Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with erase

An app for Windows for hunting down and eradicating multiple copies of files?

Unhyper — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:30:29 -0800

Is there an app for Windows that you know of for hunting down and eradicating multiple copies of the same files? Let's say I have a 1TB drive (I do) full of junk (I do) and much of that junk has duplicates, triplicates, and octuplicates of the same files in miscellaneous folders.

I'd like to find a program that I could leave running and it would scan the drive for these multiple copies and perhaps erase them for me, or at least allow me to do that later.

Know of any?

How to securely and cheaply wipe PC's data?

Dasein — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:53:33 -0800

What is the best free way to securely wipe the hard drive of a PC (XP, I think) before re-selling it? Free means no purchase of software or hardware, if at all possible. If it helps, there are two laptops that need to be wiped, so one could wipe the other if there's some nifty way to do that. Any ideas would be much-appreciated.

Help me do what I need to do to wipe as much as possible from my PC before I sell it

t0astie — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:15:03 -0800

Tomorrow I'll list my ACER Aspire 3680 for sale on eBay. I want to be as sure as I can that there the lucky buyer has as little chance as possible of seeing passwords/pics/personal info. Normally, I would just format and do a clean install of XP. But I've moved house and my install disk is one of 19 packing cases stored 2500km away, so that option is out. I've listed what I've already done after the jump, but I'm hoping a more tech-savvy mefite might spot a hole in my erasure efforts. All steps taken so far have been gleaned from previous threads, but I'm just not confident I'm 100 per cent across the cleanup.

So far I have: moved every file onto a portable hard drive; uninstalled every app (Office, PhotoShop etc); reinstalled brand new up-to-date versions of free/shareware (Win Zip, Google aps, iTunes, Firefox, AVG etc); run Crap Cleaner (cleared data from browsers, cleaned the registry, uninstalled a few things I'd missed); defragged; and installed Window Washer.

The next thing I'm planning on is a final clearout of my browser and Windows info with Window Washer. Then I'll run Wash Free Space.

I'm running Windows XP.

What have I missed?

Bonus question! What, if any, value could I add to my two year old laptop to help it sell well on eBay?

Where's Magneto when you need him...

SNWidget — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:35:21 -0800

I have an external hard drive that I'm sending back to the manufacturer due to an issue. I already have all of the data off of it, but (thankfully), a few days after I got the data, the thing is dead. The question: how do I erase all of the data off of it even if I can't boot it up? Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, and the people at Seagate will just toss the drive, but I'm a bit paranoid.

Backstory: I've got a 500gb hard drive with a bunch of person information/pics/stuff I wouldn't want anyone else to have. The drive itself didn't fail: the USB connector became unsoldered and luckily, when I noticed this, I stopped moving the thing and had Seagate send me a new one so I could send this one back. I managed to keep it up and going long enough to get the data off, but now, it's done. I bumped it, and it seems to be gone. After spending an hour trying to dismantle part of it and get the usb connector out of the innards (it's pushed all the way in and loose), I give up.

Question: So how do I make sure they don't get my data? I mean, will they look at it? Or will the hard drive just get chunked? Any clue how that works? If the magnet approach is the only way, what kind of magnet do I need?

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but eh. Any advice would be extraordinarily helpful.

Where do you get your big dry erase boards?

4ster — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:02:56 -0800

Looking for suggestions for a good vendor for a large dry erase board in the US. I am looking for a large dry erase board for my office. I am thinking of something in the neighborhood of 8 feet wide and 4 feet tall, but I'm flexible on this.

Some other considerations:

- Something that erases easily, will last a long time, and doesen't leave a lot of "ghosting" marks would be nice, as would a white or wood frame instead of a metal one.

- Magnetic would be nice, but is not essential.

- I'm not really interested in making one myself or buying dry erase paint. I can see that idea turning into an expensive disaster.

- The cheaper the better, which includes shipping.

Thanks in advance.

There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who can deal in binary and those who can't.

pixlboi — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:06:45 -0800

How is data on my hard drive retrievable even after it is written over? I try to follow the accepted wisdom regarding personal or sensitive data. I have a program that erases files to DoD standards. My understanding is that it over-writes the data multiple times with randomly generated bits and bytes.

But then you hear people say that's not good enough, that if you really want the file to be completely gone you have to use a sledgehammer to break the disk, then an acetylene torch to burn it, then pee on the ashes and dilute the mixture in 3 gallons of bleach (possibly I'm paraphrasing).

So how do forensic computer experts do their thing? If I have a file on Monday that is represented by 01010101 and I save over it on Thursday with a file that is 10101010 how can they examine my computer and say "Well it reads 10101010 right now but I can tell that last Monday it read 01010101 and that's illegal".

