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Recently, I had to return a computer system for warranty work. Since the hard drive had to be sent back along with the system, I started looking for a driver or program to help me zero the drive. Zeroing the drive means to fill the whole drive with zeros. Computers use the binary system to store data; numbers made up of 0s and 1s comprise all the data and programs we use — so by “zeroing” the drive, all the binary “encoded” data is replaced by zeros.
Here’s an example… Can you decipher it?
01010100011010000110000101101110011010110111001100100000011001100
11011110111001000100000011100100110010101100001011001000110100101
10111001100111001000000100110001100101011000010111001001101110001
00000010101110110100101110100011010000010000001000010011001010111
0100011100110111100100100001
Just in case you’re not a computer whiz, you can use this Binary to Text conversion tool to decode the message above. [I confess.... I used that tool to help me write the message in the first place!]
Ok, so getting back on track. When wiping a hard drive, simply reformatting it doesn’t guarantee your data will be unrecoverable — you have to rewrite over the data (say, with a string of solid zeros)… and there are some sources who say you need to do this up to seven times to completely erase all traces of your data.
I needed a program to help me do this — and the solution I stumbled across was Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN). Basically, you just download the software, and burn an ISO file to DVD with Active ISO Burner. I had to rearrange the order of your boot sequence, so that my disc drive would boot first (and then you’re ready to wipe your hard drive). When zeroing your drive, DBAN does three passes to make sure that your data is wiped squeaky clean.
DISCLAIMER… don’t install or load DBAN unless you’re trying to erase everything on your hard drives (yes, I did intend to write that in plural form):
Darik’s Boot and Nuke (“DBAN”) is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.
DBAN displays statistics during the process (runtime, time remaining, errors, etc). You should expect the process to take 3-4 hours, or more, depending on the size of your drive.
