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Wipe hard drive but keep windows?

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by snaircakh

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Hi, I need to wipe a hard drive from an old desktop that has Windows ME installed. I don't have a windows cd though, so is there a way to wipe everything except the Windows files so I don't have to reinstall it?

16 replies

by thumbsup2

There is no such thing as wipe it but not wipe it. Either you do wipe it and have to reinstall an OS of some kind, or you don't wipe it.

by jdclyde

Uninstall any applications you no longer wish to have.

Delete unwanted data/directories.

Clear your temp folder.

Run Defrag.

Then run this application or one like it.
http://www.jetico.com/bcwipe.htm

It has an option to wipe free space.

BCwipe is something I have used for years.

This will have cleared out everything except for the windows install.

If this is not what you're looking for, please provide some more information.

Good luck.

jd

by nepenthe0

I was unaware of such software until your post. It may come in handy one day.

Rick/Portland, OR

by jdclyde

Norton even has a utility in their suite that does the same, but BCwipe is free (or at least it was when I downloaded it).

I go through that checklist at least twice a year.

If you do the free space wipe, plan on it taking a long time, so I let it run all night and is usually done by morning, depending on the size of the drive and how much you have on it.

by rawilcox30

I have also been using it for years. I generally uninstall / delete anything I don't want to save, then run wipe, then defrag. That wipe I'm wiping the sectors that had the data I wanted wiped.

by jdclyde

the wipe will get the unused portions of the sectors, so the only thing that isn't nailed the 7 times is what is defragged on top of.

Nothing I am doing is that confidential that I worry about it. I just like to get to the blank slate every now and then, but if it IS a major security issue, use BCwipe to do the delete of the data with wiping FIRST, THEN defrag, THEN wipe free space.

by snaircakh

That's exactly what I was looking for, thanks for the help.

by nepenthe0

Hard drives have significantly improved in the 8 years since Windows ME was launched. Western Digital now markets a 300GB [i]VelociRaptor[/i] HD spinning at 10,000 rpm with 16MB cache and 3 gigabits/sec transfer rate. You have a turtle compared to a cheetah.

Not only is the salvaged HD obsolete, but the operating system installed in it is the worst piece of junk ever sold by Microsoft. If you enjoy lock ups, crashes, erratic behavior, sudden and inexplicable loss of critical functionality, then Windows ME is perfectly designed for your preferences. However, you cannot run Windows ME very long without an installation/recovery CD, due to its inherent instability.

There is a recent [i]blog[/i] on TR about how to destroy a hard drive:

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=353

It's a thoroughly enjoyable (hilarious) read, and unfortunately, all too relevant to your current situation.

Rick/Portland, OR

by nepenthe0

One day it's gonna happen, and then I'll be compelled to [i]eat crow[/i] and confess that I was wrong all along.

It's a tradeoff - security for performance. I would [b]never[/b] recommend lax security in an environment requiring security - that would be patently irresponsible.

You like to needle me about this, but my computer runs circles around those crippled by AV software...

Rick/Portland, OR

by jdclyde

There are a lot of AV packages out there that will take a nice system and turn it into a real dog. Norton and Macafee are two such products.

by nepenthe0

Old Mycroft just doesn't want to hear it, and Peconet Tietokoneet sides with Old Mycroft. What puzzles me is that both these folks are super smart, and they [b]know[/b] what McAfee and Norton do to inherently well tweaked installations.

My Ghost [i]image[/i] file is my security. Meanwhile, I enjoy a computer that flies like an F-15 on afterburners...

Rick/Portland, OR

by jdclyde

Being able to recover quickly isn't the same as security.

Sure, you have eliminated your downtime, so the effects of a virus would be minimal.

As long as nothing confidential is ever on that system and it isn't in a work environment, rock on. B-)

by nepenthe0

The two are usually bundled. Whenever [i]security[/i] gets involved, there's an obligatory AV package.

A couple of years ago, when employed by the State of Oregon as an X-ray Inspector, a co-worker brought her state-issued laptop to me and complained that it took 5 minutes (or longer) to boot, and was so slow that she couldn't use it in the field.

I took custody of the machine for a weekend, suppressed unneeded Windows services, suppressed unnecessary startup processes, and uninstalled the antivirus application.

When I returned it to her, she was ecstatic at the performance, and she asked me what I did. I politely declined to answer - it would not have been [i]politically correct[/i] to admit to unauthorized tampering with state equipment.

Our inspections did not involve [i]sensitive[/i] or [i]confidential[/i] issues, so there was no risk to the client. However, she could now get her work done with a machine that didn't waste her time.

You are totally correct - the concepts of [i]security[/i] and [i]recovery[/i] are separate entitites, but the distinction becomes blurred once the Security officers trash otherwise decent equipment.

Rick/Portland, OR

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