Erasing Data

[Moira]

Cheers, that would be great! I'm certain my Dad's doesn't have a floppy drive, though I can ask him again. My two computers here do though, so I could use it for the drives being given away here.

[nihil]

If he only has a CD/DVD then I can make you a bootable one of those as well..........it only takes a few minutes

[Moira]

Many thanks, that would be really useful! It probably takes more than a few minutes to go to the post office and get it checked out for "large letter" category, so I know you're going to more trouble than you're saying I'm not absolutely certain his drive is DVD - it probably is, but since it will fit on a CD that's a safer option.

[nihil]

No problems Moira, they will both fit in the same bag I guess the post office is only about 1/2 a mile from my house.

[Moira]

Will the software also view and format the hidden partition?

[nihil]

I would have thought so Moira,

Those partitions are normally defined within Windows, and we will boot outside of the OS.

Not sure about Vista, but a reformat from a "proper" Windows CD (not a "repair" or "recovery" disk) will get rid of those hidden partitions.

[Moira]

I was wondering about your software actually ... I can certainly get rid of it with a full XP or Vista disc.

[nihil]

The software I am sending will get rid of everything on the disk............. like everything ............ hidden or not!

[Moira]

That's exactly what I'm looking for! It will leave basic CD drivers on though? I remember doing a very low level format in the BIOS once (in my early days with computers) and literally wiping everything off! It took quite something to get an operating system back on, I can tell you!

[nihil]

No, these wiping utilities do just that, they wipe the lot. If you are going to reload the same OS then make sure that you save the drivers or get them off the internet if you are not using the Microsoft defaults.

If you are going to load Win XP after an earlier OS then I would check that you can boot from an XP CD before proceeding. This will load the default installation drivers and you will see if there is a compatibility issue.

If you think about it, exactly the same thing will happen if you do a full format with the Vista CD or even XP, except that in the case of XP the data would still be there, although you wouldn't be able to access it.