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  #1  
Old February 24th, 2006, 07:17 AM
Techno Phobia Techno Phobia is offline
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Wiping the computers drive and reinstalling the OS!!!!!!!!

I've posted quite a few times asking about how you erase all the internet content on your PC (Deleted files, temps, SWAP, Index.dat), everytime I've done so I have been advised to overwrite the entire drive and reinstall the OS. After much consideration I have finally decided that I'm going to do that, however, before I do I have quite a few questions- I'm simply asking these because I don't want to do it wrong.

1. What is the strongest FREE data eraser, I've heard eraser 5.7 is very good, making it almost impossible to recover the files/data. But is it the very best free one??

2. I have to admitt, I am pretty new to computers, I use eraser 5.7 to overwrite unused disc space but I don't use it for anything else. If possible I need someone who has used it to wipe their entire harddrive before to give me a step-by step guide on how use it to erase my current OS (when I say guide I mean directions such as go to content page, click options etc.)

3. Many people on this site say it is always possible to recover data even if you overwrite it many times. Surely if I use a eraser 5.7's 35 pass feature and run it 3/4 times then it would be almost impossible to recover it?Wouldn't it cost hundreds of thousands of pounds??

4. If you yourself are very,very good with computers, could you tell me how many passes you'd need to use on the drive so that a computer expert (or expensive software) could not recover your data??

5. To be honest even though this PC is mine other members of the family do use it on a regular basis for playing games, browsing the net, mp3s etc. I want to know if there's a way of keeping some of the things which are installed on our PC such as games, norton antivirus software, contents of the my music folder, my documents. Could you safe them to a floppy disc for instance and then load them onto the fresh version of windows?? Also is there any software available which can save you all the stuff you need to save, ideally though I'm looking for something which if you wanted to safe a game for instance would not just back up the game but all the contents that went with it- the desktop shortcut etc. My only other major worry is that my PC is networked with another one, we don't share files/folders but are both able to be online at the same time through our router. If possible I would want to somehow safe my ethernet adapters which were installed in my PC and the ethernet card which was installed. I have AOL.9 broadband, I was hoping to be able to safe my screen name the desktop shortcut, the router configuration etc. Basically anything and everything that allows me to get online using AOL. I'm worried if I messed it all up my family would know and want to know why!!

6. When I overwrite the drive using eraser 5.7 I also want to overwrite the file names of the entire drive, so someone will need to tell me how to do that before I erase everything.

7. I'm a bit worried about reinstalling the OS. My PC is a windows ME computer, however, many years ago someone took away the PC to remove a couple of viruses and spyware. When they returned it they told us they had installed Windows XP Proff on it, so our PC now had two OS's!! He gave us a disc of windows XP proff, my only worry is I'm not sure whether the disc he gave us was a legitimate version or not, we only used the company because they were recommended to us, but we had no idea what they were going to do to our PC!! If it isn't a legitimate then I would be a little uncomfortable using it. Would it even work??

I'm going to try and find out whether it is or not, I'm well aware of the law so will probably not be using it. Partly because I'd be terrified that it wouldn't work and if that happened my family would definitely find out, secondly I wouldn't want to do it on a moral standard.

Anyway I'll find out ASAP, I need someone to also give me a step-by step guide to installing both OS's again, when I turn on my computer a black screen comes which says chose between the following operating system

Windows ME
Windows XP proff

Obviously once I reinstall it would have to look completely the same, so no-one knows I've done it! It must still have the same settings as before with the options and the back screen. I'm planning on reinstalling both versions (XP,ME), I have discs for both so would be able to install them again hopefully. I will need direct and very clear step-by step instructions so everything runs smoothly- nothing can go wrong!

8. Last few questions- is there a way of completely backing up my current drive(s), so if (god forbid) anything did go wrong I could load them up again??

9. Final question- how long would it take to erase each drive using a 35 pass??

Sorry I've asked so many questions, I just want to do it correctly. If you can give the help I need please post!!!!

