Starting All Over

[Jockstar]

Ok. As most of you know i'm getting a new PC soon. My question is. How do i get rid of everything on my old PC.ie passwords etc? I have had it with my comp. I'm selling it to some guy in Pantip next week. But i want to make sure that nothing is left on it. After i have deleted/erased or whatever i have to do. I would like to install XP again. Just for this last week. Then erase everything again. So what do i do? I dont know wher to start. Cheers in advance.

Another thing. I dont have a disk for my modem. Is it possible that its a plug and play modem. Modem type 3Com U.S. Robotics 56K Faxmodem

Edited February 16, 2005 by Jockstar

[Firefoxx]

Very simple to delete everything. Just use the winXP install disk and start the install as normal. When it asks where into install XP to, it will also show the existing partitions. Press the key to delete those old partitions, and then make a new one, and install. This will delete everything, as long as you have only one harddisk.

3com modems are pretty common. I think you can use the generic 56k driver, or do the plug and play detection.

[Abandon]

easiest way is to buy the new com, and then take the Hard disc from the old one, plug into the new computer and reformat the hard drives. In Windows 2000 (that I use) you right click the my computer icon, click manage, disc management, right click the drive, and click format. Bob's your uncle. No need to wipe the old com and reinstall - just do this when you get the new computer.

Added advantage is that you can easily transfer any data you have on your old hard drive over to your new one by dragging and dropping the files/folders.

A reformat will erase every detail beyond recovery.

[britmaveric]

If you really want to delete everything - you need to use a clean utility. Reformat doesnt really delete prior info - you actually need to write over each sector.

[paulfr]

Writing over everything is probably unnecessary.

As long as all financial info is gone (Favorite links to banks, files with PW and other information) and any other sensitive data like porn videos and pics, no one could care about what he has on the machine.

Reformatting is just fine IMHO.

[Darknight]

Writing over everything is probably unnecessary.

As long as all financial info is gone (Favorite links to banks, files with PW and other information) and any other sensitive data like porn videos and pics, no one could care about what he has on the machine.

Reformatting is just fine IMHO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would still leave files that can be recovered. but as said it depends on the seriousness of the data.

in the bank were i work disks are reformatted, then overwritten dozen times by a special tool, then chrushed in a special machine so it only leave little bit's and pieces

[Abandon]

even the get data back programs, that access files deleted from the recycle bin, will not read information on a hard disc that has been reformatted. If anyone needs more security than that, I recommend a good kiln.

Now where was it that the Hobbit disposed of the ring again.........

Edited February 16, 2005 by pandit35

[britmaveric]

We are talking hard disk recovery tools - trust me. I have recovered 90% of a reformatted hard drive on several occassions.

[sajal]

We are talking hard disk recovery tools - trust me. I have recovered 90% of a reformatted hard drive on several occassions.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

if you just quickformat your old disk then even a kid can recover most(if not all) of the info in the old disk, specially if ita a FAT system. NTFS seems to be more reliable in these cases.

best option is to format the disk full.

not choose quick format option.

if u wanna take the extreme measures, there is a nice application from symentec called norton wipe info which is usually bundled with norton utilities.

screen shots of wipe info

1) install norton utilities on yr new comp.

2) plugin old hdd into yr new pc

3) copy the stuff u need...

4) run norton wipe info on the old disk....choose the files u wanna remove....u can choose all. this takes few mins to few hours!!!

This will now remove all traced of your "sensitive" data beyond recovery. and NOONE (not even the CIA) can recover those stuff (unless they send a spy over to your place and scan thru yr new pc)! ;-)

[Firefoxx]

And.... we're also talking about a regular joe getting this computer from another regular joe who was using it for everyday stuff. Come on folks, do we really need to go through all these things just to prevent some clueless user from seeing your old porn?

What jockstar asked for was a way to delete the files, and reinstall. The reinstall will pretty much write over most of the old data and file allocation tables, and only a really determined (or chronically stupid) person would want to spend the time and effort to retrieve the data, which would have little or no value.

Old Thai proverb say: Ride an elephant to catch a grasshopper.

[sajal]

And.... we're also talking about a regular joe getting this computer from another regular joe who was using it for everyday stuff.  Come on folks, do we really need to go through all these things just to prevent some clueless user from seeing your old porn?

