How to erase your hard drive
erase your hard drive with DBAN
darik’s boot and nuke is Free software one can use to boot and nuke your hdd (hard drive).
But with so many open source and commercial solutions to erase your hard drive one might wonder what is the best and why? Lets review two solutions one can use to nuke your hard drive.
DBAN versus Wipedrive
DBAN is a free disk eraser located on sourceforge which will wipe most hard drives clear of all data. WipeDrive is approved by the Department of Defense, and it is trusted by government agencies and major corporations as their primary disk wipe utility. Wipedrive will permanently wipe all hard drive information / data including partitions, formats & file data. Wipe external hard drives, thumb drives, memory cards, SD, SDHD, SDXD, iPods & other external media. Support for all PC and Mac Computers (Intel, AMD & PowerPC).
If you don’ t mind paying a little cash WipeDrive is clearly the way to go. Its easier to use and can be used to wipe the drive of many of your hardware devices which contain a hard disk.
Keep in mind during this review that if you lack a little geek in your blood DBAN could be difficult to get going however, with a little perseverance even the faint of heart can get DBAN to do what they need it to do. Feel free to ask questions below in the comment section.
“Darik’s Boot and Nuke (”DBAN”) is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction on your hdd. The most recent release is beta DBAN 2.2.6. In order to install DBAN wants you to burn the file to a blank disc and boot the computer with it. Do not unzip this file.
DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses, malware, and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis. This means it writes over the existing data making it virtually impossible to recover the data it over wrote. Both wipe drive and dariks boot and nuke are great options to erase your hard drive.
Both utilities will permanently wipe your hard drive clean.
or go to dban.sourceforge.net
Now one might ask “How do I use dban to erase my hard drive?” well I’m glad you asked! Below I’ll give you two simple to use instructions to autonuke your hard drive clean.
There are two ways to accomplish this, I’ll review both ways in simple form then break down the USB Flash installation in more detail. 1 – load dban to a CD, 2 – install dban on a USB flash drive
Simple dban CD install instructions – DBAN 2.x only:
- Download the most recent version of DBAN 2.x
- Burn the ISO to CD
- Insert the CD into your CD ROM
- Reboot your computer
- Follow the prompts
Installing DBAN on a floppy or USB flash drive
DBAN version 1.0.7 allows you to install the dban to flash drive or floppy disk. Here’s the simple step by step instructions:
- Download the exe file
- double click the exe file to execute it
- follow the instruction presented to load it onto you flash drive or floppy disk
If that didn’t work for you here’s more detailed installation instructions for Darik’s Boot and Nuke (dban-1.0.7_i386)
——————
1.0 About Darik’s Boot and Nuke
2.0 Installing DBAN
2.1 Creating the DBAN boot media on Microsoft Windows
2.2 Creating the DBAN CD-R disc on Microsoft Windows
2.3 Creating the DBAN floppy disk on Linux
2.4 Creating the DBAN CD-R disc on Linux
3.0 Using DBAN
3.1 Getting Help and Support
4.0 Configuring DBAN
4.1 Automatic Wiping
4.2 SYSLINUX.CFG
5.1 Free Updates
5.2 Contact Information
6.0 Advanced Features
6.1 Logging
6.2 PRNG Seeding
7.0 Legal
1.0 About Darik’s Boot and Nuke
——————————–
Darik’s Boot and Nuke (“DBAN”) is a self-contained boot floppy that securely
wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely
delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an
appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction and cleaning.
2.0 Installing DBAN
——————–
2.1 Creating the DBAN boot media on Microsoft Windows
——————————————————-
Double-click the ‘dban-1.0.7_i386.exe’ program to install DBAN to a
floppy disk or USB flash device.
You must use an account with full hardware access to create the DBAN boot
media. This means that you must be a member of the administrators group or
have similar privileges on your Microsoft Windows computer. Virus scanners
and domain policies can prevent you from creating the DBAN boot media.
The USB booting capabilities of many computers are incomplete or broken. Most
computers capable of booting from a USB device require that it report a
removable media type, and that it be unpartitioned and smaller than two
gigabytes (so that the BIOS can boot it like a floppy disk).
If the drive letter of your USB device does not appear in WinImage drive list,
then it is an unsupported media type. In particular, most USB+IDE bridge
implementations are unrecognized, which means that a 2.5 inch hard disk in an
external USB enclosure is incompatible.
