HDD Wipe software?

[GixJim]

I am looking for a good HDD wiping program, or advice on how to fix my issue.

My issue is that my roomate is using my computer becuase his is SNAFU. He is one of those people who D/L everything that pops up on his screen and his usual rig is so messed up it no longer functions. I don't like anyone on my rig but until I can fix his it is unavoidable.

I have done the XP format and restore twice and his system still gets bombarded with gay porn sites. I run among other things avastpro and it is constantly coming up with Trojans, atleast 4 an hour.

I don't think XP format/restore does a good enough job formatting the HD so I am wondering if there is a free/shareware program out there that will get rid of everything on a HD? I read up on one called PDWIPE but 1 of 5 people said it destroyed their HD completely beyond repair.

Thanks in advance

System specs:
AMD 2800
Kingston HyperX 512
XP Pro
IE
ASUS Deluxe MB
Verizon on his Comcast on mine

 

[Snikku]

If you have a maxtor drive, you should download maxblast3

After copying the files to a disk and running the program in dos, you rezero the drive where it basically puts it back to as it was when you bought it. It takes a while so just leave it on overnight or something.

 

[eloj]

You can boot any linux, login as root and do "cp /dev/zero /dev/hda", where hda is the first (=master) ATA disk on the first interface. If you've got multiple disks mounted, use "fdisk -l /dev/hda" to verify you're targeting the correct one!

To correct the problem, make sure there's a hardware firewall in place _before_ the computer is connected to the net. Install all patches (SP1 and everything that came after) before you connect to the internet.

Then make sure he doesn't use IE or Outlook ever again.

 

[Snikku]

Well, that works but it seems like he doesn't want any of the files that he had on their before format.

I don't really know how linux formats so I can't say

 

[eloj]

I gotta say that I don't understand the problem here.

When installing XP, aren't you given the choice to repartition and format? (I wouldn't know, I've never touched XP). That will remove everything.

If that's not good enough/possible you will have to either wipe the disk "in place", which means using a special software for that purpose -- because the OS won't let you wipe it while it's running, right? Using linux is perfect, because it's actually gratis, and a knoppix CD is always good to have around.

Or... put the disk as a slave in some system, and simply remove all the partitions. When there are no partitions you can install Windows over it (recreating the partition(s), and nothing of the old will be left.

Many hard disk manufacturers provide "Diagnostic boot discs" which can be used to wipe a drive. For IBM it's call DFT (Drive Fitness Tools). Req. a 3.5" floppy to boot from.

 

[Vermicious Knid]

have you tried booting into DOS (you can create a dos boot disk if you have a pc running win9x/me or there are free ones you can dl on the net) boot from the floppy,or i belive you can also get to dos prompt from some bootable windows disks. and format the drive from the dos prompt (format c, if he has more then one partition you can run fdisk to rearange them, there are tons of tutorials on its use on the web, its been around forever.

and once you get it all clean/reinstalled dont let him use IE as it has tons of vulnerabities that MS hasnt bothered to patch that are being exploited all over now.

 

[GixJim]

The XP Format is not as thourough as I would hope, I was still able to locate some game files and such that should have been removed from the Xp Format.

Dos Boot Disk was the next step but a coworker had brought up PDWIPE so made me think to ask here before I take any further steps.

Thanks for the input guys.

Jim

 

[Hiyruu]

autoclave

www.staff.washington.edu/jdlarios/autoclave/

 

[eloj]

> I was still able to locate some game files

How?

 

[Snikku]

you mean after you formatted?

duh, formatting does nothing but erase the location of the file, but it still stays on the hard drive, you have to rezero to make it completely empty

 

[twelveparsex]

The XP Format is not as thourough as I would hope, I was still able to locate some game files and such that should have been removed from the Xp Format.

Dos Boot Disk was the next step but a coworker had brought up PDWIPE so made me think to ask here before I take any further steps.

Thanks for the input guys.

Jim

umm no

i dont know what you are doing, but if you can still see game files that were there before the format you are not formatting, formatting deletes everything on the partition

 

[Snikku]

ugh wroung thread

 

[Ice Czar]

as mentioned Autoclave, or DBAN (Dariks Boot and Nuke) both are freeware
also the HDD diagnostic will zero a HDD typically (which is all that is required unless your trying to make recovery next to impossible)

however unless he has a boot ppartition virus (which I think unlikely)
some peice of software thatis being loaded on after the fresh install is reinfecting you
or
your failing to patch the OS and get it behind a firewall before you connect to the internet
there area 2 direct exploits that if your not patched will compromise you computer within 5 minutes or so

 

[Hiyruu]

as mentioned Autoclave, or DBAN (Dariks Boot and Nuke) both are freeware
also the HDD diagnostic will zero a HDD typically (which is all that is required unless your trying to make recovery next to impossible)

however unless he has a boot ppartition virus (which I think unlikely)
some peice of software thatis being loaded on after the fresh install is reinfecting you
or
your failing to patch the OS and get it behind a firewall before you connect to the internet
there area 2 direct exploits that if your not patched will compromise you computer within 5 minutes or so

What? You mean virii can survive a format by hibernating in a partition?

