Can anyone recommend a good FREE hard disk wipe utility?

[mkdevo]

looking for a good free disk wipe program. saw a ton on google, but wondering if anyone can recommend a certain one.

[MeatheadBMC]

Darik's Boot and Nuke

http://www.dban.org/

[mkdevo]

Originally Posted by MeatheadBMC

Darik's Boot and Nuke

http://www.dban.org/

yeah, i saw that in my search, but it doesn't sound like it's for me. i don't want it to "wipe any hard drive it can detect". i want to be able to select which drive(s) i want to wipe.

[4KRG]

^ just remove the drives from the machine that you don't want to risk erasing

This would be another program

http://www.heidi.ie/node/6

[4KRG]

^ just remove the drives from the machine that you don't want to risk erasing

This would be another program

http://www.heidi.ie/node/6

[vballboy51]

Originally Posted by mkdevo

yeah, i saw that in my search, but it doesn't sound like it's for me. i don't want it to "wipe any hard drive it can detect". i want to be able to select which drive(s) i want to wipe.

This is a nice program. I think what it means is that it CAN wipe anything - meaning mac, ntfs, Fat32, xfs ect ect. Its a bit slow but very good. wipes, writes 0's, wipes again.

you should be able to select the drive you want to wipe per machine

[kms_md]

another vote for DBAN - IIRC you can select which drive you want wiped.

[MeatheadBMC]

It lets you select which drive you want to wipe. For safety sake I always unhook all drives except for the one(s) I'm wiping. I use it before recycling or disposing of any HD I take in.

[JM]

Originally Posted by 4KRG

^ just remove the drives from the machine that you don't want to risk erasing

This would be another program

http://www.heidi.ie/node/6

I second this. Eraser is a good, free, open source file and/or drive wiper. It allows you to choose from several progressively more secure (but slower) wiping methods to fit your needs.

[mkdevo]

thanks for the help, everyone.

generally speaking, how long would a wipe take on say, a 500GB drive?

[chino77]

Originally Posted by mkdevo

thanks for the help, everyone.

generally speaking, how long would a wipe take on say, a 500GB drive?

from what i remember a few years ago it took me about 3 hours to wipe a 80 gb laptop hard drive on the highest security setting.

[kenbuzz]

Originally Posted by JM

I second this. Eraser is a good, free, open source file and/or drive wiper. It allows you to choose from several progressively more secure (but slower) wiping methods to fit your needs.

And I'll third. I've been using it for years. It not only uses the DBAN algorithm for deletion, but it also lets you optionally add an "erase" option to the contextual menus within Windows, including the Recycle Bin.

It is absolutely user-configurable... from a single pass overwrite with pseudorandom data, to a DoD 5220.22-M 3- or 7-pass overwrite, all the way to the Gutmann 35-pass overwrite. You can ALSO optionally overwrite your cluster tip area. It's absolutely flexible, absolutely configurable, and although it can be slow (as others have mentioned), it's worth it.

And... it's free.