2.2 Creating the DBAN CD-R disc on Microsoft Windows
———————————————————–
If you do not have a floppy drive, or if you wish to use a CD drive or
DVD drive instead, then get the “CDR/CDRW version” from the DBAN home page,
which is an ISO file.
The DBAN FAQ has a tutorial for burning the DBAN ISO on Microsoft Windows.
If you already have burning software installed on your computer, then
double-click the ISO file to burn DBAN to blank CD-R or CD-RW media. Keep all
defaults for mode and emulation if you burn the ISO file with a product like
Nero Burning ROM.
If nothing happens when you double-click the DBAN ISO file, or if the “Open
With” dialog that asks you to “choose a program” starts, then you do not have
burning software installed that understands the ISO format.
Note that CD-ROM drives manufactured before 1998 often have problems reading
CD-R media, and will sometimes damage it. Try to use a DBAN floppy disk on
older computers.
Similarly, CD-RW media is often more problematic than CD-R media. Try to use
CD-R media with DBAN, especially on older computers.
2.3 Creating the DBAN floppy disk on Linux
——————————————-
# unzip dban-1.0.7_i386.exe
# dd if=dban-1.0.7_i386.ima of=/dev/floppy bs=1024
The DBAN EXE file is a regular zip file with the WinImage SFX module prepended.
InfoZip, which is bundled with most Linux distributions, can unpack the DBAN
EXE file. Ignore any offset warnings.
If /dev/floppy does not exist on your computer, then try /dev/fd0 or
/dev/floppy/0 instead. This command also works on BSD systems.
2.4 Creating the DBAN CD-R/CD-RW disc on Linux
———————————————–
# cdrecord dban-1.0.7_i386.iso
Ensure that the /etc/defaults/cdrecord file is properly configured for your
computer.
3.0 Using DBAN
—————
Boot the computer with the DBAN media like you would boot a DOS startup disk or
like you would reinstall an operating system. DBAN cannot be started from
within Microsoft Windows.
Doing this often requires changing the “boot order” of the computer so that
DBAN is started before the operating system on the hard disk is started.
Run the built-in BIOS setup program and put the floppy drive and the CD-ROM
drive first in the boot order. Do this by pushing <ESC>, <DEL>, <F1>, or <F2>
when you power-on the computer. The correct button and menu changes vary
between computers. Watch for a prompt when you power-on the computer or
consult the motherboard documentation.
Let’s say you choose a floppy disk. Insert the dban floppy and boot to it.
Dban has an automatic mode – type “autonuke” to enter into auto mode to completely erase your hard drive clean.
Now that autonuke is loading give it a minute or two to start. If it fails then reset your computer and at dban start up press f4 for troubleshooting hints.
Now that DBAN has started erasing your hard drive the speed will vary based on the size and speed of your hard drive.
If DBAN isn’t working out for you I highly recommend WipeDrive
3.1 Getting Help and Support
—————————–
First, read the frequently asked questions at:
dban.org/faq/
Second, search for an answer and then ask for help in the forum at:
sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=208932
Third, send email to support@dban.org and ensure that you have “DBAN” somewhere
in the subject line.
Include this information if you ask a question or make a support request:
1. The DBAN release that you are trying to use. (eg: dban-1.0.7)
2. The DBAN media that you are trying to use. (eg: floppy disk)
3. The computer manufacturer and model information. (eg: Dell OptiPlex 170L)
4. The exact message that you see. (eg: “DBAN failed with error 255.”)
5. Anything else that is unusual about your computer or pertinent to the
situation. (eg: “I am trying to hot swap my disks.”)
Contact us if you wish to purchase a support contract.
You are also welcome to call us directly if you have previously purchased a
DBAN enhancement or customization, or if you have made a donation or other
contribution to the DBAN project.
4.0 Configuring DBAN
———————
4.1 Automatic Wiping
———————
Enter “autonuke” at the boot prompt to automatically wipe all devices in the
computer without confirmation.
4.2 SYSLINUX.CFG
—————–
The “A:\SYSLINUX.CFG” file is the DBAN configuration file. You may change the
default behavior of DBAN by editing this file after you create the DBAN floppy
disk. The SYSLINUX.CFG is self-documented.
