My understanding is that the vast majority of wipe applications such as DBAN do not touch the HPA leaving it open to hiding malware. A full secure wipe with Part Image or something similar cleans the HPA where some of the nastier rootkits can reside. I will always opt for the 'peace of mind factor'. btw: Can anyone point me to a source that lists all of the applications that wipe the entire drive- absolutely EVERYTHING- including the HPA ? I would like to know what else is out there.
No – the only time I would wipe a new HDD is if I wanted to put a different OS on it. I think it's extreme paranoia to wipe a new HDD – besides, most people here should be smart enough (and knowledgable enough) to scan a new drive for 'nasties'.
Extreme paranoia... an opinion of only one reason to wipe a new HDD. I'll just list the other reasons since it's likely futile when such statements are made in light of all the evidence. When wiping, you write to all sectors, ensuring the entire drive is functioning. It also shows true capacity in cases like fake flash drives. A new drive isn't always clean (might have illegal stuff there, who knows unless you analyze non-zero sectors). SSD's work best with TRIM, which does a similar function (see above reason why).
I have a feeling that the CPU in my desktop died . . . If i dont get to fix it i will probably build a new PC.
If that isn't paranoia I don't know what is! You're trying to tell me that a significant proportion of the millions of PCs sold each year have illegal stuff on them? Sounds like FUD to me!
Define this oh wise guy: Belief that AV scanners are somehow the equivalent of wiping the entire drive, and zero knowledge of what a drive contains. This paranoid fella suggests ignorance, which if true, will be dismissed as so.
They don't provide install discs (or ways to create them) these days? I prefer wiping that recovery partition for more space cause disk imaging is clearly superior.
Nowadays it seems they don't, and any OS disk included seems to have all the OEM crapware on it as well.
I normally buy a base model with no os installed. Then I just install the os of my choice from scratch
I always build my own desktop computers, and I buy new HDDs for them (note that I don't use a laptop). As for the new HDDs, I usually format them, but I don't consider this to be a proper "wipe". So my answer is: No.
Then there are certain laptops with Microsoft "Signature" OS. No crapware, just the OS, drivers and nothing else!
I recall reading an article about new Windows PCs leaving the assembly plant in China for world distribution infected with malware. That may be a good motivator to wipe a hard drive on a brand new PC, although the 1st thing I do once the system is setup is to download my AV and MBAM and do a scan.
When I buy new computer or just disk I delete partitions and then create new with reformatting. But I don't overwrite it with random data. So I guess, my answer is no.