Hugely appreciated!!
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  #2  
Old February 24th, 2006, 05:04 PM
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oracle128 oracle128 is offline
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1. Yes, Eraser would be it. Actually, it's not Eraser you want to use to destroy the entire contents of the drive, but the included Darik's Boot and Nuke component (which can also be downloaded seperately).

2. From the Eraser website:
Quote:
Originally Posted by http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/quickstart.php
To erase your entire hard disk:
Eraser uses the 'Darik's Boot and Nuke' disk option to erase all your hard drives.
To use this option:
1. Place a floppy (or CD) in your a: drive.
2. Click on the Start button and then choose Programs->Eraser->Create Boot Nuke Disk.
3. Ensure 'Writing on Floppy' is ticked. Tick 'Formatting' if your floppy needs to be formatted.
4. Click OK. Result: Your Boot Nuke Disk has now been created.
5. Boot up your PC with the floppy still remaining in your a: drive.
Remember: If you wish to erase the Hard Disk of another PC, then bring this Floppy to the PC, insert it into the a: drive and Boot it up.
Result: All drives will now be erased (including the Operating System)
IMPORTANT: USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION
For a summary:
'Darik's Boot and Nuke' ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.'
3. The keyword is "almost impossible". The question is not "is it possible to recover the data?", but rather "how much time/money will someone spend trying to recover my data?". The truth is, like I've said in one of your previous threads, nobody really cares enough to recover after a simple format, or 1 or 2 passes of file overwriting, let alone a 35 pass, 3 or 4 times. Yes, it would cost a lot of time and money to recover data after a few passes, performed just once. Is someone going to waste their time finding out what sites you've visited, let alone thousands of dollars? Unless you've intentionally stored your credit card details on your PC, someone knows this, can gain physical access to your PC/hard drive, and has virtually unlimited resources, and your credit card has a trillion dollar limit, the answer is NO. Even a few passes just once is enough to adequately protect your data should, say, the Secret Service come a-knockin'.

4. Again, it depends on how hard someone is willing to try. A very rough guestimation - a plain old format is enough to prevent the average computer user and less away from your data. A couple (1-2) passes are enough to prevent access to "the computer guy next door". Several passes will take care of a nearby computer repair service. As far as I know, specialty data recovery centers charge according to time and effort spent, amount of data recovered etc, and this easily racks up to several hundred if not thousands of dollars. And rememver, data recovery centers are usually used by business or individuals who would have a significant financial or sentimental investment in the data being recovered, in times when the data is lost due to mechanical failure, corruption, damage/disaster, or simple malicious code. Their services are not intended for those who have deliberately tried to banish data for good. Also, these centers cannot obviously partake in illegal activities, which would include someone obtaining your hard drive (theft) and trying to get data off it (invasion of privacy, theft of information, potential fraud/identity theft).

5. You'll want to back up your personal files - documents, media, save games, config files, anything you can find. Many things don't matter so much - you can easily recreate your Norton configuration and scheduling, for instance, so there's no need to find it's config files/registry entries and back them up. As a general rule, if there's anything that will take you more than 5 minutes or so to get back the way it was, back it up. If it won't take that long, get rid of it and redo it later. If you're going to have trouble remembering the configuration, it will usually be easier to write down your setup (perhaps in a text file) than it will be to locate and identify where the program stores the config. You can use floppy discs, burn to CD/DVD, attached storage (USB flash drives and hard drives), internal hard drives (or alternate partitions), network storage (shared folders, FTP, web storage), basically anything you can get your hands on. The more concentrated and reliable it is, the better (hard drives have the best cost per MB).

You CAN ghost your drive (capture an image of it) and restore it completely, but this would be pointless because it would take your history along with it. You'd want to back up your personal files (as above) and wipe the drive, then reinstall everything. This method will get back your Start menu shortcuts (as the installers place them in there again), but any desktop shortcuts will be lost - these, however, fall under the 'too easy to recreate it's not worth backing them up' category. You'll also need to reinstall all your drivers, so if you still have the original installer programs, back them up so you don't have to download the drivers again. Router settings are stored on the router, not your PC, so you won't lose them. You will probably also need a copy of any AOL software you use to login, but you should know your username and password.

