DOS Shredder program request

[ZeldaFan001]

I have a request.

Usually every so often, I format my computer every once in a while to clean my registry and any programs that I don't want anymore and to speed my computer up. I know it may be easier to uninstall what I don't want, but you never know what extra files could lie around in your system. Anyway, I do have a shredder program, but they all only work in Windows.

In order to securely clean my computer, anyone know of a DOS program that DOESN'T need windows to run and does everything from shredding files on your hard drive, getting rid of all deleted files (i.e. overwriting the entire drive with 0's), and a feature that I can tell it how many passes it can do? Possibly one that is free and easy to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[MottZilla]

Yup. It's called format. Works well when you type format c:

[ZeldaFan001]

Wow. I never would have thought of that!

If you watch TechTV, you can find out that format does not delete the data. It just deletes the index. The data in part is still there. I want to make my data unrecoverable. Do you understand what I'm asking now?

Sort of like what you would do if you gave away your hard drive to someone else. You don't want your data to be recovered.

Also one more detail, the program must fit on a floppy disk so it will work in pure DOS.

[Dark Nation]

GWScan from Gateway is what we use at work (I'm a workstation technician). Yes, it even works on hard drives that aren't from Gateway or in Gateway systems.

If your hard drive is larger than 10 Gig, use GW Scan 5.07 (http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=7513666), otherwise, use GW Scan 3.15 (didn't take time to search for that one, but you should be able to find it on the site).

[ZeldaFan001]

Oops, I should have mentioned that.

I have a Windows 98 Gateway Computer with a 12 Gigabyte harddrive.

[MrCow]

... its called format the drive and delete all the partitions. that way you have no file system on the computer and just pure gigs of nothing.

[Breaker]

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=7513666
Supports: All Operating Systems
Note: This utility will attempt to read a hard drive, write zeros to it, and measure seek times and data transfer rates.
This should be used on all IDE hard drives that are larger than 10 gig.

... This should be exactly what you need, ZeldaFan.

And MrCow, formatting your harddrive does not get rid of everything. Find yourself a new thread to spread bullshit in, please.

[vegeta1215]

If you want to keep your Windows system in tact, but shred the "empty space" which may still contain data, you need something like Norton Utilities which does different kinds of disk wipes.

If you want to totally wipe your drive and make it so your stuff is shredded and not recoverable, you need something like Autoclave: http://staff.washington.edu/jdlarios/autoclave/

[AtmaWeapon]

Autoclave is what I was about to recommend.

To the uninformed:
FORMAT AND FDISK DO NOT ERASE THE DATA ON YOUR HARD DRIVE. After a format, someone with the proper utilities (like freeware Disk Investigator (http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22917,00.asp) ) can easily retrieve just about anything they want from the drive. The average person may not go to such a length, but usually people who format for security have something they REALLY might want to hide, be it from parents, stalkers, competitors, or law enforcement.

Fdisk and format change maybe 1% of your total drive when they run. All they do is change the FAT and MBR.

[ZeldaFan001]

I just read the instructions and it said that it will delete my partitions as well when erasing, which means you must use fdisk. I have never ran fdisk before, is it easy to use?

If I know that I have FAT32 file system and 12 GB of hard drive space, is that enough information I need to know to recreate any partitions?

[AtmaWeapon]

Fdisk is remarkably easy to use. Unless you want to use a volume label, you'll be using one-letter responses and the Enter key.

With a blank hard drive, you want to tell fdisk to create a new Primary DOS partition. It will ask you if you want to use the whole free space, tell it yes. After you fdisk, REBOOT! If you format without rebooting, you have to start over.

I'm not sure if Win98 formats in FAT32 by default, it may end up formatting in FAT16, but Windows will still work fine and there is a conversion utility in the Accessories menu, so it's up to you to decide if that is undesirable or not.

[ZeldaFan001]

I found some useful instructions here (http://members.bellatlantic.net/~mrscary/fdisk.htm) if anyone is interested too.

Great! I have everything I need. I'll be trying it out in a month or so. Thanks for all your help!