reinstall windows 7. But I don't have a windows 7 installation disk. I only have some recovery CD's that PCWorld made for me when I first got my laptop which I think is just a system image so I don't know if I'd be able to use it to reinstall windows 7?

My other option I was thinking of was to just replace the hard drive altogether but again that leads to the question that will my recovery/system images work on the new hard drive?


Thanks

 

[Barman58]

The simplest way would be to just restore to factory settings using the disks provided when you purchased the laptop, check when doing this that it follows usual practice and wipes the disk of all data before resetting the syastem to exactly as it was when shipped from the factory.

this should just be a case of either booting from the recovery disks and following the prompts, or running a program supplied by the manufacturer or PC World, details should be in the documentation supplied with the laptop in some cases you may be given more than one option, some may offer to retain various things you have added, data and applications etc. there should be an option to reset to factory condition, this is the one to choose.

The other advantage of this is that it should leave the system in a licensed state, and when the new user starts up for the first time it will go through the first start routine where they can create a user-name, password etc.

Before you start this process you should of course make sure you have copies of all the data and any disks and software keys for software you may have added whilst you were using the laptop

 

[richc46]

Barman has given excellent advice, but if you cannot use the restore partition, you can make an ISO of Seven, if you have the key number
Windows 7 Direct Download Links, Official Disk Images from Digital River
Sometimes the restore partition is corrupt and you may not have the Discs. As Barman has mentioned the best and easiest way, however, is to follow his suggestions

 

[newbiegirl]

Thanks for both the replies. If I do go down this method and restore the laptop to factory settings (there is a programme on my laptop "Samsung recovery solution" to do this) - is there still a chance that my data can be recovered from the hard drive?

From what I googled there always is a chance even after restoring the laptop to factory settings hence why I wanted to go down the DBan/new hard drive route - but will the system images be able to work on a completely blank drive?

Thanks

Sorry if I'm making no sense here!

 

[Barman58]

You are making a lot of sense

yes this is a small chance that someone could recover you data after a complete restore to factory settings, but the people who could do it are those in Law enforcement with very specialised and very very expensive facilities and specialists with the knowledge to do this. If you are really concerned with your data you can probably run the DBan rout on just your data and not your Operating system.

Most restore systems for the likes of Samsung work by wiping all data and partitions and re-writing the factory information back onto the hard disk bit by bit from a stored image, so the majority of space will be written over and the remainder cleared.

Unless you are selling your laptop to the CIA or NSA, and you have data that they are willing to spend a lot of time and money to recover you should be safe

 

[AddRAM]

If you replace the hard drive, you will not have a recovery partition/image unless you saved it externally or have the discs.

I would not even consider using a system image unless it is an out of box/factory image.

Data can always be retrieved from a hard drive. If you are worried, replace it.

 

[newbiegirl]

You are making a lot of sense

yes this is a small chance that someone could recover you data after a complete restore to factory settings, but the people who could do it are those in Law enforcement with very specialised and very very expensive facilities and specialists with the knowledge to do this. If you are really concerned with your data you can probably run the DBan rout on just your data and not your Operating system.

Most restore systems for the likes of Samsung work by wiping all data and partitions and re-writing the factory information back onto the hard disk bit by bit from a stored image, so the majority of space will be written over and the remainder cleared.

Unless you are selling your laptop to the CIA or NSA, and you have data that they are willing to spend a lot of time and money to recover you should be safe

How do I run the DBan just on my data and not the OS? That would be a lot better if I could just do the DBan on the data, reset it to factory settings and keep the OS that way before selling it on.

Thanks again

 

[newbiegirl]

If you replace the hard drive, you will not have a recovery partition/image unless you saved it externally or have the discs.

I would not even consider using a system image unless it is an out of box/factory image.

Data can always be retrieved from a hard drive. If you are worried, replace it.

It's a system image that I have of when I first bought the laptop. If I do replace the HD, can I use these system images to reinstall the OS onto the new HD?

 

[richc46]

You are making a lot of sense

yes this is a small chance that someone could recover you data after a complete restore to factory settings, but the people who could do it are those in Law enforcement with very specialised and very very expensive facilities and specialists with the knowledge to do this. If you are really concerned with your data you can probably run the DBan rout on just your data and not your Operating system.

Most restore systems for the likes of Samsung work by wiping all data and partitions and re-writing the factory information back onto the hard disk bit by bit from a stored image, so the majority of space will be written over and the remainder cleared.