The CDR/CDRW version of DBAN must be remastered to change the SYSLINUX.CFG file
that is embedded in the ISO file. DBAN will fail if the ISO file is changed by
an editor like IsoBuster.
5.1 Free Updates
—————–
If you wish to be automatically notified of DBAN updates, then visit:
sourceforge.net/project/monitor_project.php?group_id=61951
A similar service is provided by:
freshmeat.net/subscribe/31200/
5.2 Contact Information
————————
General inquiries: dajhorn@dban.org
Help and support: support@dban.org
All e-mail messages must have “DBAN” in the subject line. Messages
Post your questions below and I’ll do my best to help you. First and foremost you’ll need to ensure you have the most recent version of DBAN. If you still can’t erase your hard drive with DBAN post your question below.
Hello
I have a notebook system with Vista, no floppy. I downloaded the software on a CD-R. I may have to use a USB flash device. With this Vista where do I locate the prompt? I turned off the system with the power switch then when I power it up it asks if I want to logg in safe mode, or command prompt? I selected command prompt. Then I selected the drive letter E: dir Then typed as instructed: autonuke. The system answered: “Autonuke is not recognized as an internal or external command, opereable program or batch file.” looking for a .exe command? None. What do I do? use a USB flash device for this area?
I am so happy for so many wonderful responses of this utility. I really want to format Vista. LOL
Mike
You must use an account with full hardware access to create the DBAN boot
media. This means that you must be a member of the administrators group or
have similar privileges on your Microsoft Windows computer. Virus scanners
and domain policies can prevent you from creating the DBAN boot media.
The USB booting capabilities of many computers are incomplete or broken. Most
computers capable of booting from a USB device require that it report a
removable media type, and that it be unpartitioned and smaller than two
gigabytes (so that the BIOS can boot it like a floppy disk).
If the drive letter of your USB device does not appear in WinImage drive list,
then it is an unsupported media type. In particular, most USB+IDE bridge
implementations are unrecognized, which means that a 2.5 inch hard disk in an
external USB enclosure is incompatible.
your link to download dban gives error
the link now works.. sorry about that and thank you for letting me know
dariks boot and nuke doesn’t work well and Im thinking about wipedrive. dban non fatal errors are driving me nuts! I use dban with a floppy, have any of you tried dban iso? also Im wondering if I download dban from the wrong place (downloads.com)? to many questions surrounding dban so I think it’s time to nuke dban lol no pun intended.
The enterprise version of DBAN, named EBAN, is worth a look, if you are considering DBAN alternatives that cost money. The development of DBAN seems to have slowed in favor of EBAN’s development. Of course, maybe that’s because DBAN doesn’t make any money for the author.
Well I purchased wipedrive and it works like a charm. I did try to find eban and had no luck with google..
I have a MAC.. how can I erase it’s hard drive?
wipedrive both Supports all PC and Mac Computers (Intel, AMD & PowerPC)
dban supports many Intel, AMD & PowerPC
dericks boot and nuke AKA DBAN. That’s all you need to know for emergency disk wipe. Commercial products cost to much.. or you can just call me an open source hippy
If you’re going to pay for software to erase your hard drive ensure you use software that adheres to DOD standards for data removal such as software like my reference of wipedrive above.
Thank you whoever wrote this! I used wipedrive for my blackberry and dban on my laptop they both work great!
Kilroy, I want to erase my hard drive but need to be sure all data is erased from the drive. How can I make the data is indeed removed and can not be recovered?
HELIX is open source computer forensics software you can use to mount the wiped drive and try to recover or analyze the data. But hey if your PC won’t boot then you know it’s gone! Also wipedrive will tell you when it’s done and successfully removed all data.
Man I just used DBAN and it’s slow as hell. Even on the basic wipe option it’s super slow. I have a 80gb hard drive should it take more than 1 hour to erase?
In order to delete your entire hard drive it takes time. In simple terms DBAN and wipedrive both write over the existing data with 0′s and 1′s several times. Wipedrive is indeed faster but they both can take several hours depending on the size of your hard drive and the speed of your processor and hard drive. My 40 GB Drive on a P4 Intel Dual core takes less than an hour to wipe.
Good luck!!
How do you create a autobooting dban cd. Everywhere says if you edit the isolinux file it needs to be REmastered. How ? what does remastered mean ? any tips would be greatfully recieved. Could anyone post an idiots quide to create a customised autobooting Dban
simon.
what you want to do is burn dban to CD as an ISO – or data disk – try both I’m not sure what you have downloaded.
