Erasing two partitions on a disk, but not whole disk

J

jon

New Member
I've got a laptop with a C (programmes) and D (data) partition; it also has a hidden partition, which I can't (AFAIK) write too, but from which I can restore the OS. I'd like to erase my data before sending it for repair; however, it would be handy if I could leave the hidden partition intact: it's much quicker to restore from this than to faff around with CDs...

So, I'd rather not use DBAN. Is there a way I can make an Eraser boot disk, to just erase the two partitions? And anything to watch out for when doing this?
 
Hi jon :)

Firstly back up anything you want to keep !

You can simply delete your private data using the windows delete key. Then use Eraser to “Erase Unused Space”. This will overwrite anything you have deleted.

If you want to make sure you have remembered everything to delete you could format your disk and restore from your HPA and then install Eraser. Again using the “Erase Unused Space” option.

I think you can use DBAN safely, I don’t think it touches the HPA. In fact I think some people have been asking for DBAN to be able to.

You could use Truecrypt as another way to protect yourself.
 
Hi

I have just noticed this.

So according to LittleTwink you can use DBAN on your drive without wiping the HPA.
 
thanks - actually, the most straightforward plan seems to be to format, reinstall, and then erase empty space. If that would be reasonably secure?
 
thanks - actually, the most straightforward plan seems to be to format, reinstall, and then erase empty space. If that would be reasonably secure?
Click to expand...

I would say that would be more than adequate. You only need to perform a single pseudorandom pass when overwriting, that will give you very good security. :wink:
 
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