What jockstar asked for was a way to delete the files, and reinstall.  The reinstall will pretty much write over most of the old data and file allocation tables, and only a really determined (or chronically stupid) person would want to spend the time and effort to retrieve the data, which would have little or no value.

Old Thai proverb say: Ride an elephant to catch a grasshopper.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

if the "some guy in Pantip" happens to be me by any chance(and assuming it would be 3 yrs ago) i would surely spend the time and effort to retrieve the data. who know what the "some guy in Pantip" might dig up? passwords? account numbers? emails? credit card details? im sure most of the ppl dont just have old porn in their coputers....

i agree that such a precaution is not needed in thailand as it would really difficult for "some guy in Pantip" to be like me and even if he would be the "chronically stupid" then also he would probably not use the information in and negative way.... but you never know...

[bkk_mike]

If you're worried about any data on the PC possibly being picked up. (like credit card numbers etc.) - IT IS recoverable from a standard format with some disk utils...

Personally - I have NEVER sold a hard disk, although I did lose one in the Tsunami (brother-in-law in the Maldives had borrowed my old notebook. He was fine, but notebook disappeared into the water.... I think I'm OK though as I deleted all info before lending it to him, and I've never used it for anything more serious than storing digital photos and browsing the web when travelling, and recovering from the bottom of the Indian Ocean is probably more hassle than anyone's going to go to to get my holiday snapshots...). It's never been my main PC, and even though I did install the office VPN software on it 5 years ago, their software's changed in the meantime, so it's no longer useful...

If you want to be secure - download something like http://www.killdisk.com/

(Requires a DOS boot, so fine if you've been running Windows 98 or earlier. Otherwise you'll need to create a DOS boot floppy first - i.e. http://www.bootdisk.com/ )

Edited February 16, 2005 by bkk_mike

[Firefoxx]

I haven't done data recovery in quite a while, but I'd like to know what the situation is currently. Can an average tech with widely available tools really recover usable data from a harddisk that's been formatted, had its major data areas rewritten in a new install, been used for a time, and then formatted again?

If so, then I'm really behind on recovery tech.

[waldwolf]

.....Can an average tech with widely available tools really recover usable data from a harddisk that's been formatted, had its major data areas rewritten in a new install, been used for a time, and then formatted again?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Personally, I wouldn't be to concerned about the "average tech".

My concern is with today's inquisitive, persistant, pimple-faced youth or worse, a whole group of same. They constantly hack into so-called "secure" government and industry systems. A simple harddrive would be a snap. Just 2 days ago, a hacker was able to get into T-Mobile (Deutches Telefone-US) phone operations and steal thousands of customers personal information, as well as US Government secrets.

There are many governmental standards for "cleaning" HDD's. A few are:

· ACSI 33 (Australia, ACSI)

- VSITR (Germany, Department of the Interior)

- BSI-GSB (Germany, BSI)

- AFSSI 5020 (USA, Air Force)

- AR380-19 (USA, Army)

- DoD 5200.28M (USA, DoD)

- DoD 5200.22M (USA, DoD)

- NCSC-TG-025 (USA, NCSC)

If you want your personal life to remain private, I would strongly suggest you use a commercially available "shredder" to wipe your HDD(s) to one of the above standards. In the USA (and probably every other country), identity theft is the fastest growing crime. Effected individuals can/do spend years repairing their damaged financial reputations.

The old motto "better safe than sorry" would seem appropriate in this case.

(PS - The "TuneUp Utilities 2004" program discussed in the thread here, incorporates such a utility.)

[slimdog]

Hi Jockstar

As the person who recommended cleaning up your harddisk prior to selling it, I thought I had better respond.

Just for the record: What I recommend will NOT protect you from the NSA,CIA,KGB or any other governmental organisation from recovering data from your harddisk.