Then you’ll need go into bios and tell you system to boot to CD first!
Kilroy
Hi, I have a proplem with my Seagate Momentus 250GB Hard Drive. I was refered to BOOT and Nuke site by a sales guy at Best Buy. He said that if i use this DBAN I can then reset the hard drive to default and re-use it in my Playstation 3 console. My question is can this be done?
Rich,
You can erase just about any hard drive on the market with DBAN. Now I’m not sure if you can use any hard drive in a PS3 however if best buy tech guy said you can then chances are you can. Google PS3 hard drive replacement and see what you can find.
We use gdisk from Symantec Enteprise Ghost and an IBM disk wipe app that if you know what to ask at their website, is free. Both apps are DOD compliant, can be tweak to run automatically from a floppy or ISO disc, and I found out are the fastest (gdisk is of the two)
I burned DBAN to a CD-R and changed the boot order on my Dell PC (with Vista). When I got to the blue screen with Derik’s Boot and Nuke at the top and the boot prompt at the bottom, I could not get the computer to respond to the enter key or type in “autonuke.” Anyone know what’s wrong?
Thanks
what version of DBAN did you use? its best to download the most recent version.
hi i have tried using dban but everytime i run it it keeps looking for an external hardrive to wipe but because i dont have an external one then it wont wipe the drive i want it to
@linsey
change the boot options in bios to only boot to local harddrive – google how to do this based on the model of pc you’re running
Does wipedrive have same benfits as dban? Do they do the same thing with the difference being the cost of wipedrive versus the free dban? I am having problems with the dban and it is making me crazy. If wipedrive is as effective i would be willing to pay for wipedrive.
@Zac
wipedrive is for those of you that can’t make dban work for you or that just don’t feel like wasting your time with a slightly more technical open source product.. you get what you pay for. So with that said obviously wipedrive is easier to use and will work 99.999% of the time. But they both do that same thing. All in how much time you want to put into it.
Can anyone tell me if the MBR is still there after DBAN has done it’s job?
@Zagreus
Nope the MBR is erased..
I have s mac book pro which I am also running windows vista, how can I wipe clean all memory on the computer? Can DBAN do this?
What is the difference of doing this and zeroing the hard drive by the control options on the mac book of 7 and 35 pass re-write?
@Rosa
I believe Zero’ing your hard drive is just erasing your BMR.. these products here actually overwrite the data on your drive making it very very very hard for anyone to recover the data in the future.
after using dban and wipedrive can you reinstall a new operating system?
@ann
Yes you can install a new operating system.. its like you have a brand new hard drive!
@ann Of course!!
This article has been updated on March 15 2011 – let me know if you have any installation and data nuke issues.
Quick question – Once you have run dban and the wipe has finished, will it automatically ask for the my windows xp boot disc to be inserted? I dont want to run dban and then be left not know how to get my laptop operating again.
@Brian
After you wipe your hard drive you’ll know it’s done because you’ll be shown a system display that says “done” or something to that effect. You’ll then eject the DBAN cd AND Pop in your Operating System CD and reboot the device. Now just follow the direction Windows will prompt you so you can install a new OS.
It’s better to use Wipe Drive, but if you don’t have the money like me. Then get an ISO Burner, Open the darik’s boot and nuke iso file to the iso burner. then create cd. I prefer that you use high security on the darik boot and nuke.
I HAVE A BUG THAT I CAN NOT GET RID OF IT JUST KEEPS COMING BACK AS A LAST RESORT I WIPED MY DRIVE REINSTALLED WINDOS BUT ITS BACK WHAT I NEED TO KNOW IS WHEN YOU WIPE A DRIVE DOES IT ALSO GET RID OF THE MBR RECORDS IF IT DOES THEN MY BUG IS IN A PROGRAM I HAVE IF NOT THEN IT MUST SERVIE IN THE MBR NO PROGRAMS OUT THERE CAN TOUCH IT I HAVE TRIED LOTS OF PROGRAMS TO NO AVIL
@george scales
What is the error you get? If you wipe the drive it does remove MBR so I would expect any errors to be hardware related…
i have no error Ihave a bug which keeps cominig back now what i would like to know is when i wipe my drive is the mbr records wiped as well I need to know this as a prosess of alimanation if the mbr records are left in tacked then this could mean the bug is useing mbr to avoid elimanation this is one smart bug i have tried everything i could download as a trial or for free but nun have found the bug
yes your entire drive is cleaned during a full disk wipe.. DBAN erases the MBR during a full-disk wipe. DBAN does not remove the MBR if individual partitions are being wiped.
