I can't seem to Nuke from Orbit!
June 29, 2010 8:27 AM Subscribe
I need to send my computer back to its manufacturer, as it's broken, and they've sent me a replacement. I would like to erase everything from the hard drive. Can you recommend some software to do this? It's a Windows 7 laptop with a single (though partitioned) hard drive.
I have already tried DBAN. Which didn't work. When I booted into the program, it started, but then would hang. I don't think it did anything, because I can still restart my computer into Windows and use it as normal. I don't think it erased any files. Can you suggest an alternative program?
I have already tried DBAN. Which didn't work. When I booted into the program, it started, but then would hang. I don't think it did anything, because I can still restart my computer into Windows and use it as normal. I don't think it erased any files. Can you suggest an alternative program?
You could also take out the drive and put it temporarily in a desktop, then use DBAN on it.
posted by astrochimp at 8:45 AM on June 29, 2010
posted by astrochimp at 8:45 AM on June 29, 2010
Linux on a bootable CD or USB flash drive:
http://www.ubuntu.com/
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick
Boot into Linux, and if you're not feeling particularly paranoid just use system / administration / disk utility to remove the partition on the hard disk, which will prevent someone casually stumbling across stuff you don't want them to see. If you want to make active data recovery difficult or impossible then use shred as described here (you may need to add "sudo" to the start of the command to make it run in administrator mode).
http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-to-securely-erase-hard-disk-before.html
posted by nja at 8:49 AM on June 29, 2010 [2 favorites]
http://www.ubuntu.com/
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick
Boot into Linux, and if you're not feeling particularly paranoid just use system / administration / disk utility to remove the partition on the hard disk, which will prevent someone casually stumbling across stuff you don't want them to see. If you want to make active data recovery difficult or impossible then use shred as described here (you may need to add "sudo" to the start of the command to make it run in administrator mode).
http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-to-securely-erase-hard-disk-before.html
posted by nja at 8:49 AM on June 29, 2010 [2 favorites]
I would recommend DBAN as well. Also, you can run DBAN from a boot disk. There's no need to hook the HDD up to another computer in case you don't have one.
You could also just put the drive in the microwave for a little while... just be sure to press the stop button when it starts smoking. Nasty chemicals and such inside hard drives.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 8:50 AM on June 29, 2010
You could also just put the drive in the microwave for a little while... just be sure to press the stop button when it starts smoking. Nasty chemicals and such inside hard drives.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 8:50 AM on June 29, 2010
Response by poster: You could also take out the drive and put it temporarily in a desktop, then use DBAN on it.
I would recommend DBAN as well. Also, you can run DBAN from a boot disk.
If you read my original question, you'll see that I tried DBAN from a boot disk. If you can give me step-by-step instructions on how to stop it from hanging, I would appreciate it.
I'm not entirely comfortable removing the hard drive (I don't want to swap it for the new one, because the new one is larger), because I have to send this computer back, and if I make a mistake and mess something, they may not accept the computer.
I'll look into installing ubuntu and using shred -- Thanks!
posted by bluefly at 8:58 AM on June 29, 2010
I would recommend DBAN as well. Also, you can run DBAN from a boot disk.
If you read my original question, you'll see that I tried DBAN from a boot disk. If you can give me step-by-step instructions on how to stop it from hanging, I would appreciate it.
I'm not entirely comfortable removing the hard drive (I don't want to swap it for the new one, because the new one is larger), because I have to send this computer back, and if I make a mistake and mess something, they may not accept the computer.
