I know some folks posted some programs a few months back but I can't remember which ones they were. So does anyone have a program they have used for hard drive sanitization?
Thermite...Take some Aluminum powder (Extra Fine) and some Black Iron Oxide...Mix together. Add a sparkler to ignite above your computer. Stand back and say bye bye to hard drive...
Reformatting is not enough. All reformatting does is sever the connections between filenames and the registry. This data is then written over when new data is put in that same sector of the drive. What this means is that you have lots of retrievable data ripe for the plucking. What file wiping does is overwrite that data multiple times with random strings of numbers so that it becomes much more difficult to obtain the old data. The U.S. government DoD used to have a Blowfish encryption (3 pass multiwipe). Now it's much more advanced, but a single file wipe of random numbers is usually sufficient. I recommend Eraser. It's freeware, and spyware/malware/adware free. I've used it for years. J.
What are you doing with your computer that would warrant the need to absolutely wipe every last piece of data on it clean?
My computer is the focal point of every single piece of information that arrives in digital form. Medications, addresses, social security numbers, bank accounts, passwords, medical records, emails, private messages, and so on. It's just a smart thing to do to wipe it clean. Most data is not written sequentially. Even if you defragged your drive every day, there would still be data placed in random sectors. No. J.
want a computer-shaped hole in your floor? Yeah, didn't think so. Yeah, steer clear of thermite, mmkay? I like AVG free (since it doesn't cost anything and works great!) I also love my Norton - picks up on intrusions like *snap* that Spybot Search & Destroy (not free) Perfect Disk - ultimate defragger and free space consolidator (not free) Advanced Windows Optimizer - lots of nifty tools to clean and tweak (again, not free)
JustAFriend, unless you own the Gross Point Public Library's web site, I would recommend not violating the board's hotlinking rules. I'm going to switch it to a regular link until you can get the image on server space that doesn't break the rules. Sorry to ruin the sight gag, but the hotlinking rules are the hotlinking rules. Thank you.
Unless you are planning to reused it, put some gasoline on it and let it burn until it's a pile of sticky liquid. In fact, if you are that worried, don't let anybody have it at all. If what ever program you do use leaves behind a trace to show it was used, and someone with the knowledge find that, they'll wonder what was on it. And there is always some better program to get irretreivable stuff.