Guest rc Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Hello group what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing around with an older computer and basically want to start from scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks
Guest dadiOH Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: erase hard drive rc wrote: > Hello group > > what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing > around with an older computer and basically want to start from > scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need to do. -- dadiOH ____________________________ dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Guest Don Phillipson Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: erase hard drive > rc wrote: > > what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing > > around with an older computer and basically want to start from > > scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message news:ugseztj8HHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need to > do. Confirmed: use of FDISK also lets you ensure the logical drive format is FAT32 (preferable) and enabed for long filenames. The whole process of reinstallation is well documented at http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
Guest someone Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: erase hard drive "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message news:ugseztj8HHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > rc wrote: >> Hello group >> >> what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing >> around with an older computer and basically want to start from >> scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks > > You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need to > do. > eh? I though that fdisk/format would erase the hard drive. What does zapping do, then? (And how do you do it?) Does it involve a hammer? ;-) s.
Guest dadiOH Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: erase hard drive someone wrote: > "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message > news:ugseztj8HHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >> rc wrote: >>> Hello group >>> >>> what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing >>> around with an older computer and basically want to start from >>> scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks >> >> You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need >> to do. >> > > eh? I though that fdisk/format would erase the hard drive. No, it just sets up the partion(s) and file system. Makes the boot sector. _____________ > What does zapping do, then? (And how do you do it?) Does it involve a > hammer? ;-) That depends on your degree of paranoia. One could use any of many programs to write a byte pattern to all tracks, one or more times, thereby replacing whatever is there. "Whatever is there" is what was there before the drive was formatted. If it is a new drive, it is filler bytes. If it is a used drive, it is the files that were there. The latter are no good as all information *about* them - what they are, where they start, how long they are, etc. - is lost when the drive is formatted. However, anyone that has a program that will read a drive by tracks or sectors can view whatever snippets happen to be in a given sector/track. Which is why some people like to use a program to overwrite those snippets. If you *really* want to zap the drive, wave a magnet over it. That destroys everything including all track info put there by the manufacturer when he "deep formatted" the drive. Such a drive is unusable until it is again "deep formatted"...a very lengthy process given the size of today's drives. Time was when the word "format" meant what "deep format" does now. Those times are gone. -- dadiOH ____________________________ dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Guest someone Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: erase hard drive "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message news:uFmA0il8HHA.748@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > someone wrote: >> "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message >> news:ugseztj8HHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >>> rc wrote: >>>> Hello group >>>> >>>> what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing >>>> around with an older computer and basically want to start from >>>> scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks >>> >>> You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need >>> to do. >>> >> >> eh? I though that fdisk/format would erase the hard drive. > > No, it just sets up the partion(s) and file system. Makes the boot > sector. > _____________ > >> What does zapping do, then? (And how do you do it?) Does it > involve a >> hammer? ;-) > > That depends on your degree of paranoia. One could use any of many > programs to write a byte pattern to all tracks, one or more times, > thereby replacing whatever is there. "Whatever is there" is what was > there before the drive was formatted. If it is a new drive, it is > filler bytes. If it is a used drive, it is the files that were there. > > The latter are no good as all information *about* them - what they > are, where they start, how long they are, etc. - is lost when the > drive is formatted. However, anyone that has a program that will read > a drive by tracks or sectors can view whatever snippets happen to be > in a given sector/track. Which is why some people like to use a > program to overwrite those snippets. > > If you *really* want to zap the drive, wave a magnet over it. That > destroys everything including all track info put there by the > manufacturer when he "deep formatted" the drive. Such a drive is > unusable until it is again "deep formatted"...a very lengthy process > given the size of today's drives. > > Time was when the word "format" meant what "deep format" does now. > Those times are gone. > Thanks for the interesting info. What do you think about using a utility like, e.g. Killdisk? Would it do the biz without a hammer or magnet? I want to recycle a PC I bought in 1993, but don't want to leave it with data/programs on it. Sorry to interrupt the original posting. someone
Guest MEB Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: erase hard drive "someone" <someone@flibbernet.com> wrote in message news:46e311e4$0$11435$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk... | | "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message | news:uFmA0il8HHA.748@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... | > someone wrote: | >> "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message | >> news:ugseztj8HHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... | >>> rc wrote: | >>>> Hello group | >>>> | >>>> what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing | >>>> around with an older computer and basically want to start from | >>>> scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks | >>> | >>> You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need | >>> to do. | >>> | >> | >> eh? I though that fdisk/format would erase the hard drive. | > | > No, it just sets up the partion(s) and file system. Makes the boot | > sector. | > _____________ | > | >> What does zapping do, then? (And how do you do it?) Does it | > involve a | >> hammer? ;-) | > | > That depends on your degree of paranoia. One