Wiping hard drive on old computer

Discussions around the setup, operation, replacement, and disposal of clerk computers, not to include using MLS
craiggsmith
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Location: South Jordan, Utah

Wiping hard drive on old computer

#1

Post by craiggsmith »

I found a few threads about this but I'm sure there are more that I didn't find. Some posts said to use the Eraser tool as it's authorized by the church, and others said to use something like DBAN, Secure Erase, or SDelete as they wipe the whole drive. I'm not sure what the Church does with these, but they are authorized for a Windows license and not much use without it installed. (I suppose the Church could reinstall Windows but that would take resources; frankly I'm not sure these computers are worth much anyway).

Is there a current consensus on what we are supposed to do? If Eraser, what directories should we erase? Here's what I did so far: deleted the Clerk profile, uninstalled all Church programs and deleted any associated directories, cleared the Windows temp directory, and then "erased" all the empty space. (I may have deleted more but it was a while ago.)
Craig
South Jordan, UT
russellhltn
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#2

Post by russellhltn »

I would wipe the whole drive. If the computer is going to be repurposed, "they" probably have a specific way they want it done.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
Aczlan
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Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:29 pm
Location: Upstate, NY, USA

#3

Post by Aczlan »

RussellHltn wrote:I would wipe the whole drive. If the computer is going to be repurposed, "they" probably have a specific way they want it done.

Exactly, it needs to be wiped. If someone wants to use XP on it, that is not your problem, that is theirs (and the Church probbaly installs XP Corporate rather than the OEM version, so it needs a different version of XP anyway).
If it is being re-used in the Church, it will be re-imaged with the image for the new department.

Aaron Z
craiggsmith
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Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:14 pm
Location: South Jordan, Utah

#4

Post by craiggsmith »

OK, thanks. But it seems odd that the program they tell you to use can't do this.

Edit: Or rather, I guess it could do it if launched from an external bootable drive, which is the same as some of the others like Secure Erase. So I guess I need to remember how to make a boot disc; I know the OS used to offer that option, I'll see if I can find it.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
Aczlan
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Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:29 pm
Location: Upstate, NY, USA

#5

Post by Aczlan »

craiggsmith wrote:OK, thanks. But it seems odd that the program they tell you to use can't do this.
That it does. I highly recommend making a DBAN CD for wiping drives... It lets you boot off of it and wipe anything on the computer.

Aaron Z
craiggsmith
Senior Member
Posts: 851
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:14 pm
Location: South Jordan, Utah

#6

Post by craiggsmith »

Thanks. There was a post that referred to a ZDNet article that discussed DBAN and Secure Erase (HDDerase). The latter apparently uses built-in drive features and is supposedly a lot faster. It also includes a bootable disc image. I have two identical machines to wipe; I'll try both and compare them.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
craiggsmith
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Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:14 pm
Location: South Jordan, Utah

#7

Post by craiggsmith »

HDDerase took 16.5 minutes for the 40G drive. My DBAN wouldn't run; it said there was no configuration file, although I could see it on the disc.

How do I verify that it worked? I can't access the drive in any way.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
Aczlan
Member
Posts: 358
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:29 pm
Location: Upstate, NY, USA

#8

Post by Aczlan »

craiggsmith wrote:HDDerase took 16.5 minutes for the 40G drive. My DBAN wouldn't run; it said there was no configuration file, although I could see it on the disc.
How do I verify that it worked? I can't access the drive in any way.
What I did at work to test the first few machines was to load a free version of a HDD recovery tool (I think I used Ontrack EasyRecovery Lite) and have it scan the disk to see if it can find anything. It will not let you recover much, but you are just looking to see if anything was left.

Aaron Z
russellhltn
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#9

Post by russellhltn »

craiggsmith wrote:Thanks. There was a post that referred to a ZDNet article that discussed DBAN and Secure Erase (HDDerase). The latter apparently uses built-in drive features and is supposedly a lot faster.

If it's what I'm thinking of Secure Erase sounds attractive, but I've had poor results in getting it to work. DBAN usually works. Depending on the age of the machine, I might have to get an older version.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
craiggsmith
Senior Member
Posts: 851
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:14 pm
Location: South Jordan, Utah

#10

Post by craiggsmith »

RussellHltn wrote:If it's what I'm thinking of Secure Erase sounds attractive, but I've had poor results in getting it to work. .... Depending on the age of the machine, I might have to get an older version.
These two machines just passed the 7 year mark and it worked fine, but there were some notes about some drives being finicky, particularly Maxtor I think.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
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