Am I over-simplifying? Isn't it an either/or, binary state. There is no history to a binary state. It's either a 1 or a 0. How would you know it was a 1 three months ago? I have read previous AskMe's on how to erase data and what works and doesn't work but I am more interested in the actual theory behind magnetic media and the permanence of data I guess.

Clean me up, Scotty!

rhoticity — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:47:51 -0800

What's the best way to erase my hard drive for resale if I don't have original OS reinstall CDs to work with? I have a 1.5 year old Dell laptop running Windows XP SP2 which I'm selling in the next couple of weeks (getting a Macbook... YESSSS). I'm going to make an attempt to sell it here on campus or through Craigslist before I try other methods, and so as soon as I transfer everything I want to keep over to my new computer, I want to clean the hard drive off as well as I can. The problem is that, in a misguided money-saving attempt when I first ordered the Dell, I did not request physical Windows XP reinstall CDs. Obviously I cannot just completely reformat the hard drive, then, since I will have no way of reinstalling the OS.. right? What do I do to get this thing ready to sell to a stranger?

For the record, there's nothing terribly "sensitive" on here, just personal/academic documents and photos, but I'd rather get it as clean as possible just in case some total weirdo gets a hold of it.

Any other tips on dealing with the less-than-stellar electronics resale market would also be appreciated.

How to wipe a dead hard drive?

aladfar — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:28:45 -0800

How to wipe a dead hard drive? After backing up my data to a recently purchased external drive, it promptly failed (and produced a horrible, burning electronics odor). As I'm still within the 14 day return policy, I shouldn't have any trouble returning it. However: I want to wipe all of my personal data from the drive first. How to do that with a drive that won't mount? I've a feeling the problem lies not in the drive itself, but in the power supply or something similar. So I suppose I could remove the drive itself and write it with zeroes. But this would, mostly likely, void my warranty. Is there something similar to an old tape degausser that will work with drives?

I'm not going for NSA level formatting here, but I'd like to minimize the possibility that the drive gets restocked with all of my data (a full disc image of my machine) still on it. Ideas?

How do I clean the data off these donation-bound hard drives?

jamaro — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:14:14 -0800

How do I clean the data off these old hard drives without using software or a mallet? I have a number of old hard drives pulled from computers I've used in the past. I'd like to donate them to CRC or a similar organization for possible reuse. Currently the drives are all uninstalled, sealed in static-free bags, and I do not need to recover the data that is on them.

I've googled for information on how to wipe them, the advice all falls into two categories: wipe the drive using software or physically destroy the drive, e.g. smash it or take it apart. I want to avoid the later as I hope they could be reused (none of them are bad, they were pulled to make room for larger capacity drives). I can't do the former as all of them have an interface (SCSI) that none of my current computers use. I'd prefer not to spend any money on purchasing adaptors, enclosures, or spend time fiddling with finding an old computer and reinstalling them.

I also read using a very powerful magnet might wipe them but would the scrambling a magnet cause also render them un-initiable? Would the magnet treatment 'get' everything (in other words: render all my data unrecoverable)? Are ~9-20 GB hard drives worth this effort to donate?

How many times to erase hard drive

bad grammar — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:51:16 -0800

How many times should I zero the hard drive of a laptop I am going to sell? I have an old iBook (the display fritzed) that I am planning to sell on Ebay. I had the hard disk zeroed in a single pass. This took two and a half hours. Because the display is not working, I had to take it to a Mac repair shop and wait. Now I am wondering about security. Should I have the hard disk zeroed again, seven times, thirty-five times?

There was no financial information on the computer (Quicken, tax programs, etc.). I prefer to contemplate my dismal finances on scribbled scraps of paper. My net-surf patterns would show that I sometimes visit websites with encrypted pages for buying on-line; I have an Ebay account, etc.

I hope that nobody is interested in my journal, fanfic, or academic papers and manuscripts.

Dry Erase paint

GernBlandston — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 05:13:39 -0800

Where can I find dry-erase / whiteboard paint to put on my wall? Something like chalkboard paint.

How do I hide the evidence from work?

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jun 2005 22:37:56 -0800

I am returning a laptop to my employer that I have used exclusively for the last two years. I have used it as a personal machine and need to erase all evidence of my (non-work) use. I have backed up everything that needs to transfer so a clean wipe and re-install would be ok. Machine details: Dell Latitude, Win XP Pro (SP1), and Office 2003. I do have the Restore disks as well as WinXP Pro and Office 2003 install disks with available registration keys.

I am a mild novice on computer related issues, so explicit detail and/or instructions would be great.

Seeking script/action in Mac OSX Safari that will utomatically erase my cache and history files at a certain time each day

sharksandwich — Fri, 26 Mar 2004 06:02:46 -0800

Mac OSX Safari --Is there a script/action that I can enable to automatically erase my cache and history files at a certain time each day? While being fairly Mac savvy, I have no experience with writing scripts. I'm really looking for an easy solution, perhaps a piece of freeware?