Well there's lots of programs out there that securely delete files. They'll encrypt them over and over, and some are even DoD approved. I know when you delete a file in windows it just removes the references but the file is still on the hard drive and can easily be recovered with a data recovery program. I just got a new hard drive and have moved gigs of information and might plan on selling my computer. I just cut and pasted all the files from one hard drive to another. So the hard drive that the files were being moved from, are they still on the hard drive and recoverable with a program?
Normally if you use a program that writes zeros to the entire hard drive, then do a full reformat (not the "quick format") you should be pretty safe. There are professional data services for businesses that have experianced crashes to recover data that was not sufficiently backed up, however they are very expensive and not practical for a home user, so I wouldnt worry about it after doing the first 2 thigns I suggested.
Do a search on google or download.com for a hard drive sanitizer. It will fill your drive with junk data, then format it. Have it repeat this process 7 times and it is not recoverable.
I have program approved by Dept. of Defense which requires going down 7 levels...have heard there is another with 11 levels. But why copy and paste when u can Ghost in 4 minutes?
DoD standard is 3 overwrites, NSA is 7. Don't know of any agency that uses 11. The KGB maybe? Anyway, if you have Linux you can use a nice litle command to completely overwrite your drive randomly, which is even more secure. If you have something like KNOPPIX, SuSE Live, Gentoo Live, VirtualLinux, etc, then post back and I'll give you the command... I'll have to look up it's syntax.
its complicated. I have a 80 gig in the new comp, and a 40 and a 120 gig in the old comp. bought a 200, and wanted to switch out the 120 with the 200 and add the 120 to the new comp. only wanted to transfer 50 gigs from the 120 to the 200. anyways, theres programs that use guttman's reference, 35 times rewrite.
Anyway, if you have Linux you can use a nice litle command to completely overwrite your drive randomly, which is even more secure. If you have something like KNOPPIX, SuSE Live, Gentoo Live, VirtualLinux, etc, then post back and I'll give you the command... I'll have to look up it's syntax.
Linear Mode
