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antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

A factory install to make unrecoverable old data?

Hello.

I have an old Dell PC that I am going get rid of to someone. Will a factory reinstall (64-bit Dell OEM W7 HPE and its programs) from its DVD be enough to clear my data on its old SATA HDD?

Thank you in advance.

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

StuartMW

Premium Member

Maybe (depends if the OS install overwrites all previously used sectors).

I'd do a low-level format that overwrites all HD sectors with 00.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

said by StuartMW:

Maybe (depends if the OS install overwrites all previously used sectors).

I'd do a low-level format that overwrites all HD sectors with 00.

Which format program? From a Windows 7's bootable DVD?

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

1 recommendation

StuartMW

Premium Member

»Wipe/format a Hard Drive

How To Use the Format Command to Write Zeros to a Hard Drive
quote:
At the prompt, type the following, followed by Enter:

format e: /fs:NTFS /p:2

The format command used in this way will format the E drive with the NTFS file system and write zeros to every sector of the drive twice. If you are formatting a different drive, change e to whatever drive letter you need.


antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

Thanks.