Correct delete of HDD before new OS install?

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Profile Sutaru Tsureku
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Message 1504392 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 15:27:50 UTC
Last modified: 15 Apr 2014, 15:35:45 UTC

I finish the usage of WinXP 32bit on my PC.
I'll install Win8.1 64bit on the PC.

How I should delete the HDD complete (maybe also virus & Co. ..) that the new OS get a "fresh" new HDD.

I did it in past like:
In Windows ..
Format C:
Reboot of the PC and I get a DOS screen (because no OS installed).

Switched off the PC for at least 30 seconds to clear the system RAM (to kill virus & Co. ..).

Switched on the PC and in DOS screen format C:.
Switch off the PC.

Switch on the PC go into BIOS and set USB (DVD drive) as 1st device, HDD as 2nd device.
Insert OS DVD in USB DVD drive.
Save and exit BIOS and the OS install with DVD start.

This would be a good way to delete virus & Co. on HDD - and start the new OS with a "fresh" new HDD?

Thanks.
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Message 1504402 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 15:43:25 UTC

I would use something like Partition Master, and Delete the partition. You can do a secure drive wipe at the same time. When the disk has no partition, install Win 8, and it will build the partition to it's requirements, before formatting it exactly as it wants. When reinstalling an OS, or installing a fresh OS, I always start with a non-partitioned hard drive.

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Message 1504408 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 15:48:55 UTC - in response to Message 1504392.  
Last modified: 15 Apr 2014, 15:53:49 UTC

Format C:
Reboot of the PC and I get a DOS screen (because no OS installed).

If you're managed to get to a DOS screen then you do have an OS installed, ie DOS, so can't have fully wiped the drive, to do that you need to delete any partitions on it.

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Message 1504410 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 15:51:56 UTC

It's been a while, but if you boot directly from the install CD, does it not also give you the option of deleting the partitions from the target HD?
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Message 1504421 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 19:18:27 UTC - in response to Message 1504410.  
Last modified: 15 Apr 2014, 19:19:31 UTC

It's been a while, but if you boot directly from the install CD, does it not also give you the option of deleting the partitions from the target HD?

If you select custom installation you have the option for repartitioning and formatting of the drive.
There should also be an option on the initial screen, repair or soemthing liek that, then you can get to a command prompt where diskpart can be used.
diskpart
select disk 0
clean
Then you have a newly completely blank drive.
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Message 1504422 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 19:18:32 UTC - in response to Message 1504410.  

It's been a while, but if you boot directly from the install CD, does it not also give you the option of deleting the partitions from the target HD?


You beat me to it... yes it does.
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Message 1504426 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 19:23:00 UTC

Since it's for re-using an older drive, I'd recommend to use Darik's Boot and nuke (DBAN at http://www.dban.org/), and at least wipe the drive low level with 0's (advanced deep secure erase is also possible if you worry about old viruses resurfacing etc, but takes longer)

This low level kindof wipe will delete all the partition information, and Also effectively refresh every cluster on the drive, which can be a big help (A bit like SpinRite, but not needing to rescue any data)

I've done it before on 'cranky' drives, and works a treat sometimes to bring drives like new, before OS fresh install :).
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Message 1504442 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 19:52:50 UTC - in response to Message 1504422.  

It's been a while, but if you boot directly from the install CD, does it not also give you the option of deleting the partitions from the target HD?


You beat me to it... yes it does.


It's SO much faster if you burn/copy the Windows installation media to a flash drive. Windows 7 installs in as little as 10 minutes this way.
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Message 1504457 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 20:40:01 UTC - in response to Message 1504426.  

Since it's for re-using an older drive, I'd recommend to use Darik's Boot and nuke (DBAN at http://www.dban.org/) ....

This is what I was going to suggest. I love DBAN.

The other alternative to wiping a drive is if you have the luxury of another machine, take the drive you want to wipe and put it in another machine, and then use HD Tune (the free version is sufficient for this) and use the erase option. Only caveat is that you have to go into Disk Management (winkey+R > diskmgmt.msc) and delete all of the partitions on that disk before you can do an erase with HD Tune.

DBAN is probably the easiest route though. If that's the only disk in the machine, it boots from CD and begins the wipe. Come back in 10-30 minutes and you can ctrl+alt+del or hit the reset button and then put your Windows instal disc in.
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Message 1504489 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 22:01:15 UTC - in response to Message 1504410.  

msattler wrote:
It's been a while, but if you boot directly from the install CD, does it not also give you the option of deleting the partitions from the target HD?

Yes, it does and that's pretty much all I use. Delete all old partitions, create new ones and quick format them or just quick format the system partition if I want to keep the data on the other ones (which is the more common case).

Except for cases like that:
jason_gee wrote:
I've done it before on 'cranky' drives, and works a treat sometimes to bring drives like new, before OS fresh install :).

Here it really might help to completely erase the dirive, either it's OK after that or it was the last time it was in use.

I also always wipe a drive if I retire it just so it is done once I decide to bin it or if someone else wants to have it.
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Message 1504504 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 22:53:32 UTC
Last modified: 15 Apr 2014, 22:56:29 UTC

You are installing a brand new OS on the disk, what are you caring about the old content on the disk? :?
Old content is step by step bashed by the new OS using the disk and will be absolutely safely erased with the future use. I don't get it, what do you want - erasing compromising content?! :?

;)

[edit]
Forgot: You'll simply have to choose "format" to get a "blank" disk to use for the new OS.
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Message 1504513 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 23:34:25 UTC

OP just do a clean install from your media. You have 32bit hardware so you won't have to about Win 8 EFI
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Message 1504515 - Posted: 15 Apr 2014, 23:39:58 UTC - in response to Message 1504504.  
Last modified: 16 Apr 2014, 0:06:26 UTC

You are installing a brand new OS on the disk, what are you caring about the old content on the disk? :?
Old content is step by step bashed by the new OS using the disk and will be absolutely safely erased with the future use. I don't get it, what do you want - erasing compromising content?! :?

