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Apocalypse_67
Apocalypse_67
Join Date 01/2003
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Formating a hard disk.

November 14, 2003 11:37:28 PM from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Anyone knows how to delete/format a hard disk.
I could format it with the boot disk, but I want to compleately erase every bit of information in it. In other words, I want to leave the disk as if it just came out of the box
I know there was a thread about this not long ago, but I cant find it >

Thankx for the help.
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Apocalypse_67
Sugaree
Join Date 03/2001
+4
Reply #1 November 14, 2003 11:41:36 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
best way...is to take it out and melt it with a blow torch... or go here http://www.killdisk.com/eraser.htm
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Apocalypse_67
Apocalypse_67
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #2 November 14, 2003 11:43:32 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Thankx for the link China.... I like the blow torch idea better
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Apocalypse_67
Sugaree
Join Date 03/2001
+4
Reply #3 November 14, 2003 11:45:39 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Anytime
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Apocalypse_67
yrag
Join Date 08/2001
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Reply #4 November 14, 2003 11:47:05 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Blow torch!!!

You can go to the site of your hard drive maker and download a floppy file that will 'low-level' format your drive...that's what the factory does before it ships.
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Apocalypse_67
Peff
Join Date 04/2002
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Reply #5 November 14, 2003 11:54:42 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Try this site

http://www.newfreeware.com/utils/1417/

They seem to have a lot of free utilities that will do what you need

Hope it helps



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Apocalypse_67
Sugaree
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #6 November 14, 2003 11:55:09 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
I happen to like the blow torch method...call me "paranoid"
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Apocalypse_67
Dreamdesign3d
Join Date 07/2001
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Reply #7 November 15, 2003 3:14:04 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
There is a program called “Delete All” that you can download for free. Tech TV talked about it awhile back.
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Apocalypse_67
IPlural
Join Date 11/2001
+9
Reply #8 November 15, 2003 3:54:01 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
do what yrag suggests...

or you could run an app that works 99.9% of the time and ends up killing your drive that odd time around...

Stick with factory utilities for hardware such as IDE drives when possible...
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Apocalypse_67
Weaksid
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #9 November 15, 2003 4:03:44 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
What OS are you using?
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Apocalypse_67
Weaksid
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #10 November 15, 2003 4:06:30 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
I reread what you typed. You basically want it non-formated but erased So you would have to format it after you erase everything. Because most drives when you get them aren't formated. At least most/all my new drives weren't.
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Apocalypse_67
bordfryr
Join Date 05/2002
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Reply #11 November 15, 2003 4:59:05 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
A hard drive cannot simply be erased. It must be written over at least 3 times.http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,110338,00.asp
There are plenty of free programs (like BCWIPE) that will do that.
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Apocalypse_67
kona0197
Join Date 02/2003
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Reply #12 November 15, 2003 5:38:45 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
try killdisk. awesome program.
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Apocalypse_67
IPlural
Join Date 11/2001
+9
Reply #13 November 15, 2003 7:17:03 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
I think it is pretty much obvious that He does want to format the drive when the topic of the thread is "Formating a Hard Disk" sheesh
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Apocalypse_67
Weaksid
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #14 November 15, 2003 7:29:41 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
But to format it to what? FAT 32 or NTFS? But completely clean. Now usually you or I had to format the harddrive to work right. This is called FDisking. You have to do this for the system to work right.

Weaksid Needs more details. Input Input Input Input Input
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Apocalypse_67
Shameless Designs
Join Date 09/2003
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Reply #15 November 15, 2003 7:39:19 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Echoing Weaksid, especially if you are formatting to NTFS, and even more critically, NTFS under WinXP, you need to FDisk or risk winding up with unmountable boot volumes or other nasty errors.

Also don't know if you want to wipe for security reasons or anything, but if you want to make sure nothing can be recovered from the previously stored data you will need some type of shredder or wipe utility that will overwrite the data several times before formatting.
[Message Edited]
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Apocalypse_67
Apocalypse_67
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #16 November 15, 2003 10:33:18 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Ok. It took me the entire night last night and the entire day today to do everything I wanted to do with my PC.
I did a major upgrade to it and I'm giving away my old hard disk. That is the reson why I wanted to wipe out the entire disk. The Killdisk program I got from China's link did the job, but just to make sure, I also used WipeDrive.
I tried to look for a file to 'low-level' the disk but I couldnt find any in the WD site.
I did a (1) pass overwrite with Killdisk and a (3) pass overwrite with WipeDrive.
Thank you all for the help and inputs.
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Apocalypse_67
Weaksid
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #17 November 15, 2003 10:50:44 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Your welcome Glad you got it done
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Apocalypse_67
Apocalypse_67
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #18 November 15, 2003 11:43:03 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
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