[archer_456]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoSpark3 I know this is a easy one but How do you erase a hard drive all the way down to where it is like new? I mean nothing no Dell screen I mean like new out of the box, I'm want to put a drive I have in another computer and I want it like new, Thanks alot sorry I have'nt checked in in awhile but I've been busy at work and have not been on in awhile.

If you have a XP disk you can just boot up on the disk and choose to delete the existing partitions. now choose to make a new partition, afterwards format the drive using NTFS format for an XP drive. Use the FAT format for Windows 95,98, and Me.

 

[aznchowboy650]

no even though your reformat you can still have the files there its just that its in data and you can retrieve it but in order to make it brand new iono you can try with a magnet but iono if it might dmg the drive

 

[Lando95]

The only way to really wipe out a hard drive is with a low-level format. This is what the factory does. It requires a very sophisticated program, which is very expensive, and to my knowledge, not available to the general public. When you reformat, you are doing a high-level format. The data is actually still there until something is written over it.

 

[aznchowboy650]

yea and thats y the fbi can find out all ur data even though you reformat your drive

 

[AtoMicMoNkEy15]

thats why u destroy your harddrive =)

 

[Zeus]

The only way is to do a low-level format.

I think some IDE RAID controllers have a low-level format option.

 

[Lando95]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeus I think some IDE RAID controllers have a low-level format option.

I have yet to see them.

Edit: I stated that the programs were very expensive, when in all reality, they are not need at all. With older hard drives, low level formatting was needed to rearrange the sectors to like new. Newer hd's have dedicated controllers that take care of the rewriting the tracks, thus don't need a low level format. Instead, we can use something called a "zero-fill" program. It writes zeros in all sectors of the disk, then clears those out. Or, you can just burn it

 

[Industrial]

I think he was just wanting to know how to format that drive not destroy data he didnt want anyone else to see.

In windows XP you can just use the built in XP prog. Just reboot with the XP cd in the drive and it self explainitory after that.

http://www.webtechgeek.com/How-to-Fo...Hard-Drive.htm

 

[Lostnhell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoSpark3 I know this is a easy one but How do you erase a hard drive all the way down to where it is like new? I mean nothing no Dell screen I mean like new out of the box, I'm want to put a drive I have in another computer and I want it like new, Thanks alot sorry I have'nt checked in in awhile but I've been busy at work and have not been on in awhile.

Each Hard Drive manufacturer has their own low level format program which will write all 0s to the disk, erase all information and really make it like new.
Here are the download sites for the programs from the three popular distributors.
Maxtor MaxBlast 3
Seagate DiscWizard
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools V. 11.0

The Maxtor utility will work on most hard drives, so I recommend you try that one first.
If you are using a Hard Drive from another manufacturer please let me know who the manufacturer is and I will find their utility.

 

[ENTERPRISE]

Those programs are really usefull and to tottaly format your hdd just go into dos or dos prompt wen there type in c:/fdisk

 

[Lostnhell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ENTERPRISE Those programs are really usefull and to tottaly format your hdd just go into dos or dos prompt wen there type in c:/fdisk

Fdisk will only format the disk, it will not write all Os to erase all information including residuals.