Will a clean install securely wipe the entire hard drive?


  1. Posts : 6
    10 64bit
       #1

    Will a clean install securely wipe the entire hard drive?


    If I want to completely and securely wipe my hard drive so that there is nothing recoverable left, will a clean win 10 install with formatting do this?

    Or do I need to first use killdisk or something similar to wipe the drive, then install windows?

    if I use a tool like that, will I still be able to install windows 10 by creating a bootable USB? or will my USB drivers be gone, and if so, how should I do this?

    Sorry I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I tried searching for a guide on this process and all I'm getting are the basic instructions on a clean install which don't exactly answer these questions.
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  2. Posts : 7,254
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
       #2

    You would need to use killdisk as I believe Windows Installer only uses quick format during installation to cut down the install time.
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  3. Posts : 6
    10 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I have never done a total format like that - will I still be able to reinstall windows after that? from USB or DVD?
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  4. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #4

    whiteliess said:
    I have never done a total format like that - will I still be able to reinstall windows after that? from USB or DVD?
    Yes. You can also use MiniTool Partition Wizard to wipe the hard drive. It has options to write 0s, 1s, 0s followed by 1s. You can even start it from within Windows, it just reboots to load itself to then wipe the same system drive it came from. It is also on Kyhi's recovery drive:
    Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums

    I would make sure you can actually boot from the Windows 10 USB/DVD first and make sure it works. Go into the custom install option up to the point where it lists your disks/partitions, then exit. Then wipe the drive, then go back to Windows install.
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  5. Posts : 6
    10 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    NavyLCDR said:
    Yes. You can also use MiniTool Partition Wizard to wipe the hard drive. It has options to write 0s, 1s, 0s followed by 1s. You can even start it from within Windows, it just reboots to load itself to then wipe the same system drive it came from. It is also on Kyhi's recovery drive:
    Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums

    I would make sure you can actually boot from the Windows 10 USB/DVD first and make sure it works. Go into the custom install option up to the point where it lists your disks/partitions, then exit. Then wipe the drive, then go back to Windows install.
    I've ran both ccleaner and Active Kill Disk, and the problem persist. I can still recover the files with Recuva. There are thousands of eml files which apparently have been overwritten previously which these tools have no effect on. They are deleted, but still recoverable, and wiping free space on the disk will not help. I have no idea where they are "stuck".

    This is why I'm thinking I need to totally wipe everything from the disk and start fresh if I want the traces gone, unless someone has a better idea?
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  6. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #6

    Emails go through servers. They will still be out there somewhere for retrieval. Unless you are Hilary Clinton.
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  7. Posts : 6
    10 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    NavyLCDR said:
    Emails go through servers. They will still be out there somewhere for retrieval. Unless you are Hilary Clinton.
    I know, but thats not relevant here, I'm concerned about whats on this particular machine...
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  8. Posts : 1,366
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #8

    Are you going to be keeping this computer? If so, there's no reason to worry about wiping out your data. A simple reformat of the drive would prep it.

    If you are setting this up as a working computer and giving it to someone else, then I'd recommend running something like KillDisk.
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  9. Posts : 1,983
    Windows 10 x86 14383 Insider Pro and Core 10240
       #9

    DBAN Darik's Boot And Nuke is a d/l-able bootable disk image that can be used to wipe a drive. DBAN Download | Darik's Boot And Nuke says that a forensically clean disk is possible with Blancco 5
      My Computers


 

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