could use any of many | > programs to write a byte pattern to all tracks, one or more times, | > thereby replacing whatever is there. "Whatever is there" is what was | > there before the drive was formatted. If it is a new drive, it is | > filler bytes. If it is a used drive, it is the files that were there. | > | > The latter are no good as all information *about* them - what they | > are, where they start, how long they are, etc. - is lost when the | > drive is formatted. However, anyone that has a program that will read | > a drive by tracks or sectors can view whatever snippets happen to be | > in a given sector/track. Which is why some people like to use a | > program to overwrite those snippets. | > | > If you *really* want to zap the drive, wave a magnet over it. That | > destroys everything including all track info put there by the | > manufacturer when he "deep formatted" the drive. Such a drive is | > unusable until it is again "deep formatted"...a very lengthy process | > given the size of today's drives. | > | > Time was when the word "format" meant what "deep format" does now. | > Those times are gone. | > | Thanks for the interesting info. What do you think about using a utility | like, e.g. Killdisk? Would it do the biz without a hammer or magnet? I | want to recycle a PC I bought in 1993, but don't want to leave it with | data/programs on it. | | Sorry to interrupt the original posting. | | someone | | Killdisk MIGHT suit your purpose, though it may not work as well as claimed. You can also try MHDD [hard drive guru] http://mhdd.com . -- MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com ________
Guest Ron Badour Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: erase hard drive What I do is format the partition (assumes there is only one), install the system, defrag it and then use software like Eraser to overwrite the "blank" area on the drive. Eraser: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Freeware that overwrites the "blank" data on a hard drive. -- Regards Ron Badour MS MVP 1997 - 2007 "someone" <someone@flibbernet.com> wrote in message news:46e311e4$0$11435$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk... > > "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message > news:uFmA0il8HHA.748@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >> someone wrote: >>> "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message >>> news:ugseztj8HHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >>>> rc wrote: >>>>> Hello group >>>>> >>>>> what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing >>>>> around with an older computer and basically want to start from >>>>> scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks >>>> >>>> You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need >>>> to do. >>>> >>> >>> eh? I though that fdisk/format would erase the hard drive. >> >> No, it just sets up the partion(s) and file system. Makes the boot >> sector. >> _____________ >> >>> What does zapping do, then? (And how do you do it?) Does it >> involve a >>> hammer? ;-) >> >> That depends on your degree of paranoia. One could use any of many >> programs to write a byte pattern to all tracks, one or more times, >> thereby replacing whatever is there. "Whatever is there" is what was >> there before the drive was formatted. If it is a new drive, it is >> filler bytes. If it is a used drive, it is the files that were there. >> >> The latter are no good as all information *about* them - what they >> are, where they start, how long they are, etc. - is lost when the >> drive is formatted. However, anyone that has a program that will read >> a drive by tracks or sectors can view whatever snippets happen to be >> in a given sector/track. Which is why some people like to use a >> program to overwrite those snippets. >> >> If you *really* want to zap the drive, wave a magnet over it. That >> destroys everything including all track info put there by the >> manufacturer when he "deep formatted" the drive. Such a drive is >> unusable until it is again "deep formatted"...a very lengthy process >> given the size of today's drives. >> >> Time was when the word "format" meant what "deep format" does now. >> Those times are gone. >> > Thanks for the interesting info. What do you think about using a utility > like, e.g. Killdisk? Would it do the biz without a hammer or magnet? I > want to recycle a PC I bought in 1993, but don't want to leave it with > data/programs on it. > > Sorry to interrupt the original posting. > > someone >
Guest Lil' Dave Posted September 9, 2007 Posted September 9, 2007 Re: erase hard drive "rc" <rc@home> wrote in message news:uCnzqni8HHA.5712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > Hello group > > what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing around > with an older computer and basically want to start from scratch. machine > has problems completing boot up. thanks > I like to "zero write" a hard drive if starting from scratch. Can be chancy on an older system if the hard drive is starting to have problems as the HD mfr's software will render it unusable if too many bad areas are found. At least with WD that is the case. Also can take a long time, possibly overnight with a real slow system. Dave
Guest rc Posted September 9, 2007 Posted September 9, 2007 Re: erase hard drive thanks but my apologies as I don't know how to accomplish that. Currently I can only get the computer to boot us cd rom support. Its sitting at A:. Is fdisk/format a "utility"? sorry for my novice. "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com> wrote in message news:ugseztj8HHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > rc wrote: >> Hello group >> >> what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing >> around with an older computer and basically want to start from >> scratch. machine has problems completing boot up. thanks > > You have no need to zap the HD...fdisk/format will do all you need to > do. > > -- > > dadiOH > ____________________________ > > dadiOH's dandies v3.06... > ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from > LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. > Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico > > >
Guest dadiOH Posted September 9, 2007 Posted September 9, 2007 Re: erase hard drive rc wrote: > thanks but my apologies as I don't know how to accomplish that. > Currently I can only get the computer to boot us cd rom support. > Its sitting at A:. Is fdisk/format a "utility"? sorry for my Fdisk is a program on your boot floppy. So is format. If you don't know how to use them, learn before trying. -- dadiOH ____________________________ dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Guest Ben Myers Posted September 9, 2007 Posted September 9, 2007 Re: erase hard drive "rc" <rc@home> wrote in message news:uCnzqni8HHA.5712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > Hello group > what is the best and cleanest way to erase a hard drive. Playing around > with an older computer and basically want to start from scratch. machine > has problems completing boot up. thanks Start the computer with a Windows 98 boot floppy, type "format" followed by the drive letter of the drive you are trying to erase, press "Enter" and confirm the operation. For example, if you are trying to erase the "C:" drive, type "format c:". Ben
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