Anyone ever used Wipedrive before donating PC
- Thread starter catfish
- Start date
hollywood9826
Hall of Fame
Dban should be good. Does it boot up to the disk at least? What happens from there?
I used Wipe Drv while I was in the Airforce and we didnt have any problems with it. Boot to Dos and run a command hours later it was done. I think at that time the DoD standard was like 8 overwrites, now its three.
You could also try SDelete from Microsoft, although Ive never used it its free and woudl be worth a try. If the drive is a secondary it should be pretty easy, but I think you have to do a format first though as SDelete only will overwrite free space as far as I know.
The it would be simple command from a CMD window.
sdelete -p 3 (or however many passes you want) D:\ or whatever drive letter the drive is.
here is the link to the Technet article
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx
I used Wipe Drv while I was in the Airforce and we didnt have any problems with it. Boot to Dos and run a command hours later it was done. I think at that time the DoD standard was like 8 overwrites, now its three.
You could also try SDelete from Microsoft, although Ive never used it its free and woudl be worth a try. If the drive is a secondary it should be pretty easy, but I think you have to do a format first though as SDelete only will overwrite free space as far as I know.
The it would be simple command from a CMD window.
sdelete -p 3 (or however many passes you want) D:\ or whatever drive letter the drive is.
here is the link to the Technet article
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx
I booted the pc from the CD with Dban. Dban started, but I got the following message after about 15 seconds:
Dban finished with non-fatal errors
ERROR /dev/sde (process crash)
ERROR / dev/sdd (process crash)
I did a Google search to various tech forums about the error message. Seems it happens quite a bit. The tech forums suggested a lot of things that seemed time consuming and complicated. I'd rather spend $25 or $30 than spend endless hours figuring out this stuff.
Dban finished with non-fatal errors
ERROR /dev/sde (process crash)
ERROR / dev/sdd (process crash)
I did a Google search to various tech forums about the error message. Seems it happens quite a bit. The tech forums suggested a lot of things that seemed time consuming and complicated. I'd rather spend $25 or $30 than spend endless hours figuring out this stuff.
dlk
Hall of Fame
Damn it feels good to be a ganster.
dlk
Hall of Fame
Damn it feels good to be a ganster.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...D40D7D2217699A77CF76D40D7D2&first=0&FORM=LKVR
Fearsome Forehand
Professional
The smartest thing to do, security wise, is to remove the hard drive and destroy it. If you have anything of a personal nature on your hard drive, it is not worth the risk of donating it to an unknowm person who may be a computer geek/identity thief/perv who gets his jollies recovering personal info from hard drives. Yank the drive, take a hammer to it to break the plates, put it in the fireplace, burn it to a crisp and throw away the corpse. Usually pretty easy to disassemble the cabinet and remove the drive; 5 to 15 minute job.
If it is an very old computer, it will probably go to a junker/picker/geek type who will part it out or make a project out of modernizing it. If someone wants to make the computer usable again, they can buy/acquire/recycle a used hard drive. A picker probably has ten on his shelf already.
Most drive scrubbers don't jive well with old/obsolete OS's. That sounds like the problem you are having with dban. Chances are you will have the same problem with most other scrubbers. Not worth $29 for new software when the method described above is foolproof and eliminates all risk of data recovery.
If it is an very old computer, it will probably go to a junker/picker/geek type who will part it out or make a project out of modernizing it. If someone wants to make the computer usable again, they can buy/acquire/recycle a used hard drive. A picker probably has ten on his shelf already.
Most drive scrubbers don't jive well with old/obsolete OS's. That sounds like the problem you are having with dban. Chances are you will have the same problem with most other scrubbers. Not worth $29 for new software when the method described above is foolproof and eliminates all risk of data recovery.
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Fearsome Forehand
Professional
Wise decision. If you have an old OS, most of the free online scrubbers aren't going to work. I got rid of a running Windows 2000 computer over the summer and tried to use dban but it would not work on that OS so I yanked the drive and donated the rest.
As I mentioned in your earlier thread, no script requires a learning curve of sorts as one often has to utilize the options button on the lower right to allow all this page, and then refresh. But, I will say, since I began using no script, I have yet to get another virus (other than the flu I had between Christmas and New Years) Seems worth the small hassle given what a huge hassle/havoc some viruses create. After a time, you become accustomed to using no script and it becomes a matter of routine to enable pages when required.
And Glary, don't forget your Glary.
As I mentioned in your earlier thread, no script requires a learning curve of sorts as one often has to utilize the options button on the lower right to allow all this page, and then refresh. But, I will say, since I began using no script, I have yet to get another virus (other than the flu I had between Christmas and New Years) Seems worth the small hassle given what a huge hassle/havoc some viruses create. After a time, you become accustomed to using no script and it becomes a matter of routine to enable pages when required.
And Glary, don't forget your Glary.
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Totally agree with this. You soon get a grasp of which scripts to run (or have permanently allowed them) and you then not only have peace of mind (to the extent that that is possible online) but also cut out almost all the ads. Brilliant!
