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

Sun May 3 15:39:19 CDT 2015

I figured it out. I used EaseUS Partition Manager and wiped everything and
then it worked. Now I am a happy camper. Win7 Ultimate and Debian co-exist
and now I'm happy.

A.

On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 3:42 PM, Jim Lawrence <accessd at shaw.ca> wrote:

> 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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-- 
Arthur