Gaming Dumb question about software to nuke a HDD?

[astrangeone]

My friend needs to get rid of an older household PC. It's a Pentium 2, and she wants me to completely nuke the hard drive. (It's a IDE hard drive.) I remember there was a program for repeatedly rewriting stuff to it - any one got any recommendations? I intend to hook up the HDD to my laptop via a hard drive enclosure, but I just want an easy program to nuke it.

Also, my mother bought a refurb'ed laptop. A Thinkpad - T61. What's a good anti-spyware software?

 

[Luigi2012SM64DS]

format it and whle it formatting unplug the hdd

 

[Foxi4]

My friend needs to get rid of an older household PC. It's a Pentium 2, and she wants me to completely nuke the hard drive. (It's a IDE hard drive.) I remember there was a program for repeatedly rewriting stuff to it - any one got any recommendations? I intend to hook up the HDD to my laptop via a hard drive enclosure, but I just want an easy program to nuke it.

Also, my mother bought a refurb'ed laptop. A Thinkpad - T61. What's a good anti-spyware software?

Anything that does scheduled formatting, better yet, Low-Level formatting will do. What's the brand of the HDD? It's best if you use its "factory tools", they're available online.

 

[Midna]

My computer recycling depot uses Darik's Boot and Nuke. God knows what she had on there that would require a secure wipe though...

That said, an IDE HDD as old as a Pentium II is probably pretty useless by now, unless you're using it for a PS2

 

[astrangeone]

Not planning to use it for anything else. Just doing her a favour and wiping secure information off it.

 

[Fishaman P]

Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is what is most commonly used. It writes the entire hard drive with 0's.

 

[Foxi4]

format it and whle it formatting unplug the hdd

That's the dumbest thing you could possibly do - do you want to damage the HDD's plate or something? You NEVER do that.

Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is what is most commonly used. It writes the entire hard drive with 0's.

If you Zero-Write it then make sure to do it at least 5 times if you want stuff to be "unretrievable".

My computer recycling depot uses Darik's Boot and Nuke. God knows what she had on there that would require a secure wipe though...

That said, an IDE HDD as old as a Pentium II is probably pretty useless by now, unless you're using it for a PS2

Why, kind sir, do you not find the hum of an old HDD particularly pleasing?

 

[Luigi2012SM64DS]

format it and whle it formatting unplug the hdd

That's the dumbest thing you could possibly do - do you want to damage the HDD's plate or something? You NEVER do that.

isn't that what nuke a harddrive means?

 

[Foxi4]

format it and whle it formatting unplug the hdd

That's the dumbest thing you could possibly do - do you want to damage the HDD's plate or something? You NEVER do that.

isn't that what nuke a harddrive means?

I think he meant "wiping the hard drive to the point where data is unretrievable" not "destroy the damn thing with fire" lol.

 

[DinohScene]

Thats why I always keep a hammer in my pocket!

OT:
HDKiller or something similar does a lot of write cycles to a drive which destroys the data to a point of no retrieval.

---

 

[Midna]

Not planning to use it for anything else. Just doing her a favour and wiping secure information off it.

...
I have the perfect software for you!

Spoiler

 

[Foxi4]

Isn't a microwave going to be more flashy and possibly explosive or flamable effective?

 

[astrangeone]

Thanks for the chuckles! Yeah, I'd probably end up using Darik's Boot and Nuke or HDKiller for it. (I need to be more specific about what I need done, no?)

God, i hate doing this for people.

 

[Midna]

:|
Destroy the drive. Physically. It'll be more quicker, less work and more fun than spending time doing multiple zero writes. Smash it up, microwave it, take it apart and drag a knife across the disk... your choice.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

:|
Destroy the drive. Physically. It'll be more quicker, less work and more fun than spending time doing multiple zero writes. Smash it up, microwave it, take it apart and drag a knife across the disk... your choice.

And if you take it apart you can get 2 really cool magnets out of the deal. Just be careful they are neodymium magnets and are VERY strong, if you pinch your fingers or other body parts with them its possible to injure yourself.

I use them on my freezer for things that I absolutely do not want to fall off... lol

 

[nico445]

if it doesn't have any use anyway. just take of the top and let it spin without top. then destroy it with a screwdriver. while it's copying files Pretty fun to do.

 

[Arsic]

Toss the drive into a metal grinder.

 

[Zetta_x]

If you don't plan on using it again, use thermite

 

[Originality]

Quantum Singularity anybody? They're pretty efficient for disposal...

 

[Zetta_x]

Quantum Singularity anybody? They're pretty efficient for disposal...

Singularities! Which reminds me!

Divide by zero!