I'll look into installing ubuntu and using shred -- Thanks!
posted by bluefly at 8:58 AM on June 29, 2010
Try another version of dban
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/files/
posted by glenno86 at 9:06 AM on June 29, 2010
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/files/
posted by glenno86 at 9:06 AM on June 29, 2010
I wouldn't recommend nuking the drive literally though, it may prevent the average Joe from accessing data but it won't stop the determined. Plus aluminum and microwaves don't mix well. The linux kernel dban uses may not like a peripheral in your PC, such as a webcam, usb stick, external mouse, etc so go as much barebones as possible.
posted by glenno86 at 9:19 AM on June 29, 2010
posted by glenno86 at 9:19 AM on June 29, 2010
Can you describe the hanging behavior of DBAN in more detail? How far do you get and what do you see prior to the hang? This information may help people debug you're problem with DBAN.
posted by mr_roboto at 9:28 AM on June 29, 2010
posted by mr_roboto at 9:28 AM on June 29, 2010
Response by poster: In DBAN, I tried both the "interactive mode" and "autonuke." Both times I got a blue screen which said:
Waiting for USB devices to register....done.
PCI (sysfs)
And then nothing. I thought it would take some time to work, but I left it for 24 hours, and there was nothing (I can't here the hard drive spinning either). I'm running this on a laptop that has no peripherals plugged in, but it does have a built in webcam.
posted by bluefly at 9:44 AM on June 29, 2010
Waiting for USB devices to register....done.
PCI (sysfs)
And then nothing. I thought it would take some time to work, but I left it for 24 hours, and there was nothing (I can't here the hard drive spinning either). I'm running this on a laptop that has no peripherals plugged in, but it does have a built in webcam.
posted by bluefly at 9:44 AM on June 29, 2010
Possibly simplest way:
(1) But another laptop hard drive of the same capacity.
(2) Replace the old hard drive with the new blank one.
(3) Put the old hard drive in a USB case. First use it to drag off all your data files onto the new machine, then nuke it and use it as a blank external drive or for backup or whatever suits yer fancy.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:52 AM on June 29, 2010
(1) But another laptop hard drive of the same capacity.
(2) Replace the old hard drive with the new blank one.
(3) Put the old hard drive in a USB case. First use it to drag off all your data files onto the new machine, then nuke it and use it as a blank external drive or for backup or whatever suits yer fancy.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:52 AM on June 29, 2010
Best answer: here you go
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/forums/forum/208932/topic/3727028
posted by glenno86 at 11:07 AM on June 29, 2010
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/forums/forum/208932/topic/3727028
posted by glenno86 at 11:07 AM on June 29, 2010
If you can get some Linux up and running, you can wipe the drive with dd.
Just type:
You will need to have superuser access for this to work.
The correct value for (the drive device) will be something like /dev/hda or /dev/sda. If you're using something like Ubuntu, it will have already created a desktop icon for the Windows partition, in which case you can probably find it by typing
posted by suetanvil at 11:14 AM on June 29, 2010
Just type:
dd if=/dev/zero of=(the drive device)
You will need to have superuser access for this to work.
The correct value for (the drive device) will be something like /dev/hda or /dev/sda. If you're using something like Ubuntu, it will have already created a desktop icon for the Windows partition, in which case you can probably find it by typing
mount
and looking at the results. (The first column is the device name. The one you care about will probably be the only one beginning with /dev/.) Be sure to unmount the disk (by right-clicking on the icon and selection the appropriate menu option) before you run the command above.posted by suetanvil at 11:14 AM on June 29, 2010
here you go
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/forums/forum/208932/topic/3727028
To summarize, does your laptop have a media card reader of some type? If so, try turning it off in the BIOS or putting some media in it before starting up with the DBAN boot disk.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:26 AM on June 29, 2010
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/forums/forum/208932/topic/3727028
To summarize, does your laptop have a media card reader of some type? If so, try turning it off in the BIOS or putting some media in it before starting up with the DBAN boot disk.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:26 AM on June 29, 2010
Response by poster: I found that page on Google just minutes before you posted it, glenno86! Yeah, it was the media card reader and the webcam that needed to be disabled for DBAN to work. Thanks for the help everyone! I've sent the computer back to its homeland.
posted by bluefly at 1:33 PM on July 1, 2010
posted by bluefly at 1:33 PM on July 1, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kindall at 8:30 AM on June 29, 2010