As someone who is not totally familiar with computer systems I feel that doing a re-format and reload of the o/s may cause you more problems than it is worth, so I would suggest either of the following after having saved any important files you wish to keep

1. For about 500 baht you could ask one of the many shops in Panthip to do a Reformt and re-load for you.

2. If you want to just clean up your system and not leave anything too obvious for the new owner to find then, a couple of days prior to selling the system do the following:

Open Internet explorer and delete all favourites

Open Windows explorer and delete everything from My documents, My Photo's etc

Open Control Panel go to Add/remove Programs and remove all games, photo suites, office suites etc

DeFrag your C Drive

Go to the following web site:

http://www.webroot.com/products/windowwash...=648&ac=adw17ww

Click on the "Try it for free" button

Install

This will clean up the empty space on your hard drive and also delete internet history activities, cookies, temp files etc

Run the program

DeFrag your C Drive again

If you are paranoid after reading all the above posts

Run Windows washer again

Using Add/Remove Programs delete windows Washer

Sell your old computer

Get your new comuter

Enjoy

[monty]

I know of one shop in Pantip who deals mostly in secondhand pc's and they(or some rogue staff) are using pretty sophisticated datarecovery tools on any hard drive which comes in!

This software (in hacked versions) is or was freely available in Pantip. One example springs to mind is R-studio.. I have it here and it recovers an 80Gb harddrive (full reformat, but not used afterwards) in around 1 hour without hardly any input from the user!

These guys know ehat usefull stuff might be on your pc, dial up username/passwords, e-mail account settings etc...

Be carefull, wipe your drive with some special software!

[Jockstar]

I'm still a little confused. My XP was an original installation. But i dont have it. My mate has lent me a copy from Pantip. Will this allow me to uninstall windows? Then to reformat my disc. How do i do this? Sorry but the conflicting replies hasn't helped me too much. Sorry but can i please have it step by step. Thanks.

Also i dont want to keep my old HD. i Want to get a totally new one

Edited February 17, 2005 by Jockstar

[sajal]

ok....here r the step by step instructions....

1) buy your new pc and install windows xp.

2) unplug the hard disk from your old computer

3) plug it into your new computer

4) copy the stuff needed.

5) install norton utilities

6) follow instructions on http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/true...ipeInfo2K45.htm

7) unplug the old hard disk from the new computer and plug it back into the old one.

8) on your new pc download http://1gighost.net/randyboy/boot98sc.exe

9) insert a blank floppy disk into the floppy disk drive

10 ) run the downloaded boot98sc.exe

11) boot the old computer from the floppy u just created.

12) type "format c:" and then press enter and follow the on screen instructions.

13) repeat step 12 for all the partations you may have "format d:" and so onn...

14)now insert the windows xp cd and remove the floppy disk.

15)restart the computer.

16) follow the onscreen instructions to install windows xp...

you are done....

now if you are not too familiar with hardware and swaping hard disks i recomend u replace step 2 to 7 with these ones...

2) buy a USB thumb drive from panthip

3) power up the both the pc....insert the thumb drive into the old one and copy the required data onto it.

4) insert the thumb drive into the new computer and copy the info to the new coputer and delete all files in the thumb drive then.....even better if u can buy a 80GB portable HDD for 5500 baht....good for keepin backups...

5) repeat step 3 and 4 for as many data u have...

6) install norton utilities this time on your old pc

7) follow instructions on http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/true...ipeInfo2K45.htm

hope it helps....

in case u need help on any steps pls inform id be glad to elaborate...

[Firefoxx]

Jockstar, you don't mention wanting to keep any old data, so you can do it as I had originally said. That's all that's needed.

[bkk_mike]

I haven't done data recovery in quite a while, but I'd like to know what the situation is currently.  Can an average tech with widely available tools really recover usable data from a harddisk that's been formatted, had its major data areas rewritten in a new install, been used for a time, and then formatted again?

If so, then I'm really behind on recovery tech.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Depends how much of the disk is overwritten by the install and reused... - ie. if it's an 80Gb disk, you're not going to overwrite that much of it with just installing windows. - and pretty much anything that doesn't get overwritten is recoverable.

(Depending on how fragmented the drive was originally, and whether it's FAT or NTFS would probably affect how much you could get back...) Quite possible that you wouldn't get many complete files if it's a fairly small disk, and was heavily fragmented before the reformat.

