19 replies to this topic

[stockw19]

I want to sell my pc on craigslist, but want to completely wipe my hard drive first.
I was advised to download CCleaner to do so.

After launching, I go to Tools>>Drive Wiper.

When I select "entire drive (all data will be erased)" from the drop down, it does NOT let me select "Local Disk C".  It's grayed out.

It will only allow me to select the C Drive if I only want to wipe free space.

Any suggestions?  Thanks.

[Winapp2.ini]

CCleaner can't wipe a system drive. To do this, you'll need a different application.

Unless, of course, you pop your system drive into an external case and wipe it that way.

[stockw19]

What do you mean by pop drive into an external case?
Isn't there an easy way to completely wipe a hard drive without smashing to bits with a hammer?

I originally wanted to donate it to goodwill, but they will not put anything in writing that they will wipe the drive.
I was then going to give my computer away on craigslist just so I wouldn't have to transport it anywhere.

Looks like I will just smash it to pieces and donate it to a landfill.

[Andavari]

stockw19, on 23 April 2011 - 02:29 PM, said:

Isn't there an easy way to completely wipe a hard drive without smashing to bits with a hammer?

Looks like I will just smash it to pieces and donate it to a landfill.

You could use DBAN (free) and I'd personally say do more than one wiping pass since you're selling it off. However if using DBAN the operating system will have to be installed again so you had better have either a recovery partition or the original setup disc.

[Corona]

So...just how much pr0n is on this thing?

[login123]

stockw19, on 23 April 2011 - 02:29 PM, said:

...
Looks like I will just smash it to pieces and donate it to a landfill.

That would be a shame to have to do that.  Just use DBAN like Andavari said, and then donate it or just give it to somebody's computer store.  If you are still not comfortable doing that, just take the HD out then give the rest to them.  

Edit: deleted the link to a different disk zapper.  They may be having website problems.

[Corona]

Take out your hard drive and drop it off at a foundry where the melt steel like in Terminator 2.

[Regi Stration]

Hey I'm new here thought I'd throw my two cents in. Have the same problem but I'm just selling an external hard drive and wanted it clean. After
wiping it with CCleaner and checking it with Recuva I realized that ain't the ticket so I downloaded BC Wipe (free for 21 days full use) burned a cd with the iso rebooted and 63 minutes later every bit was zeroed out. BC Wipe will even show the results of the wipe.

[redhawk]

BartPE or Hiren's Mini XP should also work (running from USB flash) since no hard drive is locked.

Richard S.

[Andavari]

redhawk, on 24 April 2011 - 05:11 AM, said:

BartPE or Hiren's Mini XP should also work (running from USB flash) since no hard drive is locked.

Richard S.

I was going to mention BartPE myself since he could use CCleaner or CCleaner Portable via it but I opted to not mention it since there's some legwork using BartPE.

[hazelnut]

As Richard said, Hiren's mini xp does this really easily.

[CTskifreak]

Active@ Killdiskhas worked for me in the past.

AJ

[kmind]

Hey all. I'm really not that knowledgeable with computers but am also selling one on either Craigslist/eBay. The difference from the original post is that I want to keep the OS on there but I cannot find the disc. Is there a tool for that? I've been instructed to use DBAN to just wipe everything out but I'd like to keep the OS if at all possible.

Thank you!

[DennisD]

Hi kmind, and welcome to the forum.

CCleaners "Wipe Free Space" feature should do what you require (not "disk wipe"), but I'm wondering if you have a "Recovery Partition" on your computer?

Re-installing Windows with the "destructive recovery" option will wipe everything and put your computer back to "factory condition".

[kmind]

Thanks, Dennis!

I still have a lot of programs on the computer so I assume you mean I delete all of these programs and then do the "Wipe Free Space" right? Again, I'm not great at all with computers.

And yes I do seem to have D: drive as a recovery partition. I honestly don't know what that means though .

Thanks a ton! P.S. I'm not 100% sure I am going to sell the computer so unfortunately I won't be able to test some of this advice right away at least. That's probably frustrating to you guys (sorry).

[Andavari]

kmind, on 25 April 2011 - 07:20 PM, said:

And yes I do seem to have D: drive as a recovery partition. I honestly don't know what that means though .

It's there to reinstall Windows, should be a boot menu option to reinstall it. But before doing anything destructive it's best to research it first because it's difficult to sell off a computer without an OS for it.

[Alan_B]

Is there any danger of FAST etc. Legal Vultures pouncing on Copyright infringement if they see a CraigsList advert of a Windows computer without a Windows disc.

[DennisD]

kmind, on 25 April 2011 - 07:20 PM, said:

Thanks, Dennis!

I still have a lot of programs on the computer so I assume you mean I delete all of these programs and then do the "Wipe Free Space" right? Again, I'm not great at all with computers.

And yes I do seem to have D: drive as a recovery partition. I honestly don't know what that means though .

Thanks a ton! P.S. I'm not 100% sure I am going to sell the computer so unfortunately I won't be able to test some of this advice right away at least. That's probably frustrating to you guys (sorry).

Yep, on my PC it was the D: partition as well, and no need to apologise. Just come back if you decide to sell it, and we'll give you any guidance you need then.

Using the Recovery Partition usually gives you two options. A "Destructive Recovery" and a "Non Destructive Recovery".

The non destructive version will wipe everything from your hard drive except your personal data kept in any of the "My Documents" system folders. "My Pictures", "My Music" etc., and then reinstall, from the Recovery Partition, the programs that were present when the computer was shipped from the factory.

A fresh start/clean slate, so to speak.

That's what it's supposed to do, but the first "Non Destructive Recovery" I carried out took everything. Thankfully I had the sense to back up all my personal data first.

The "Destructive Recovery" wipes your Hard Drive clean of everything, and then reinstalls, again from the Recovery Partition, all the factory shipped programs.

All the above is based on my Presario Desktop running XP. My daughters Lenovo Notebook has a completely different type of recovery system, and there may be other variations, but the one I describe I believe is the most common.

CCleaners "Wipe Free Space" will do just that. It won't touch any software, just securely overwrite the empty and available to be overwritten space.

You would have to uninstall (not delete) any programs you wanted rid of yourself, and then check through your computer to make sure all personal data was gone. Far better to reinstall Windows if you can.

So come back when and if you need help with that.

[Doobenstein]

Hey guys, I want to wipe my HD completely and I've already backed up the things I want to keep but I'm unsure of what to do. I have the original operating system CD from when I bought this laptop and I'm runnning windows 7. I was wondering should I just use one of the mentioned softwares above, completely wipe my HD and then when I turn the laptop on again pop in the OS CD, reinstal and all will be well or is there more to it then that? Thanks

Also what software would ye reccomend to be the best for a complete wipe?

[mta]

why not just pop in the Windows 7 install DVD.
you can then either to a 'custom' upgrade and it'll reload windows, creating a backup of system files in windows.old
since you have already done a backup, you can then delete that folder (it gets created regardless)
or during the install, select drive options and delete the partition and create a new one.

quick & simple, no extra software needed & you use the one process to wipe as you install.