Files Eraser Program?

[Dennis]

Changed Computers to a New 17" Laptop
Want to Give my older one away and get a $500 Tax Credit..( 07' Dell )
But, want to Delete all my Information and stock trades, Portfolio's, history , Websites, etc..

What Program do you recommend?
Or do I just Pull the hard drive out and replace it with a new One?

thank you

 

[REWahoo]

You might find this thread interesting: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/clearing-a-computer-of-personal-data-34770.html

 

[harley]

Go to cnet.com, go to downloads, and search on data eraser. I like Simple File Shredder, it's free, simple, and it does what you need. Depending on the size of the HD, it can take quite a while. Blowfish will work too, but more complicated.

Shred your free space, and pick what folders you want to get rid of. You can also tell it to clear out all your web files.

Even if you choose to replace the hard drive, you'll still have the data. For that one I suggest a shotgun. The NSA might be able to recover it after that, but nobody else will.

 

[Dennis]

Well thank you all. but this raises more paranoia issues, Like tracking has my my websites ( both good and bad ones) Passwords, My Favorites and alot of other things not on a hard drive or in addition too? Or how about Personal Email letters? they got Marthat Stewart and many others doing this..

It's the Big Brother is watching trick..

seems to me no matter what we do, there is always a record, somewhere.. to dig up

 

[harley]

There are also companies that will take care of it for you. This is the result:

 

[freebird5825]

Changed Computers to a New 17" Laptop
Want to Give my older one away and get a $500 Tax Credit..( 07' Dell )
But, want to Delete all my Information and stock trades, Portfolio's, history , Websites, etc..

What Program do you recommend?
Or do I just Pull the hard drive out and replace it with a new One?
thank you

A full reformat, 2x, should work. is this still foolproof?

A new drive is the best bet. low cost for 100% peace of mind and will increase the fair market value of the donation for taxes.

 

[Walt34]

One of the programs to overwrite the unused space on the drive 3X will do fine. I've heard that data can still be recovered but by then it's going to cost six figures to do it.

Otherwise just remove the drive, take it apart and beat the platters with a hammer. That's what I do, and I used to do computer data recovery for a living.

 

[al_bundy]

in the bios of my HP there is a disk sanitizer option, you might have the same thing since all the bios's are the same

 

[FIREd]

I erase my sensitive data files using a free program called "file shredder" (available on CNET). I use the 7 pass algorithm option but you can use a DOD-approved algorithm if you prefer. It can also shred the free disk space.

 

[MikeD]

I Use a "Fun" Method

.45, 9mm, and .22.

Mike D.

 

[walkinwood]

Since your laptop probably has only one drive, you'll need to boot from a CD and then wipe your disk clean - otherwise, there's no telling what could be left behind.

Here's a good solution:

Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe

Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk 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 was reviewed by the RCMP and it met their minimum standard for use by Canadian government agencies.

Enjoy!

 

[harley]

A full reformat, 2x, should work. is this still foolproof?

Not even close. I could probably recover that, and I don't have EnCase or ony of the good forensics tools. That said, since the OP isn't trying to hide child porn from the cops, it would probably be good enough.