How paranoid you should be really depends on what sort of data you have on the PC. - If you've got your accounts and tax records for the last few years, and credit card info and the like, then I'd do a proper clean, not just a reformat (doesn't take much to recover credit card info from a letter to the card company if it was in a standard file format - and "they" definitely don't need complete files for that). Personally I have lots of work on my PC (emails, files, etc.) so tend to be paranoid about these things.

If the data on there is just family snapshots, and the odd email, and most of the disk has been taken up with games, then a format and reinstall is probably sufficient. But better safe than sorry...

[Jockstar]

Ok. I deleted my partition on D. Before that i tried to delete the partition on C. It said that i couldnt do that due to the fact that some files were needed for set up. I have installed onto D a new install. So now i want to get rid of everything on C. I'm not too bothered about emails to Banks as i dont use internet for banking stuff. Emails i have sent never contain any personal info. I have saved some things i want to keep to disk. So now do i try and install into C again and delete the partition and then reformat? Thaanks in in davance.

[bkk_mike]

To be honest - you probably shouldn't have done the install yet, or done the reformat of your C: drive when doing the install..

You can try the following:

Boot to the new O/S on the D: drive. (XP presumably)

Go to Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance (Category View), Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management, then right-click on the C: drive, and see if it lets you format it.

If not - you should redo the install - reformatting the c: drive at the start of the install... (sorry)...

[Jockstar]

To be honest - you probably shouldn't have done the install yet, or done the reformat of your C: drive when doing the install..

It wouldn't let me reformat C when i was installing.

You can try the following:

Boot to the new O/S on the D: drive. (XP presumably)

Go to Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance (Category View), Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management, then right-click on the C: drive, and see if it lets you format it.

If not - you should redo the install - reformatting the c: drive at the start of the install... (sorry)...

Thanks BKK. Will try that. As it wont let me format using the control panel etc. Is it possible that i could fukc up my Pc by doing this?

[britmaveric]

try format C: on the command prompt. If that doesnt work just stick the OS cd in the cdrom and perform a reboot. You'll be given an option to format during os installation.

[haha]

I used to be a provide third level tech support on a contract basis back in the states. it's been about 7 years now. so this info is probably out of date. but I still use it. hehehe.

first off, have ready bootable floppies of msdos, and partiionmagic.

when I absolutely know that I want to start from scratch, I take my bootable floppy of msdos, and boot off of it. do FDISK /mbr. reboot again and do format using the dos format. (doesn't matter how you do it.) ..follow up with a scandisk, and a defrag.

then, I insert my partitionmagic, and boot off that. when partitionmagic is up, I format the harddrive to whichever scheme I desire whether it be NTFS, multiple partitions, etc...

I use this dual process because I found from experience that it will kill everything.

(I never did find a single software that did the job for me. ..but there is probably something out there that will do the job now. anybody want to clue me? thanks.)

some of the steps that I followed are redundant, but that's just the routine that I was used to.

there are many details you need to be aware of to use the above process properly. like selecting the proper segment sizes 512 vs.1024, etc.. ...otherwise, some operating systems won't work.

once I finish with the above dual process, I have a clean harddrive for installing software.

hopefully, your system came with a basic install of your operating system with all the appropriate drivers. otherwise, you should have all these drivers downloaded from the internet on some media besides the hard drive you are working on before you begin this whole process.

after all my software installs, I use ghost to make a backup copy to archive somewhere. restore is ok, but I found it doesn't always work.

for maintenance, I do a scandisk, and a defrag once a month using the appropriate utility for your config. for my system configuration, I use norton systemworks.

a warning. if you have never worked on harddrives before, there is a good chance that you WILL destroy the data on your harddrive playing around with this stuff. I did in the beginning. there is a learning curve.

Edited February 18, 2005 by haha

[sajal]

well...lemme make this simple...

download http://1gighost.net/randyboy/boot98sc.exe

run it to make a book disk.

this disk should contain fdisk.exe....

now boot the old computer using this disk.

follow steps 1 to 4 from http://www.5starsupport.com/tutorial/partition.htm

remove the disk.

now all your partitations are deleted. your hard disk feels like its brand new....

insert windows XP CDROM.

restart the computer.

follow the on screen instructions....setup will ask you to make the partitions....

NOTE: all data on yr computer will be erased.

this installation will be totally fresh...no remains of yr previous deeds(im ignoring the data recovery tools).