Tennisbum

This is travel-related only in that it applies to my laptop that I use for travel. But still some of you may have had this problem. I have just had a defective laptop replaced by the manufacturer and, not surprisingly, they want the old one back. I've deleted all my files but as I'm not sure what will happen to the hard drive, I would like to be confident that they are unrecoverable.

Can anyone recommend some good, preferably inexpensive, file-shredding software?

And is it better to buy it locally from some place like BestBuy or to download it from a website?

Thanks.

gfunkdave

Use DBAN.

http://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-...he-hard-drive/

Boot from the USB stick you create and type "autonuke" at the prompt. BE SURE YOU"RE NOT CONNECTED TO A NETWORK OR ANY OTHER DRIVES. Autonuke will erase every drive it can find (including your USB stick).

cblaisd

In its "Tools" section, CCleaner http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner has a "Drive Wiper" that lets you overwrite the HD with up to 35 passes.

gfunkdave

I don't think that will work on the system boot drive...

Tennisbum

Thank you. Unfortunately I don't have a USB stick. I know, I'm a Neanderthal.

gfunkdave

Works with a CD-ROM or external hard drive too. You just need to burn the CD...download the iso from the link I posted above, right click and say burn to disk.

Or, you know, go to the nearest gas station or office supply store and get a USB stick.

msb0b

I'd like to add reload the factory operating system after DBAN is done. Some manufacturers will give you trouble if the factory OS is missing. Best way is to make the factory recovery discs before DBAN wipes everything clean.

Tennisbum

Oy vey. This is all way outside my comfort zone.

I don't suppose that I could just reinstall the OS w/o running a shredder.

msb0b

It sounds daunting but should be manageable. Just follow the instructions.

1. Look for the Create Recovery Media option in the start menu on the factory operating system. If you use a DVD writer it should take 2-4 DVD-R discs.
2. Shut down computer and stick DBAN disc in the optical drive. Start computer. DBAN should start instead of Windows.
3. Once DBAN is done, shutdown computer and replace DBAN disc with Start Recovery disc. Start computer and follow on screen prompt to reload factory OS.

gfunkdave

You can certainly just restore the computer to factory by formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the OS.

It just depends how paranoid you want to be. If it were me, a simple restore to factory (even off the recovery partition on the hard drive) would be fine. DBAN and such are for really paranoid types who are convinced the FBI is after them.

Tennisbum

Don't think I've managed to annoy the FBI yet. I even manage to get along with the TSA.

planemechanic

They might be after you, maybe you are just not paranoid enough.




If you are just looking to ensure your deleted files are unrecoverable then Ccleaner should do the trick just fine.

Tennisbum

That's all I want to do. Really, there are only a very few files that matter to me. I'm running the CCleaner free app now. But there's something I don't understand. Somewhere it said that if I'd already emptied the Recycle Bin then I would need to run their Recuva app to recover those files and then shred them. That doesn't make any sense to me. And, of course, I had already emptied the Recycle Bin a week or two ago.

gfunkdave

Windows keeps a list of what files are on the computer and where they exist on the hard drive. When you empty the recycle bin, the files aren't actually deleted; rather, their corresponding entry is just removed from the listing of files, and the space those files occupy on the disk is marked as free for storing other files. So, if you use specialized software (like Recuva) you can see the files that have been "deleted" but still remain on disk.

When you use CCleaner to delete a file, it looks where the file is stored on disk and actually overwrites the file's entire location on disk, then deletes the directory listing.

So, you can use Recuva to recover your files and then use CCleaner to delete the file. YOu can also just use CCleaner to wipe all the free space on the disk, thus actually deleting every file that you have ever deleted by emptying the recycle bin.

Tennisbum

Thank you so much for clearing that up. So then I don't really have todo anything except wipe the "Free Space" on the C drive.