how to zero a hard disk

[jacinto]

hello ,i have a problem with my computer after long and hard waiting trying to sort out my problem i found that the only best option is zeroing the hard disk but the only trouble i dont know how? can you help please ,thank you.

[Bill in SD, CA]

Welcome to TechIMO!!

Either use the manufacturer's diagnostic disk to write zeroes or use Kill Disk - Hard Drive Eraser .

Bill

[ExSuS]

Edit: Yeah bills way would be a lot easier then mines.

[Louch]

Is zeroing a hard disk different than formating?

[paul9]

yes. when you format, all the information about which files are stored on a disk and where they are stored is overwritten, but the files are still there. when you zero fill the hard disk, you write zeros to all the storage space on the disk, so the files are gone. but this means you need to format the disk to write information about where it can store files, so i guess a zero fill by killdisk should include a format, or would need one afterwards.

[crossedup]

Just as another option you can get this as well.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Wonderful tool to have and it has a lot of the manufacturers disks on it already plus a few zero fill utilities. Ive used it for that purpose and it works great.

[zepper]

I was going to recommend Hitachi's utilities, but they may already be on the ultimate boot CD linked by crossedup. If not, Hitachi's utils (Drive Fitness Test) are more generic than most and will work with most ATA hard drives.
.bh.

[StealthyV]

completely erasing the drive's data sounds like a good idea for me...I'm going to be selling my mini-itx and including an 80gig drive with it...it's gone through several formats (it's now running Windows 98...after running Red Hat 8.0 with dual boot Win2k pro. I'd like to secure-erase the data before I turn it over to someone else.

my system specs:

Via C3 (not celeron) Samuel 800mhz cpu
512mb PC133/100 SD RAM
80GB Maxtor 7200rpm hdd
52x Lite-On CDROM/CD-RW
56k V.92/V.90 low-profile Winmodem
150W psu (internal)
China-made case...unbranded.
Directron case badge: "I Made This"


I should prolly post this in the resellers forum too. I'll entertain offers greater than $399, not including shipping. For a complete system, this is a great deal.

I'd like to be sure that none of my financial data nor personal details not pertaining to the actual sale be released via my hdd. I'll look into those utilities.
thanks!

~Branson