[dba-Tech] How to totally wipe everything on a computer

Sun May 3 14:42:02 CDT 2015

Hi Rocky:

I think you can remove everything of a sensitive nature, going through your Control Panel but it is hardly fast. I have found for the best results, I get my copy of the current OS DVDs, reformat and reinstall. Clean as it can be...if you are effectively dumping it, there is really no reason to waste any more time on it. OTOH, if there is a friend who needs a computer, start with the same initial process but add a host of excellent OSS products to it: LIbra Office, Skype, Google/FF and so on to their requirements. Also if there are no original OS disks available, I would just install Ubuntu and all the above mentioned OSS products...simple and stupid.

Jim  

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rocky Smolin" <rockysmolin at bchacc.com>
To: "Discussion of Hardware and Software issues" <dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 2, 2015 10:56:10 AM
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] How to totally wipe everything on a computer

I need to give away a couple towers.  I'd like to delete all my files, and
then wipe the empty space, but leave the OS and other core apps (AV,
browsers etc.)  in place.  Is there a way to do that?

r 

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-Tech [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of
Jim Lawrence
Sent: Saturday, May 02, 2015 10:44 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] How to totally wipe everything on a computer

Hi Arthur:

Oh no, that's not the case. There is a strong Maker, Hacker and Creator
groups out there but it is true that they are not the main-stream. Most
people today, just think of computers as no more complex than any other
kitchen appliance and when they are proven not, its a problem.

In the old days, I remember setting up dumb terminals so a user could get
attached to the mainframe computer. The big revolution was when the PC
happened. Now everyone could potentially have their own personal computing.
That freedom is slowly being changed as more and more we are moving back to
central computer systems that are running everything. I am of mixed opinion
whether this is good or bad...there are pluses and minuses on both sides. 

Jim    

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur Fuller" <fuller.artful at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of Hardware and Software issues"
<dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2015 1:43:06 PM
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] How to totally wipe everything on a computer

Jim,

I instead used EaseUS Partition Manager and opted for the "wipe disk with
zeroes" and it worked. Fried everything in sight, and then I began again and
so far everything has worked as hoped for: first a created partitions for
ext4 and NTFS and then a Win7 install, and finally Debian 14, which caught
the previous install and appropriately configured Grub to dual-boot, and now
I'm a happy camper playing with old computers who have been taught new
tricks.

I'm beginning to think that it's only old farts who bother trying this stuff

On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 12:52 PM, Jim Lawrence <accessd at shaw.ca> wrote:

> Hi Arthur:
>
> When working for various financial institutions the product killdisk 
> was applied to all decommissioned equipment. We usually ran three 
> passes but one pass is very thorough: 
> http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm
>
> Jim
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Arthur Fuller" <fuller.artful at gmail.com>
> To: "Discussion of Hardware and Software issues" < 
> dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 8:22:32 AM
> Subject: [dba-Tech] How to totally wipe everything on a computer
>
> Fortunately I have two computers, so I can continue working with the 
> laptop while trying to re-configure the ancient tower. The goal is to 
> set up a dual boot into the tower. I'm having several problems. Before 
> I get to those, the box has two hard disks, 80GB and a 250GB. First of 
> all, I wiped all partitions from both disks, using EaseUS Partition 
> Manager. Then I restarted the computer, but to my dismay Grub was 
> still there, and (since I wiped the disk) failed to find Debian. So I 
> repeated the exercise and got the same result again. Then I went into 
> the BIOS and had a look to see which hard disk was the default boot 
> disk, only to find that I was unable to change that, for some reason 
> (plus and minus didn't work to promote/demote the disks).
>
> So, what I'd like to try next is to restore the tower to its virgin state:
> no partitions, no MBR, etc. But it appears that the EaseUS partition 
> manager does not fry the MBR, and consequently Grub still loads. I 
> cannot figure out why this happens, but anyway I want to fix it. I now 
> understand that once I finally fix this problem, I should boot from my 
> Windows 7 installation disk, install Windows and its updates, and then 
> reboot to see if all is well. If all is well, then I'll reboot using 
> the Debian installation disk, point to the other disk as the place to 
> install Debian Linux 14, and then (in theory) Grub will detect that 
> Windows 7 is already installed and offer to add it to the Grub boot menu.
>
> First things first: how can I restore this tower to its virgin state, 
> with no MBR at all? If I can get there, then perhaps the other steps 
> will fall naturally into place.
>
>
> --
> Arthur
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--
Arthur
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