I haven't forgotten the Glary either. And I do appreciate your suggestions. I had McAffee Virus Protection thru Verizon, but cancelled it to save $6/month. I installed MS Security Essentials for free. My PC performance is a lot better now. I still haven't re-installed Explorer, but will do that soon. I can access files, move them and copy them from Explorer. But I can't right click and delete them.
The PC I pulled the hard drive from had Windows XP. Dban should have run on it, but it didn't. So I pulled out the hard drive. My husband wants to take the hard drive out into a field and re-create the copier/fax scene from Office Space.
The PC I pulled the hard drive from had Windows XP. Dban should have run on it, but it didn't. So I pulled out the hard drive. My husband wants to take the hard drive out into a field and re-create the copier/fax scene from Office Space.
Fearsome Forehand
Professional
Probably the best free anti-virus programs are Avira, Avast and AVG. You can install the basic versions on download.com (Do not do the 30 day trial upgrade AVG offers, more trouble than it is worth.) I have never used MSE but I suppose it is better than nothing and might do an adequate job. I have been using AVG for years but may change to Avira. Using noscript and AVG, I hardly ever, if ever get a virus. Glary cleans out any problems and I use it almost daily since the one click scan thing only takes about 5 minutes to clean out most (or all) of the garbage.
Yes, dban should have worked on XP in theory. A lot of things on PC's (and Macs) should work but don't. All too common, unfortunately.
I never use explorer. Too many risks for no benefit as firefox suffices. Every month, MS has to come out with a new security patch because explorer is such a target for the code monkeys who are inclined to write viruses and malware.
Did you ever get rid of the stubborn virus file you had? xploit?
Yes, dban should have worked on XP in theory. A lot of things on PC's (and Macs) should work but don't. All too common, unfortunately.
I never use explorer. Too many risks for no benefit as firefox suffices. Every month, MS has to come out with a new security patch because explorer is such a target for the code monkeys who are inclined to write viruses and malware.
Did you ever get rid of the stubborn virus file you had? xploit?
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No, I don't use Internet Explorer anymore. I was referring to Windows Explorer, where you access your documents. Somehow that program got corrupted and doesn't work correctly. As far as I know I got rid of the exploit virus. MS Security Scan found it and seemed to get rid of it........after I ran Glary Utilities.
Fearsome Forehand
Professional
Ah, yes, Windows Explorer, a different animal entirely.
Not sure if you can download a clean copy of WE. I think it is part of the OS; Vista or whatever you are running.
Seems to be a common problem as there are many people with the same complaint. Not sure there is an easy fix. You can google around and see if you can find a fix that works for you. Otherwise, you may have to live with it as is.
Until then, the search box is probably the best way to find a file. Or, open Word or Excel and click file which is probably what you are doing. I never used WE much, if at all, so one can live without it. Mine still works by the way (Vista) but I rarely use it.
Not sure if you can download a clean copy of WE. I think it is part of the OS; Vista or whatever you are running.
Seems to be a common problem as there are many people with the same complaint. Not sure there is an easy fix. You can google around and see if you can find a fix that works for you. Otherwise, you may have to live with it as is.
Until then, the search box is probably the best way to find a file. Or, open Word or Excel and click file which is probably what you are doing. I never used WE much, if at all, so one can live without it. Mine still works by the way (Vista) but I rarely use it.
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esgee48
G.O.A.T.
Catfish: I thought you had reloaded Windows Explorer from your friend's Vista DVD.
Anyhow, I obtained a free copy of FileShredder from Cnet's site and this runs unders Windows. It deletes files, folders and 2nd drives to MILSPEC or better. I use to work with customer identifiable data all the time and this program definitely erases all traces of it from my data drives.
Anyhow, I obtained a free copy of FileShredder from Cnet's site and this runs unders Windows. It deletes files, folders and 2nd drives to MILSPEC or better. I use to work with customer identifiable data all the time and this program definitely erases all traces of it from my data drives.
I never got around to it. Will try to do it in the next week or so.
I tried it today and can't make it work. It's a windows anytime upgrade disc.
I tried to run sfc/scannow, and it says I need to be logged in as administrator. This is a home PC and I am the administrator. This is driving me crazy. I need to use Windows explorer to delete old files off my computer and I can't do it.
Right click and select 'run as administrator.'
Can't remember whether this applied to XP.
When I right click on CMD I get the windows explorer error message and it shuts down.
Fearsome Forehand
Professional
You are running Vista?
Can't you click on the windows symbol at the bottom left and then click on documents under your user name avatar (in black). That should list all your doc files chronologically by date modified. You should even have a search function in the results (which seem the same a WE's results). Works on mine without opening WE. Might not work on your machine because it has "problems" but worth a shot.
Can't you click on the windows symbol at the bottom left and then click on documents under your user name avatar (in black). That should list all your doc files chronologically by date modified. You should even have a search function in the results (which seem the same a WE's results). Works on mine without opening WE. Might not work on your machine because it has "problems" but worth a shot.
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esgee48
G.O.A.T.
No, your Windows Explorer breakdown needs to be fixed. See if Fileshredder from Cnet can navigate to those files you want to delete. It's a free program so there's no cost. If that does not work or you can't find Documents and Settings, etc, then my offer of W2K File Manager still stands.