I autonuked a dell 4500. I’ve got the boot sequence set right but it doesn’t recognize my xp installation disk. It just goes to a blue and black screen that says “dell.com”. Any ideas?
go into your bios and tell it to boot to CD first -
if this doesn’t allow it to boot to CD – make sure the CD is clean!
if that don’t work wipe the drive again – try windows CD
let me know
Hi! I’m trying to completely erase a HD on an old computer. I burned the DBAN iso file to a CD using the Roxio Creator DE 10.1 “Data Disc” function (from Dell). I also configured the Boot Menu on the old PC to start with the D Drive (CD). But for some reason, it doesn’t recognize the CD. I’m sure you’ve addressed this issue countless times before, but any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
with Roxio you need to choose ISO – also – if you can – I’d use the USB options with DBAN – it works when CD doesn’t,.
Hello,
burned the dban iso-file on CD. When I start dban to erase my Vista harddisk, and command ‘autonuke’ behind the prompt I got the message:”Dban finished with non-fatal errors.This is usually causedby diskswith bad sectors. Send the logfile with all support requests.
Saving logfileto floppy disk… a floppy disk in Dos format was not found. Dban finished. Press enter to save the log file._”
What can be wrong?
hard to say if I’m not on the PC – but your disk could be bad per the error message… how many times did you try it? have you tried USB? If you know your disk is fine you may try WipeDrive
I have a Windows 98 computer which has been unplugged and unused since 2005. I would like to wipe the hard drive clean and remove any information that might have remained on it after hitting the delete button.
What is the best way to do this?
RD
I have a Trojan and have been unable to get rid of by various means. I am pulling out all stops and currently running dban using the autonuke option. I have concerns about being able to install Windows 7 when dban completes because I’ve been reading on some sites that since the mbr is erased, the drive cannot be found. My question is, do I have to run fdisk/mbr after dban completes and before installing Windows 7?
after you clean with DBAN just slide the windows 7 CD in
Kurt – thank you for answering so quickly! If you don’t mind, I have another question please. I will have to partition and format this disk correct? And I will be prompted to do this when I insert the Windows 7 CD, correct?
Again – Thanks so much!
The CD will walk you through setup – it will ask you to choose a partition – if one doesn’t exist it will allow you to create one by selecting the free disk space – if windows ask you to format just say yes =)
Thank you !
Unless you really want to spend money, DBAN is an excellent tool…I am actually wipping out 102 Fiber Channel SCSI drives from a IBM DS4700 SAN using 4 virtual machine booted with DBAN 2.6.6. I mapped each single VM with 8 SCSI drives (single Raid 0 for each drive) using Raw Device mapping to give the software direct access to disk and disabled any cache process on the drives prior to start. 14 Tb will takes days, yes indeed ! No errors or particular problems so far.
@Jean-Pierre Yes we use DBAN all the time at work! it doesn’t work on some IBM and MAC systems – for those we use wipedrive so I do recommend the product.
Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for the article… I have been trying to find a program that will effectively erase all data. As a previous person stated, I had attempted wiping my hard drive multiple times to rid virus infection but even after fresh OS installation they seemed to show their ugly face. Rather annoying. Even Eraser with the guttman passes wouldn’t fully work. Granted it may be even more powerful then what I’m really in need of but if it works then it works. Thanks again!
glad it worked out for you!
I used DBAN and tried to reinstall windows 7. Now it’s like my dvd drive is not recognized to read the CD for reinstallation. I have changed the boot order and keep restarting my system, but cant get windows to load. Any suggestions?
@Todd – this is why I tell people to use WipeDrive… to late for you now =( DBAN works well but if you’re not a geek and things get hairy this is where you can find yourself.
Are you getting any options at all? Can you choose advanced installation during the boot up?
If the CD drive isn’t loading period, no windows installation options, I recommend you reformat your hard drive.
How old is the PC? Can you post a screen shot of what you see when you put in the windows DVD – Also can you take a photo of the windows DVD and post it online at a place like http://www.flickr.com