;)

[edit]
Forgot: You'll simply have to choose "format" to get a "blank" disk to use for the new OS.


It's true for those reasons that User initiated low level formats fell out of common practice in the early '90s onwards. However, partition and sector information written at the beginning of a drive's lifecycle does not adapt to the thermal calibration / head alignment / wear in mechanisms over time, and also tools like cgsecurity's testdisk have demonstrated data is often retrievable over multiple soft formats (and overwrites), making simple (both full and quick) high level formats mostly cosmetic.

'Nuking' a drive, optionally with special patterns that randomise the magnetic polarisations, is for those who really want their drive to be closest to a fresh start (including refreshed sector information), short of buying a new one. Mechanical drives wear, and bits move around. Deep erase is to realign the tracks/sectors, sometimes even refreshing a drive that habitually goes into thermal recalibration (click-click-click) due to age.

[Edit:] Also I happen to know Dirk is passionate about making things perfect, so the DBAN option with full military erase might be the go ;)
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Message 1504589 - Posted: 16 Apr 2014, 5:50:48 UTC

People are talking about 2 rather different scenarios here.

If you just want a "clean" install of a new OS. Then when you get to the section asking where you want to install too (C drive), just delete the existing partition, and point it at the "free space" on the disk. This will create a new partition, and do a "quick" format on it. This won't actually overwrite each sector of the disk, and it's technically possible to still recover data from the disk. But in normal use, it's just treated a "random data" on the unused blocks of disk, same as normal deleted files.

Now doing a "secure wipe" is when you have a disk that might have sensitive data on it, and the disk is leaving your control. There are various levels of thoroughness, but it's just how many times it's overwritten, and how random the data is. If it's the basic "Write everything to zero" then any normal recovery utility will just recover a heap of "0"s. Maybe the NSA can take the platter out, look at it with an electron microscope, and recover data, but in the real world, it's gone.

So, it you are re-using a disk like the OP? Delete partition, recreate, format and it's "clean".

Giving the disk away? Then get an overwriting utility, and run it at the paranoia level of your choice. Then re-install.

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Message 1504807 - Posted: 16 Apr 2014, 17:00:59 UTC

If the data is that sensitive smash the HDD with a hammer several times and cast them into the sea. This works on all types of drives BTW.
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Message 1505097 - Posted: 17 Apr 2014, 7:17:35 UTC - in response to Message 1504807.  

If the data is that sensitive smash the HDD with a hammer several times and cast them into the sea. This works on all types of drives BTW.

Sensitive data should only be stored on encrypted drives or inside encrypted file containers like those offered by TrueCrypt.

For working with sensitive data the entire drive including the system partition should be encrypted anyway as many programs might write parts of the sensitive files for example into your temp directory.
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Message 1505207 - Posted: 17 Apr 2014, 14:40:15 UTC - in response to Message 1505097.  

If the data is that sensitive smash the HDD with a hammer several times and cast them into the sea. This works on all types of drives BTW.

Sensitive data should only be stored on encrypted drives or inside encrypted file containers like those offered by TrueCrypt....

Social engineering and or water boarding can crack any encryption.
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Message 1505365 - Posted: 17 Apr 2014, 21:02:54 UTC - in response to Message 1505207.  

If the data is that sensitive smash the HDD with a hammer several times and cast them into the sea. This works on all types of drives BTW.

Sensitive data should only be stored on encrypted drives or inside encrypted file containers like those offered by TrueCrypt....

Social engineering and or water boarding can crack any encryption.

Which is why TrueCrypt has a "blackmail" password that can be used. It accesses an entirely different filesystem and you put basically false data files and stuff there so that if you get forced to give up the password.. it will appear that you did whilst your real encrypted data stays completely hidden without the real password.

And I have found that a good password is an entire sentence with spaces and punctuation instead of those garbled-looking ones that are impossible to remember. Reference: http://xkcd.com/936/ (it is a nerdy webcomic, for those who don't know).
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Message 1505383 - Posted: 17 Apr 2014, 22:07:43 UTC - in response to Message 1505365.  

Unfortunately with all the power available via GPUs, cracking longer, full sentence passwords are a fairly trivial affair: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/08/thereisnofatebutwhatwemake-turbo-charged-cracking-comes-to-long-passwords/, http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/03/how-i-became-a-password-cracker/, and http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/05/how-crackers-make-minced-meat-out-of-your-passwords/ show details on how just about anyone can do it these days.

Increasingly password vaulting software such as KeePass that will randomly generate difficult to crack passwords will also save them for you. The downside is that if you're using complete hard drive encryption and require a password at boot time (like my company does), having a software-based password vaulting software won't help much.
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Message 1505653 - Posted: 18 Apr 2014, 16:39:29 UTC - in response to Message 1505383.  

Unfortunately with all the power available via GPUs, cracking longer, full sentence passwords are a fairly trivial affair: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/08/thereisnofatebutwhatwemake-turbo-charged-cracking-comes-to-long-passwords/, http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/03/how-i-became-a-password-cracker/, and http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/05/how-crackers-make-minced-meat-out-of-your-passwords/ show details on how just about anyone can do it these days.

Increasingly password vaulting software such as KeePass that will randomly generate difficult to crack passwords will also save them for you. The downside is that if you're using complete hard drive encryption and require a password at boot time (like my company does), having a software-based password vaulting software won't help much.


All I can suggest is Password Generator and Password Meter.
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