Darik's Boot and Nuke

[ErikAlbert]

After reading the features of Eraser
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/features.php
I read this :
{QUOTE-> Erases all hard drives using 'Darik's Boot and Nuke' method. <-QUOTE}
So I searched for 'Darik's Boot and Nuke'
http://dban.sourceforge.net/features.html
and I read this :
{QUOTE->
Platform Support
* Hardware
o DBAN has all available drivers for SCSI disks.
o DBAN has all available drivers for IDE, PATA, and SATA disks.
o DBAN runs on all 32-bit x86-class computers (Athlon, Pentium, and others) with at least 8 megs of memory. If you find an incompatible machine, then please report it.
<-QUOTE}
WinXP and SATA is mentioned on the website, but I have
CPU = AMD Athlon 4400+ 64Bit X2 Dual-Core and
HDD = WD Raptor WD740GD HDD 74gb 10000rpm SATA 8mb Cache 4.5ms

Can I safely use 'Darik's Boot and Nuke' to wipe my harddisks with this CPU ???
Any practical experience with this combination of CPU and HDD ???
Thanks in advance

[WSFuser]

DBAN runs from a floppy disk right?

i would just try it (since ur just wiping ur harddisk neways) and if it doesnt work then report it to the author but i dont see much reason why DBAN wouldnt function with ur Athlon X2.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> DBAN runs from a floppy disk right?

i would just try it (since ur just wiping ur harddisk neways) and if it doesnt work then report it to the author but i dont see much reason why DBAN wouldnt function with ur Athlon X2. <-QUOTE}
Yes it works with a floppy disk, I already created one, but I hesitate to use it.
Maybe I get two NADA disks after using it .

[WSFuser]

if ur hesitant to use DBAN, Eraser also has its own boot disk u can use.

[ErikAlbert]

Reading their FAQ.
http://dban.sourceforge.net/faq/index.html#hardware
{QUOTE->
Q: Are you absolutely sure that DBAN works properly?

A: No.
<-QUOTE}
Very reassuring. ::)
I have to think about this and it also seems to be very slow (hours !!!).

[TNT]

{QUOTE-> Reading their FAQ.
http://dban.sourceforge.net/faq/index.html#hardware

Very reassuring. ::) <-QUOTE}
Well, it's not ShadowUser, you know... ::)

{QUOTE-> I have to think about this and it also seems to be very slow (hours !!!). <-QUOTE}And that's unexpected?

[Don Pelotas]

{QUOTE-> Reading their FAQ.
http://dban.sourceforge.net/faq/index.html#hardware

Very reassuring. ::)
I have to think about this and it also seems to be very slow (hours !!!). <-QUOTE}
If you have to quote something, why not the whole quote:
{QUOTE-> Q: Are you absolutely sure that DBAN works properly?

A: No.

There are several situations in which a DBAN failure could go unnoticed:

DBAN may fail to detect a hard disk in a computer with many hard disks. You must check whether DBAN actually detected all hard disks in a computer.

Your hardware caches writes or otherwise does not implement a functional write barrier. This is likely to happen with battery-backed large-memory RAID controllers or defective hard disks.

Somebody with a lot of time, money, and brains needs to recover your data.

The software that you downloaded could be bugged or trojaned. (Did you check the PGP signature?)

If you are seriously concerned about any of these situations, then consider drilling open your hard disk, grinding down the platters, and melting all of the parts in a furnace.

DBAN is "good enough" for "most people". <-QUOTE}
About the "it also seems to be very slow (hours !!!)", yes of course it's slow, it's actually overwriting the data, unlike the MS format, one pass (a lot faster) should be enough, you just enter "Quick" and press enter, if you just want to be sure no virus will survive.

You can easily download low-level format programs from WD website btw.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> If you have to quote something, why not the whole quote <-QUOTE}
The "No" was enough for me and I did mention the link to read the rest.
If the link wasn't mentioned, I would agree with you.
Wilders has alot of posts with partial quotes, but the links are usually mentioned.
{QUOTE-> You can easily download low-level format programs from WD website btw. <-QUOTE}
That is a very good idea and more reliable and reassuring. Thanks.

[Don Pelotas]

{QUOTE-> The "No" was enough for me and I did mention the link to read the rest.
<-QUOTE}
It's probably just as true for every other tool like this, Darik's Boot and Nuke is a very good program of it's kind and free too.:)

[TNT]

{QUOTE-> The "No" was enough for me <-QUOTE}So when one claims he can not guarantee that everything is perfect in his program (like anybody with some integrity and decency) you refuse to use it, but if one says his program is perfect in every way you use it?

