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DIGIT-ARC / Software / Software Q&A

Best HDD scrubbing software?

11 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/best-hdd-scrubbing-software.141476/

L
lalam Original post #1
May 29, 2011 at 3:19 PM
Hey guys am about to sell an old PC but i was confused over what to use to scrub the HDD, to make files permanently unrecoverable. Or should i format it twice to thrice? Is it gonna be enough?

I'd prefer one that would do it fast.

Thank you all in advance.
krishnandu.sarkar
krishnandu.sarkar #2
May 29, 2011 at 7:06 PM
I'd recommend Active@ Kill Disk Hard Drive Eraser. Low Level Format.

There are many methods, but I personally recommend Gutmann's method. You can google the methods out and choose gracefully :p
A
abhinav_sinha #3
May 29, 2011 at 7:53 PM
I suggest Daric boot and Nuke Link- DBAN Download | Darik's Boot And Nuke as you can custom no. of writes.
sygeek
sygeek #4
May 29, 2011 at 9:42 PM
abhinav_sinha said:
I suggest Daric boot and Nuke Link- DBAN Download | Darik's Boot And Nuke as you can custom no. of writes.
Click to expand...
Was going to suggest the same software.
@OP: It's an awesome and small software worth using.
L
lalam #5
May 29, 2011 at 9:49 PM
@abhinav & SyGeek

I hope it's fast. Read about people having to do 16GB for hours and hours with some software. It'd be a nightmare if that's what i have to do too, yikes!

And thanks all three, yeh gracefully :p
A
abhinav_sinha #6
May 30, 2011 at 4:52 PM
lalam said:
I hope it's fast. Read about people having to do 16GB for hours and hours with some software. It'd be a nightmare if that's what i have to do too, yikes!
Click to expand...
You can start with less no of writes then see if the time is up to your mark. If not go for lees writes so as to take breaks if you prefer but its good.
Zangetsu
Zangetsu #7
May 30, 2011 at 4:57 PM
@lalam: u can try Drive Scrubber.It has many methods of wiping a drive
aswin1
aswin1 #8
May 31, 2011 at 1:32 AM
Download Hirens Boot CD. It has many options including those mentioned above. It will take less time as you'll be working from the boot CD and not the Disk.
doomgiver
doomgiver #9
May 31, 2011 at 8:34 AM
lalam said:
@abhinav & SyGeek

I hope it's fast. Read about people having to do 16GB for hours and hours with some software. It'd be a nightmare if that's what i have to do too, yikes!

And thanks all three, yeh gracefully :p
Click to expand...

well, depends upon what type of wiping you are doing.
for regular users, the hdd is formatted normally and then written with zeros'
for super-secret military wiping, the hdd is overwritten with 0's, and then every sector is overwritten with random pattern of bits 48 times, then it is wiped and 0's are put in again, thats why it takes so much time.

that way, its impossible to recover any kind of data
xtremevicky
xtremevicky #10
May 31, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Why dont you keep the HDD and apply casing and use it as a portable device ?
doomgiver
doomgiver #11
May 31, 2011 at 12:26 PM
maybe the deal is with the hdd?