6. Eraser itself will do away with filenames, if you tell it to. I don't recall if DBAN will specifically, I'm pretty sure it does, but if it doesn't specifically do it, it's because it doesn't need to. From the Eraser FAQ:
Quote:
Originally Posted by http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/faq.php
I heard that Eraser doesn't wipe the filename when overwriting the rest of the file? Is this true?
No. You can choose whether filenames are cleared or not, and Eraser can even clear names of all previously deleted files (when erasing unused disk space).
7.
Quote:
Obviously once I reinstall it would have to look completely the same, so no-one knows I've done it! It must still have the same settings as before with the options and the back screen.
Why is it so important the PC look exactly the same after the format as it did before? Installing two operating systems is an aweful lot of effort to do just for the sake of appearance, much less the possibility of using a pirated copy of XP (I obviously can't tell whether or not it is pirated, but if you didn't pay for, they're not likely to give you a free one, meaning it probably is). There's going to be other differences they'll likely notice anyway, unless you spend hours of tweaking. Why don't you just truthfully tell them you formatted the drive, would that be so much trouble? If you REALLY HAVE to get that menu back, you could simply alter Windows to think there's a Windows XP installation on it, so it gives the boot menu option - it won't be functional though, so if you or the other users use a combination of both OS's, there'll be problems.

8. Again, ghosting is the way to go for a complete drive-to-drive clone. You'll need a ghosting/disk cloning application (google for a free or open source one), and of course a hard drive of equal or greater size to store the clone. If you plan your file backup properly though, there shouldn't be any reason to use a clone.

9. I honestly don't know, because I've never done it myself, and it wouldn't matter anyway, because there are several factors involved - drive speed, CPU performance, encryption/overwrite method used, drive size, and of course the number of passes.

Last edited by oracle128; February 24th, 2006 at 05:15 PM.
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Old February 26th, 2006, 12:31 AM
Techno Phobia Techno Phobia is offline
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Thanks for all your advice!!

I've got a couple more questions (sorry )

1. Does the boot and nuke feauture let you chose how many times to overwrite the drive? (I know that seems a pretty silly question, but I wanted to know).

2. When it says you can use a CD does it mean an ordinary CD such as a CD-RW or CD-R, or is it just a floppy disc??

4. The reason I need to back up my Norton antivirus is because I don't have the disc because I downloaded (I paid for it there and then). That's why I need to back up the whole thing, and that's why I asked if anyone knows of any programs out there which will automatically display all your network adapters, norton configuration etc.

5. Seen as I need to save all my adapters/ ethernets + many configurations where am I most likely to find these things? Also can I save all (my documents, my music, my videos, norton etc to a normal floppy disc or do I need other equipment to do so??

6. About ghosting my entire WXP OS, you say I will need equal amounts of space on my drive to store the 'clone', but how do I tell how much my harrdrive contains and how do I find out how much space is free?? Also if I should need to restore the 'clone' of the drive how do I do it??

7. To be honest the only thing I need to look the same is the first main menue- others do not use it enough to notice minor details. However, they do use both OS's so would notice if one dissapeared like you said! I used to use ME, so would be overwriting it anyway, so, in away I won't be wasting time by re-installing it. By the way will I be able to start up the WXP installation disc from Windows ME or will I do it from the main menue. And when I install ME again will I be able to do it from WXP??

8. Does booting up the disc mean restarting the disc or simply uploading (by inserting it into drive a)?

9. Will I be able to check if my backed-up data i.e my documents, confugurations etc have been backed up by loading the disc to check before I completely distroy the drive??

10. As I said my PC is networked with another family members- if I erase my entire system will it change anything on their PC, if so what??

11. Finally- odd question but when I save something (A game perhaps ) do I simply go to the place which it is rooted ( D:/ Program files for instance) and right click-send to-floppy??

Thanks for your help once again, sorry there are so many questions!

