PC geniuses come in here

[Brandon04GT]

Thanks everybody for all the helpful responses. I decided I am gonna try and just do the flashdrive/dban method as it seems easiest. I'm trying to get some work done on my computer now and i'll try the dban thing out tonight before bed.

One way or another my computer should be almost as good as new by tomorrow...only question is whether i'll be able to accomplish the dban thingy. I'll let you guys know tomorrow....after I spend half the day downloading and installing random basic stuff again.

I woulda given my old HDD the hammer treatment too but I'm pretty sure the tech has to keep the old one to send back to Dell.

[weqo]

no one seemed to address the fact that if your windows partition is on C:, you CANT just right click and format it. You cant format the partition that your operating system is running off of. you'll need to boot into something else to erase the hard drive.

[the86d]

no one seemed to address the fact that if your windows partition is on C:, you CANT just right click and format it. You cant format the partition that your operating system is running off of. you'll need to boot into something else to erase the hard drive.

That was addressed, and why the thread is so long...

[Brandon04GT]

Of course, dban doesn't seem to be ****ing working properly...seems like I can never get anything on this laptop to work.

[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?

Slax is a 200MB D/Load, under 512MB decompressed, and just run the batch file to make a flash drive bootable... (Wireless driver might be an issue if you are not plugged in to Ethernet would be my only concern, aside from native MAX resolution probably not being supported.)

I cannot recall Slax not running on anything I ever put it on, like Slackware(, and you could be wiping the drive while surfing the Internet in a GUI with Slax, and functional Internet after the wipe too).

Edit: Correction, just tried USB for the 1st time in while, and it was zippy-fast. I had to set BIOS to boot to "REMOVABLE DEVICES" not "USB Drive", and it booted with up.

[DaveInOroValley]

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??

Here you go:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7816446.stm

http://carpesomediem.hubpages.com/hub/dispose-of-hd-at-home

A quote from the bottom article:

"The safest way to dispose of a hard drive is to physically destroy it. Many companies, universities and businesses institute a policy to do just that. All you need is a power drill, gloves and potentially goggles to destroy your drive. Most consumer electronics stores will do this as a courtesy for customers worried about what will happen to their old hard drives. Once you are ready, you want to drill four holes through the hard drive circular discs. This will make the drive unable to spin at all, and nobody will be able to access any information on it. If you have the tools, you can go even further and physically take apart the drive and damage the individual components."

[whatpain]

Here you go:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7816446.stm

http://carpesomediem.hubpages.com/hu...-of-hd-at-home

oh thanks man so if he decides to sell his pc on ebay he should be worried. thankfully dell is not going to sell his old hard drive on ebay. also did you read the article??

"But for most people, the freely available deleting software or a simple hard drive formatting procedure should make the data sufficiently difficult to retrieve as to not be worth a criminal's time."

^^^^ from your article! thats what i have been saying the whole time. if your format the drive, however you do it, it should be enough. unless the criminal specifically knows youre a millionaire and keep all your bank info on your pc why would he go through the trouble of trying to pull info off of your formatted hard drive?? it isnt as easy as this article makes it seem. and the article doesnt mention how the hard drives purchased on ebay were wiped or if they even were wiped at all. anyway op theres no reason to worry after you finish formatting youll be ok. and anyways since when do we believe the media?? especially the british media??

[the86d]

The morals of the person doing the work can be the issue, and with less-than-moral people working everywhere now(although not HDD related, but tech moral related and if they will do this,) I assume they'd grab your files too:

http://consumerist.com/2007/04/geek-squad-sued-for-videoing-customer-in-shower.html

[whatpain]

haha. ok well you got me. you guys are both right. so the moral of the story here is that the op should be worried that dell is going to sell his hard drive on ebay and some id theft guy is going to buy it and pull his identity off of it, even though no one can show specific examples of identitys being stolen. also the technician from dell is going to morph into a geek squad agent and put cameras into his bathroom. haha

[the86d]

haha. ok well you got me. you guys are both right. so the moral of the story here is that the op should be worried that dell is going to sell his hard drive on ebay and some id theft guy is going to buy it and pull his identity off of it, even though no one can show specific examples of identitys being stolen. also the technician from dell is going to morph into a geek squad agent and put cameras into his bathroom. haha

I stated that they COULD grab girlfriend, or daughter pictures... and do who-knows-what with them... for starters.

Different points were being made, with different examples of why it is best to "PREVENT" any data being appropriated.

[whatpain]

yeah. that is true. all im saying is the likelihood is almost nil. i have been a pc technician for a long time now as well as a sears home services technician and i can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that every technician i know can care less about your data or pictures of your daughter or whatever else youre worried about. i have 12 other pcs i have to fix today do you really think im going to stop on each one and search for whatever you may or may not have on your hard drive?? or try and recover whatever data may be there?? it would be easier for me to go to starbucks and pull data off their public wifi on a saturday then to try and recover what you may or may not have on your hard drive

[the86d]

yeah. that is true. all im saying is the likelihood is almost nil. i have been a pc technician for a long time now as well as a sears home services technician and i can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that every technician i know can care less about your data or pictures of your daughter or whatever else youre worried about. i have 12 other pcs i have to fix do you really think im going to stop on each one and search for whatever you may or may not have on your hard drive?? or try and recover whatever data may be there?? it would be easier for me to go to starbucks and pull data off their public wifi on a saturday then to try and recover what you may or may not have on your hard drive

I am with you completely, but the OP was interested in formatting, but then found out that data could still be pulled in a few hours. We are just trying to make sure that he does what he thinks is best, and give complete info that some don't know, how to prevent it... and still be able to get a new drive on warranty.

[Coded-Dude]

They generally send these drives overseas to be refurbished. I wouldn't trust anyone with my data. Wipe the drive, always.

[whatpain]

I am with you completely, but the OP was interested in formatting, but then found out that data could still be pulled in a few hours. We are just trying to make sure that he does what he thinks is best, and give complete info that some don't know, how to prevent it... and still be able to get a new drive on warranty.

yeah. did he manage to do it? i guess we wont know till after the dell guy is done cause thats his only pc.

[the86d]

He had issues with dban from USB, and he isn't posting, so I don't know.

(If it is any consolation, I just made my 1st USB DOS-BIOS flasher ever, thanks to the interest renewed and having some slow time [it is nice to have slow time, when it happens]. I was using floppies until about 10 minutes ago!!! )