Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 24915
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2025/05/24 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
5/24    

2002/5/22-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:24915 Activity:very high
05/22   Any recommendations for a utility to totally erase a PC laptop
        disk's contents. I'm selling my laptop and want my files etc.
        totally wiped.
        \_ Destroy the disk and grind it up.  Only way.  For those who
           don't have top secret stuff, merely reformatting and filling
           with emac dists will do just fine.
        \_ There may be something better but one of the tools included with
           PGP for windows is a wiper. It writes seven layers of random
           bits over every selected file, as I recall. -- ulysses
        \_ Would this naive approach be secure enough: re-partition the whole
           disk to several FAT partitions then fill up each partition with a
           single file containing 0xFF until the partition is full?
           \_ if you're really worried, supposedly you can scan for variations
              in gauss levels of each bit and tell if it was recently changed.
              There are some government protocols for disposing of harddrives.
              If you're this worried, though, i've got a bomb shelter i'd like
              to sell you.
              \_ I remember reading somewhere that data can be read off hard
                 drive that's been wiped(written random bits on) up to six
                 times, which is probably why the "wiper" program mentioned
                 above wipes it seven times.
           \_ a layer of 0xff, a layer of 0x00, a layer of 0xff, ...
              until you feel comfortable about the gauss levels mentioned
              above.
        \_ The above 'naive' approach is more than enough for a simple sale to
           a private individual.  In theory the data can still be recovered by
           a professional data recovery firm that will charm thousands of
           dollars with no promises of recovery.  I'm sure the FBI,etc can
           recover it though as they have essentially infinite resources but
           I don't think this is a serious concern.
        \_ what's wrong with just repartitioning the drive?
           \_ Data is still there. Only partition and file tables are wiped.
        \_ If you're so worried, why don't just keep your existing disk
           and replace it with a cheap ass disk you can get at Fry's.
           \_ for starters the 2" disk in a laptop is very expensive. !op
              \_ and the time wasted in discussing all this is probably even
                 more than that.
                 \_ A 2" disk could run $150+ for even a smaller drive.  I
                    think the motd time spent on this is about zero.  Actually
                    I was at work for most of this thread so I got paid for it.
2025/05/24 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
5/24    

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