Last edited by Techno Phobia; February 26th, 2006 at 12:54 AM.
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  #4  
Old February 26th, 2006, 12:50 PM
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oracle128 oracle128 is offline
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1. I honestly don't know what options it has since I've never used it. Using it with the default options (if any) will, I'm sure, be enough to prevent any average Joe from recovering even snippets of your data. If it doesn't have any options, I guess you could always just boot into DBAN multiple times.

2. It means you can make a bootable CD (CD-R or CD-RW), as an alternative to a floppy disk (which is good because most PCs don't come with floppy drives these days).

4<you skipped a number>. You can't just backup the whole thing. Norton has many files, registry keys, and even a rootkit (if you heard about the Sony rootkit fiasco, you'll know how difficult rootkits are to identify, let alone copy or remove). At most, you should keep the installation file to prevent the need to download it again. But, at the very least, you'll need any username, password or registration key you got when you purchased it, plus any receipt or invoice (paper or electronic) you got when you paid. The former will allow you to re-activate it when you reinstall it, the latter can be used to re-obtain that information in case you lose it.

5. You can't save any adapters/ethernet data etc. These settings are stored within Windows. All you need is your internet login information and hardware drivers. If you have trouble reconnecting, you'll need to contact your ISP's support line so you can get it configured again.

All your other files will be too big for a floppy disk, so you'll need to use one of the alternatives I listed last post, answer 5.

6. You don't clone the OS, you clone the whole drive. Thus, you'll need a drive or partition with greater capacity than what your drive uses - you can view this in My Computer, right click the C drive, Properties. Some drive imaging tools may compress the data, which will take longer, but may save a tonne of space.

However, drive images are only used when loading onto multiple PCs, or protecting against hard drive failure. If you're formatting the drive for privacy concerns, ghosting is NOT what you want to do. The method for ghosting it, then reloading it, depends on what tool you use to do so. Most likely, it will involve booting up with a boot disk/CD, then specifying the image file to load.

7. Since both operating system are in use, you'll need to load both on and make it a dual-boot machine. You should reload ME first (so the drive is in the right format), then load on XP (assuming to have, or obtaian, a legitimate copy, since you'll need to activate it, and I'm guessing you don't have a product key). You can load XP from within ME, or boot with the XP disc in. I don't know about installing ME after XP is installed, but I guess there's no reason why it wouldn't work.

8. Booting up the disc means to have the disc in the drive (you'll need to PC on to be able to open the CD drive), then restarting or turning on the PC. When it says "Press any key to boot to CD...", do so, and follow the prompts to install.

9. No matter where you back them up to, you can check if your files are backed up simply by ensuring the files are there on the backup storage. To ensure it's right, check the size, or try open the file. For an advanced test, you could try using a tool to check the hash of the files and compare the original to the copy, but it's a bit extreme. If Windows doesn't report any errors while it's copying, they should be fine.

10. Other networked PCs will not be affected by the change, and will not notice anything, with one exception; if you have shared folders on that PC, the other PCs will of course not be able to access them while the PC is off/formatted/reloading.

11. No. Copying up the whole game installation is not a good way to back it up, and in many cases won't do the job anyway. You need to identify which files are user files, which varies from program to program. Many games will put user files (profiles, save games, game progress, config) in the active user's My Documents. Some programs will put this data in (for Windows XP) C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data, or C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data. You can also occasionally find user files in the games installation directory (eg. C:\Program Files\<program>.

You can copy these files the same way you copy any file, depending on where you're copying them. Network storage, another hard drive, floppy disk, you can just copy/paste, drag the files, etc. CD or DVD, R or RW, you'll need to use your burning software to transfer them.
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  #5  
Old February 26th, 2006, 02:04 PM
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degsy degsy is offline
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This will wipe your drive
http://killdisk.com/
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  #6  
Old February 26th, 2006, 02:19 PM
The Wizard The Wizard is offline
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It would save a lot of time and effort and heartache, if you just throw your drive in the incinerator and buy a new one ... tell the others it died
.... and start over
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