Unless you are selling your laptop to the CIA or NSA, and you have data that they are willing to spend a lot of time and money to recover you should be safe

How do I run the DBan just on my data and not the OS? That would be a lot better if I could just do the DBan on the data, reset it to factory settings and keep the OS that way before selling it on.

Thanks again

Dban will wipe the system clean. Unless you are an undercover agent, I do not think it is necessary. Just install the new OS.

 

[Barman58]

It looks Like Dban is a limited free software that only works for complete disks, there is a commercial version that has this facility, but I think there may be alternate free software that can perform a selective wipe of a similar nature - i will see if I can source something for you - it may be tomorrow before i get back so if anyone else knows of something please jump in and help

As for the new disk option, this may be possible, although I have come across restore systems that will only work with an identical size / type of disk to the original, others work universally so would not have any issue

Edit

I just scanned the documentation for Dban and they mention that Certain agencies, would still be able to recover data, even after a full wipe with Dban, so i suppose that the re-install to factory shipped state would be as good as the wipe with Dban and then a re-install to factory as far as the ultimate security is concerned - for your peace of mind I will still look for an alternative to Dban for you

 

[AddRAM]

If you replace the hard drive, you will not have a recovery partition/image unless you saved it externally or have the discs.

I would not even consider using a system image unless it is an out of box/factory image.

Data can always be retrieved from a hard drive. If you are worried, replace it.

It's a system image that I have of when I first bought the laptop. If I do replace the HD, can I use these system images to reinstall the OS onto the new HD?

That`s what system images are for, what program did you use to create it ?

Windows native imaging does not always work to restore an image to a new or different hard drive.

 

[Barman58]

AddRam it's a Disk (set?) provided by the store selling the system but not sure if it's a samsung recovery set or one they created at the store - the op mentioned this in one of the early posts

 

[Wandering one]

Easiest would be to delete all your files, reset to factory settings, install CCleaner and use it to wipe all free space. You can select from 1 up to 35 overwrites but be prepared for quite a wait if you go for the larger numbers. Art.

 

[Layback Bear]

I'm not exactly sure what newbiegirl is looking for but here is a tutorial by Kari worth reading.

Prepare PC to be Sold



http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/197255-windows-7-installation-prepare-pc-sold.html

 

[newbiegirl]

Thank- you for all the replies

@AddRAM - It's a disk set (6 discs) that I created when I first powered on my laptop using the Samsung Recovery Solution software. The ones that the store created (PC World) were for a different laptop since I had to get that one exchanged as it was faulty hence why I'm unsure as to if they would work on this laptop now since they weren't created using this one but still the same laptop/model/version etc. But anyway, I did create my own set on this laptop.

Another thing - windows 7 was preinstalled hence why I don't have the windows 7 installation disk.

Thanks for the link Layback Bear!

So if I do this instead - make an iso of complete windows 7 using the links from digital river, run Dban and wipe the drive, then reinstall windows 7 would that work ?

Thanks again!

 

[richc46]

I do not know why not. Be sure that you have a valid key number and all your stuff is backed up.

 

[newbiegirl]

I do not know why not. Be sure that you have a valid key number and all your stuff is backed up.

Yup I have the product key on the bottom of laptop - that should work right?

 

[Layback Bear]

The key on the bottom of the laptop should work.

I would copy that key and save it some place safe. This is done just in case the one on the laptop gets damaged.
I keep my keys in the little plastic case I keep the DVD in.

 

[gregrocker]

If there is more than one disk in the Recovery set they gave you, and the other one is not labeled Drivers, then it is most likely for Recovery to Factory condition. A single Win7 Reinstallation DVD would normally be labeled that and a second disk would only be for drivers. What does it say on the disks?

If you have data which must be protected then wipe the HD using Diskpart Clean All Command which makes data unrecoverable by all but forensics means.

To access the Command Line from System Recovery Options use the System Repair Disc - Create
or Win7 disk provided in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Then run the Recovery Disks to see if they will complete factory recovery, or result in a Clean Reinstall if they are Reinstallation disks. As stated, Recovery disks will self-activate and include the preinstalled programs which came with PC. If these disks are unsatisfactory or fail then do the Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which results in a perfect install of Win7.

 

[newbiegirl]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm going to burn DBan & Windows 7 iso's onto discs, and run them and see what happens!

Will post back if all goes well.. or if I need further help (which I'm hoping I don't!)

Thanks