Be prepared to use a lot of crap, then.

[ErikAlbert]

@Don Pelotas
I found a download to create a "Diagnostics Bootable CD" on this website :
http://support.wdc.com/download/?cxml=n&pid=1&swid=30
to wipe this type of harddisk
WD Raptor WD740GD HDD 74gb 10000rpm SATA 8mb Cache 4.5ms

One of it's option is :
{QUOTE->
WRITE ZEROS TO DRIVE
The Write Zeros option, wipes any and all data off your drive. This option used when your data is no longer usable or recoverable. If you no longer need any data from your drive and would like to start over, run this option to set your drive to an as new condition. NOTE: Please make sure that you have selected the correct drive to perform this function on as once ran, no data will be recoverable.
<-QUOTE}
That's the one I need and trust because it's straight from the manufacturer himself and it's free too.

@TNT,
I'm here to choose softwares and everybody has his own opinion about anything. I found what I need and that's enough for me.
If you are DBAN-fan and trust it, that's OK with me.
Why spending time on a discussion like this.
If I hurt your feelings concerning DBAN. Sorry.
I keep my feelings for people, not for softwares.

[TNT]

{QUOTE-> I'm here to choose softwares and everybody has his own opinion about anything. I found what I need and that's enough for me.
If you are DBAN-fan and trust it, that's OK with me.
Why spending time on a discussion like this.
If I hurt your feelings concerning DBAN. Sorry.
I keep my feelings for people, not for softwares. <-QUOTE}No problem. I just find it absurd that you don't use the software because the author says it cannot guarantee that it will wipe the hard disk so that it's impossible to retrieve the data. DBAN is considered by pretty much everybody the best and most reliable of its category, and the author is just being honest. But that's ok, I don't care.

[ErikAlbert]

This post is based one a true story, only the name of the poster has been changed for security reasons. :)
As you can read in previous posts, I wasn't very happy with "Darik's Boot and Nuke" to wipe my harddisks.
So I followed dear member Don Pelotas's suggestion.

Warning: this solution works ONLY for WDnnn Raptor harddisks and in my case :
WD Raptor WD740GD HDD 74gb 10000rpm SATA 8mb Cache 4.5ms on my computer.

1. First, I went to this website : http://support.wdc.com/download/?cxml=n&pid=1&swid=30
2. On the left selection box, I choosed : "Serial ATA WD Raptor - 10,000 RPM"
3. On the right selection box, I choosed : "Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD)"
4. Then I downloaded : "Diag504cCD.zip"
5. Unzipped the file with IZArc.
6. Burned the .iso-file on a CD with Nero.

Then I rebooted my computer with this CD in my DVD/CD-drive and got an userfriendly and informative menu, easy enough for newbies like me.
1. I selected the drive first
2. Ran "Write Zeros To Drive".
{QUOTE-> The Write Zeros option, wipes any and all data off your drive. This option used when your data is no longer usable or recoverable. If you no longer need any data from your drive and would like to start over, run this option to set your drive to an as new condition. NOTE: Please make sure that you have selected the correct drive to perform this function on as once ran, no data will be recoverable. <-QUOTE}

It took 20 minutes to wipe ONE harddisk (exactly 19m15s for hairsplitters).
Then I replaced this CD with the winXPproSP2-CD, rebooted my computer and installed winXPproSP2 without any problems.
If I had any problems, I wouldn't be here.

So it really works and I don't need a safer wipe method, because that would be superfluous and unnecessary in my case.
This is a practical solution with an acceptable run-time, that doesn't take hours or even days ::) according my readings.
Forgot to say : it's freeware LOL.

[doug6949]

IBM wrote a program called WIPE.COM that writes zeros. It has a drive size limitation but works fine if what you really want to do is eliminate the MBR. WIPE gets rid of the stuff that prevents a clean install.

The program is only 3K. Unfortunately, I can't find the link to the download site.

[lotuseclat79]

Unfortunately, the wipe.com program could only wipe up to 8GB.

Here is a link: http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/os/misc/ibm-wipe-zap.html

-- Tom

[ErikAlbert]

I zero my harddisk now, before I re-install winXPproSP2 from scratch.

If I don't use any other better method than zeroing, what difference does it make ?
Is a hacker capable of reading, what is hidden under the zeros of my harddisk ? That must be quite a job. ;D