 

[Ice Czar]

a boot sector virus isnt in a partition
http://kb.indiana.edu/data/ahll.html

Boot sector viruses infect or substitute their own code for either the DOS boot sector or the Master Boot Record (MBR) of a PC. The MBR is a small program that runs every time the computer starts up. It controls the boot sequence and determines which partition the computer boots from. The MBR generally resides on the first sector of the hard disk.

Since the MBR executes every time a computer is started, a boot sector virus is extremely dangerous. Once the boot code on the drive is infected, the virus will be loaded into memory on every startup. From memory, the boot virus can spread to every disk that the system reads. Boot sector viruses are typically very difficult to remove, as most antivirus programs cannot clean the MBR while Windows is running.

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/index_mbs.html < list of boot sector viruses

then there are Multipartite Viruses
Some viruses can be all things to all machines. Depending on what needs to be infected, they can infect system sectors or they can infect files. These rather universal viruses are termed multipartite (multi-part).

Sometimes the multipartite virus drops a system sector infector; other times a system sector infector might also infect files.

Multipartite viruses are particularly nasty because of the number of ways they can spread. Fortunately, a good one is hard to write.

 

[GlobalFear]

umm no

i dont know what you are doing, but if you can still see game files that were there before the format you are not formatting, formatting deletes everything on the partition

Umm no

As snikku said "formatting does nothing but erase the location of the file, but it still stays on the hard drive, you have to rezero to make it completely empty"

 

[Ice Czar]

and even then more advanced data recovery tools will examine the strength of the magnetic field of all those zeros (negative polarity) and can recreate what was there based on that
which is why when it comes to defeating forensic recovery you need to overwrite the data several times with different patterns, even then recovery is possible given enough time, money and a supercomputer (or even a modern workstation)

 

[digitalman]

Might I suggest the next time you install XP on his computer, you give him a very limited guest account on both machines. If he doesn't like it then tell him he is on his own for his tech support. Then add a BIOS Password besides a login password on your computer.

 

[GlobalFear]

And make sure you set an administrator password aswell. Don't believe most storeboughts ship without one.

 

[Snikku]

and even then more advanced data recovery tools will examine the strength of the magnetic field of all those zeros (negative polarity) and can recreate what was there based on that
which is why when it comes to defeating forensic recovery you need to overwrite the data several times with different patterns, even then recovery is possible given enough time, money and a supercomputer (or even a modern workstation)

lol, rezeroing it prevents most virsuses/ spyware from coming back..

but the way you're talking about it you sound like if the RIAA/FBI are coming after you

I suggest then, to just smash the hard drive and go bury it in the woods

yeah and it is possible to get data back after rezeroing but you have to use special machines which usually cost a crap load of money per gib

or as you say it.. a super computer

 

[Ice Czar]

lol, rezeroing it prevents most virsuses/ spyware from coming back..

nope I wouldnt recommend it for even a boot virus
(which is why I linked info on a boot virus and how they are normally removed)
but that wasnt the question asked
however from empirical evidence in Data Storage it does seem to afford the HDD a chance to lock out and remap sectors to a depth appearantly not done with the various chkdsk s
and has sucessfully cleared up stubborn problems on a few trouble drives (though theoretically there shouldnt be a difference)

I get questions regarding wiping HDDs alot in Data Storage which I mod
especially for people selling HDDs
so I generally take whatever opportunity available to educate the membership about what they are actually doing at the various levels and how deep data reovery can go,
if your using Autoclave or DBAN to zero a drive and think that setting 16 passes will do the job better than a single pass...well your just wasting time

However if your selling a drive, depending on the security you require, its not a bad idea
Sensitive corporate data just $10 on eBay

In the study by security specialists Pointsec Mobile Technologies, seven out of ten of the disks, all of which were supposedly "wiped-clean" or "re-formatted,” contained readable information.

The disk containing sensitive information belonging to one of Europe's largest financial services groups (which has not been named) included pension plans, customer databases, financial information, payroll records, personnel details, login codes and admin passwords for the company's secure intranet.

There were 77 Microsoft Excel documents containing customers' e-mail addresses, dates of birth, their home addresses, telephone numbers and other highly confidential information. If exposed publicly, Pointsec reckons it could cause irrevocable damage to the company, resulting in a massive loss in customer confidence and a plummeting share price.

..
but the way you're talking about it you sound like if the RIAA/FBI are coming after you

they will never get my deathray