How do I clean PC of data in places I don't even know of?

[Dazzer]

I am planning to give away a couple of old PCs - without the hard drives probably. But how do I clear it of private data in the innards of the PC? That's data that folk skilled in computer forensics or identity theft could unearth in the registry or wherever these things reside.

I want the PCs to go to a good cause, but if there's a risk my bank details are encrypted somewhere, I can't unless I know how to wipe them. How can I return my PC to it's virgin state?

Dazzer

[mairving]

Several ways to do it. Here (http://www.pcdailytips.com/2007/05/07/zero-writing-a-hard-drive/) is the one that went out yesterday in the daily tips.

[TwoRails]

It always makes me happy to hear that someone wants to utilize old PCs. I slowed down a lot, but I love rebuilding old PCs and giving them to people who don't have computers. One thing though, is to make sure that the recipient actually wants the computers. That's hardly ever a problem with an individual but most school and charities and the like do not want computers that are too old.

The simplest, and really the best way is as mairving mentioned above and it is to just zero fill the hard drive. It is always great to protect your data especially in this day and age, but in real life someone would be hard-pressed to attempt to get data off of a hard drive that has been zero field, reformatted, and reset up. And it's especially true for friends and family. Most would much rather go after easier prey.

PS: I don't know how that little icon got up there, sorry...

[sgtspector]

Try this article and the referenced utility: http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=129 I havent tried it yet but it help to give you piece of mind.

[Dazzer]

Can data, like in bank account aggregators, be stored in memory or anywhere other than on the hard drives?

[TwoRails]

No. That's volatile memory that goes away when the machine is turned off: a.k.a. RAM

[Dazzer]

Secure erase doesn't do SCSI drives - is there a free tool to secure erase SCSI drives?

Dazzer

[Dazzer]

Would fdisk erase partition then reformat clear things?

[kev7555]

In your first post you said you were giving away these systems without the hard drives. If that is the case, you need to do none of the advised fixes. All of the information you are worried about keeping private is contained on the drive. These fixes would only be necessary if you were including the drives.

-Kev

[Dazzer]

I was giving away the system with a small SCSI drive.

[UncleS]

Dazzer. Check the website of the drive maker. Many of them have downloadable utilities that will zero fill. These are commonly used after a bad virus infection.

[Cricket]

Dazzer. Check the website of the drive maker. Many of them have downloadable utilities that will zero fill.Or you can use Darik's Boot and Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net/) or KillDisk (http://www.killdisk.com/), they work with all hard drive brands.

:) Cricket

[The_YongGrand]

Yeah, the Darik's Boot and Nuke and Killdisk works perfectly.

I have a bootable DBAN and I can easily do wiping.

The thing is, which method is better? Gutmann or the plain zero-fill? How many passes are recommended?