Hard Disk Erase Before Disposal

[rock_doctor]

Hi all, does anybody know if HP has buried on the site some software for erasing - complete - of a HDD before I dispose of the computer. It is a corporate amchine and I want to make double sure that all the data is removed, i.e. a complete disc scrub after which I will reinstall the OS.

Regards

Rock Doctor

[Vaika]

What type of PC is it?  Model?  OS?  Is it a commercial machine, or is it a consumer machine that was used for commercial purposes?

Are you actually disposing of the machine, or are you reselling / donating it?

If you're actually disposing of it, a very strong magnet rubbed against the HDD will destroy it (and the data) but, I believe, render it useless afterwards.

A quick Google showed me here: http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php which may be worth investing in (39.99$)... what it looks like it does is simply overwrite the HDD with random data, rather than wiping, which (if you want to pay enough money...which for companies sometimes is worth it) you can occasionally recover data from.

HP Home & Home Office sells:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/computer/categories/software/1/accessories/NC779AA%2523ABA - Migo Digital Shredder Premium (Looks like it's file-by-file) - 39.99$

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/computer/categories/software/1/accessories/RB117AA%2523ABA - HP Data Security Suite (Looks similar to Migo, but also has some data recovery features...which may be useful in a business) - 49.99$

So far as simply wiping the drive (which again, is still possible to get data back from, however unlikely and expensive):

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_format_drive_C_so_a_new_OS_can_be_installed

http://www.sightsea.com/pghpchd/pages/formatC.html

Looks like you will need a boot disk of some sort.

Some of the HP recovery disks, at least consumer, have a function that allow you to wipe the hard drive before running a recovery, but it requires the recovery disk.  I believe you press CTRL+Backspace at a certain point while it's booting...either on the main screen for the recovery disk or as it's loading up.  Hard to say without knowing more about your system.

Message Edited by Vaika on 08-05-2009 04:59 PM

[zeroseven0183]

I know of a third-party software that does that: Active@ Kill Disk. It's free.