Nuke that hard drive
by Volker Weber
Note to self. Need to erase a few machines before giving them away.
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.
DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis.
[via SpOn]
Comments
Floppy??? Do these things still exist?
Of course they do. You can also burn the software to CD and other boot devices.
but they haven't been floppy for ages...
i use dban for some time now for these purposes. though one always has to be very sure in which computer you start this boot-device (ouch!) :-)
Börn, that is very interesting. You do not need to enter any prompts? So I can use this to erase disks without attaching a screen?
You can automate the prompts with a few quick tweaks. I *think* this tutorial is accurate:
http://alittlestupid.com/stupid/2005/12/06/dariks-boot-and-nuke/
that's it. you can suppress prompts and automate "nuking". but even if you don't and do sit in front of a screen with several machines under your desk - guess what you can achieve on a monday morning :-)
Please Sir .... is there no other way to 'totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware' ?
A little harsh, I feel.....