Silk Road forums

Discussion => Security => Topic started by: This_is_not_SOCA on October 02, 2013, 06:53 pm

Title: IF YOU NEED TO TRASH YOUR HARD DISK
Post by: This_is_not_SOCA on October 02, 2013, 06:53 pm
If for whatever reason you feel compelled to trash the contents of your hard disk, short of physically destroying it, then use DBAN.

There are instructions here for downloading DBAN and creating a bootable USB drive from which you can then boot and trash your hard disk.

clearnet: http://www.trishtech.com/security/create_bootable_dban_usb_pen_drive.php

It is relatively straightforward to use. The main website for DBAN is here:

http://www.dban.org

Think carefully before hand - you won't be getting anything back of the disk afterwards. If necessary copy anything you need off onto a Truecrypt encrypted usb disk.

Here are the contents of the instruction page sans screenshots:

1  Download the Darik's Boot and Nuke ISO image from http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/. At the time of writing this post, the downloaded file is dban-2.2.7_i586.iso. The file name can be different for newer versions, but it does not matter.

2  Download Universal USB Installer from http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/. The downloaded file is Universal-USB-Installer-1.9.2.7.exe at the time of writing this post.

3  Insert a USB pen drive and let Windows detect it. The inserted USB pen drive must have at least 50 MB free on it. It is better to backup the data on your USB drive before you use it for DBAN.

4  Run Universal USB Installer file that you downloaded in step #2 above.
   
5  Choose DBAN 2.2.X from the drop-down listbox. Then click on the Browse button and choose the ISO disk image file that you downloaded in the step #1 above. Lastly, select the USB pen drive letter from the list.

6  Create a Bootable DBAN USB Pen Drive
    The inserted USB pen drive has to be FAT formatted, in order to make it bootable. If your selected USB drive is not FAT32/FAT16 formatted, then select the checkbox labeled something like Format X:\ Drive. Please note that, formatting will erase all the exisiting content from the USB drive.

7  Click on the Create button at the bottom to start the USB creation process. You will be shown a confirmation dialog informing about what is going to happen next e.g., MBR will be overwritten, disk label would be overwritten etc. Click on the Yes button to continue to create the bootable USB pen drive.

8 Create a Bootable DBAN USB Pen Drive
    In a few seconds, your bootable DBAN USB pen drive would be ready. Click the Close button to close the Universal USB Installer.

Stop here and think again about the implications of loosing all data on the disk...

9 Reboot computer and boot off the USB drive - you will boot into DBAN - use 'autonuke' if you don't want to read any more instructions

The wipe process can take a long time - use the 'Quick Erase' option for speed if necessary followed by a default 'DoD short wipe' afterwards for good measure
Title: Re: IF YOU NEED TO TRASH YOUR HARD DISK
Post by: AlternateReality on October 02, 2013, 10:00 pm
I prefer SDelete. Aren't there like a few areas of your HDD that DBAN doesn't wipe?
Title: Re: IF YOU NEED TO TRASH YOUR HARD DISK
Post by: This_is_not_SOCA on October 02, 2013, 10:08 pm
Hi AR - no they are very different tools.

DBAN nukes the entire harddisk (excluding damaged parts of the disk)

Sdelete is a tool that runs in Windows and is only for deletign specific files/folders or 'slack space' on the disk. It cannot wipe a disk.

Sdelete is ok for deleting individual files without trashing your entire disk.

DBAN is what you should use for nuking the disk
Title: Re: IF YOU NEED TO TRASH YOUR HARD DISK
Post by: anonypunk on October 02, 2013, 11:22 pm
DBAN is good folks!