PC geniuses come in here

[Brandon04GT]

Well okay I do have a portable HDD.

So I can download it into my portable HDD....plug it into computer....restart and spam-press F12 or whatever key that lets me choose the startup source....select USB drive....and let the magic play out?

[Montu]

Well okay I do have a portable HDD.

So I can download it into my portable HDD....plug it into computer....restart and spam-press F12 or whatever key that lets me choose the startup source....select USB drive....and let the magic play out?

Yes just follow the instructions to properly set it up to boot from your portable HDD, spam f12 select your portable hdd ...as noted at the end of the instructions you should unplug your hdd once the utility starts in order to avoid wiping your usb drive as well

[Coded-Dude]

Parted Magic - Create bootable USB device(since your CD/DVD drive is bad), boot OS and Write 0's to disk(with the program that comes with the OS).

[the86d]

Assuming you are plugged in to a Ethernet network, not wireless... here is a quick option:
(Dang with a dead CD/DVD you are REALLY LIMITED to basic options.)

I say Slax, basic Linux distro based on Slackware:

http://ftp.linux.cz/pub/linux/slax/SLAX-6.x/slax-6.2.0.tar

Untar the archive on your USB drive

Run "bootinst.bat" from the USB drive, and when it is done, set your BIOS/CMOS to boot to USB, and you are off.

You should have Internet after it is done booting, and if you do you can run off the USB and format from Linux (via a googled howto). Be advised: USB booting is slower than a HDD.

I see this as the only option to format if you can't boot to CD anyway, unless someone has a better option?

[Brandon04GT]

ah crap...just realized it probably won't work because I have a bunch of stuff on my portable HDD including all my backups.

I guess i'll have to see if I can find a random thumb drive....My computer also has an SD card reader and I can empty out my SD card, perhaps I can use that?

[the86d]

ah crap...just realized it probably won't work because I have a bunch of stuff on my portable HDD including all my backups.

I guess i'll have to see if I can find a random thumb drive....My computer also has an SD card reader and I can empty out my SD card, perhaps I can use that?

<512MB for the Slax option I believe it is.

[Montu]

ah crap...just realized it probably won't work because I have a bunch of stuff on my portable HDD including all my backups.

I guess i'll have to see if I can find a random thumb drive....My computer also has an SD card reader and I can empty out my SD card, perhaps I can use that?

you shouldn't be able to boot from an sd card (do you have the option if you hit f12?)...all you need is the worlds smallest usb thumb drive i think it said 32mb..go to the store ..i picked up a 4gb for $8

all other options also involve setting up a usb drive to boot from and run the utility/linux distro

[Coded-Dude]

Parted Magic ISO is 199MB - It is a linux OS with formatting utilities.

http://partedmagic.com/doku.php

[the86d]

With slax all you have to do is run a batch file to make it bootable.

(Double-Click it... )

Time to go home, I will check back in a few hours to see what you chose to do, and how you are doing on it.

[Coded-Dude]

You could also just use this: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

It has all the linux distros. But you have to know the terminal for most. I like Parted MAgic because its more user friendly(about partition management).....scripts/apps that prompt you for info; rather than having to remember the commands and flags(etc.).


Anywho.

[the86d]

Slax boots to a GUI (w/firefox I believe it had too) with Internet access on most LAN adapters I tried it on.

[Montu]

I THINK you can install Ubuntu using the windows installer and then boot into it and run the commands that were mentioned here before (post 6) and it will actually wipe the drive it's installed on

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/windows-installer

this is the only option i can think of if you can't get a hold of a USB drive to use.

[DaveInOroValley]

you dont need to do all this. just reformat before he comes over. you dont need to hardwipe or do anything crazy. trust me hes not going to pry into any personal files . hes just a dude doing a job and probably could really care less whats on your pc. if hes replacing your hdd hes gonna need to reinstall the os anyway so hes probably not even going to look at the old hdd if you have all your info backed up already

While in a perfect world this woould be true the guy coming out is the least of your worries. There are many documented cases of identity theft that happen after the hard drive is sold as scrap or even as a certified refurb.

With hard drives being as cheap as they are when ever I have had to replace one even if it was under warranty I paid the difference and took a sledge hammer to the old drive insuring it would never be used again.

[the86d]

While in a perfect world this woould be true the guy coming out is the least of your worries. There are many documented cases of identity theft that happen after the hard drive is sold as scrap or even as a certified refurb.

With hard drives being as cheap as they are when ever I have had to replace one even if it was under warranty I paid the difference and took a sledge hammer to the old drive insuring it would never be used again.

If he wasn't worried about the warranty, he'd have replaced the HDD AND CD/DVD drive by now...

[whatpain]

While in a perfect world this woould be true the guy coming out is the least of your worries. There are many documented cases of identity theft that happen after the hard drive is sold as scrap or even as a certified refurb.

With hard drives being as cheap as they are when ever I have had to replace one even if it was under warranty I paid the difference and took a sledge hammer to the old drive insuring it would never be used again.

id like to see the documented cases. werever i worked if a boss catches you even looking at someones personal info it was grounds for Immediate termination. anyone who doesnt wipe a hard drive correctly and someones info gets out puts that company at risk for a lawsuit. also a lot of places dont even bother (like dell for instance) refurbishing or reselling hard drives but they usually destroy them onsite now because they are so cheap. and when i say destroy i mean drill bit through the platters or into a special machine that destroys the platters. it may have happened before but i dont think its as widespread as you make it seem. i would like to know what the op decided to do??