Need to remove 100% of all data from HD then reinstall (FBI, CIA) :)

MeAndMyComputer said:

The issue at hand is that Tonys317 needs to give one of his HDD’s to his ex and he can't buy a new one.

When you do a clean install on that HDD, are you doing that on the computer you own or the computer the ex owns?
--- That's very important to know because if there are 2 different computers involved, that means the Windows 10 digital license cannot be used on 2 different computers at the same time that I know of.
--- I don't mind being corrected on that but it should be known up front.

The OS will assume the digital license for the computer it boots on and won't keep the license for the old computer. If there is no digital license for the computer it is booted from, then it will just deactivate.

Tonys317 said:

Can anyone please give me instructions on the safest way to do this? I realize nothing is 100%. But what would you do? TY! Can I easily use my windows account then switch it over to my ex? When I go to their home?

I would just use the diskpart clean all command...

You can do it before installing Windows on the hard drive. Boot from the Windows 10 installation USB flash drive or DVD. At the first screen for installation press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt. Then:

diskpart
list disk
select disk # <- replace # with the number of the drive that you want to erase
clean all <-this will erase the drive and write 0's to all sectors. It will take a while!
exit
exit

Navy is correct here, run diskpart clean all. Use an admin command prompt and make sure you have the correct disk selected by checking in Disk Management.

Thank you everyone! That was really cool! I'd be lost without this site and you people. TY! Such simple advice, I just don't always have that knowledge.

NavyLCDR said:

I would just use the diskpart clean all command...

You can do it before installing Windows on the hard drive. Boot from the Windows 10 installation USB flash drive or DVD. At the first screen for installation press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt. Then:

diskpart
list disk
select disk # <- replace # with the number of the drive that you want to erase
clean all <-this will erase the drive and write 0's to all sectors. It will take a while!
exit
exit

It is a 1 terabyte HD. i5-4460 CPU (8gb ram) Should I plan for it to take all day? 5-8 hours? Or think it is quicker? Or is there no way for you to guess. I am going to do exactly what you said.

NavyLCDR said:

I would just use the diskpart clean all command...

You can do it before installing Windows on the hard drive. Boot from the Windows 10 installation USB flash drive or DVD. At the first screen for installation press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt. Then:

diskpart
list disk
select disk # <- replace # with the number of the drive that you want to erase
clean all <-this will erase the drive and write 0's to all sectors. It will take a while!
exit
exit

To keep this "legal" if I cared. When I get to my exes house. I should reformat it again with her boot disk? That way the license is in her name? Or just ignore it as no one will care? I am not terribly afraid of an ex STEALING my stuff. But I want to be safe and never sorry. Or SMART.

Tonys317 said:

To keep this "legal" if I cared. When I get to my exes house. I should reformat it again with her boot disk? That way the license is in her name? Or just ignore it as no one will care? I am not terribly afraid of an ex STEALING my stuff. But I want to be safe and never sorry. Or SMART.

Install Windows 10 with a generic product key:
Generic Product Keys to Install Windows 10 Editions | Tutorials

You need to install the same version of Windows 10 as the target computer (your ex's) has/had, IE: Home or Pro. When the hard drive is installed and booted in the new computer, it will detect that it is a different computer and compute that computer's Hardware ID. That computer's unique Hardware ID will be sent to Microsoft activation servers (if the computer is connected to the internet). If a match is found for a previously activated Windows 10 activation (digital license) for that computer, then it will retrieve that digital license and activate Windows. If no match is found, then Windows 10 will not activate.

Windows 10 activates based upon the unique Hardware ID of the computer it is booted on - not the original computer used to install Windows 10.

For disposal of drives a clean all is generally sufficient.
However for department of defense regulatory requirements it is insufficient.
Deeper cleaning is required.
The clean all is one pass.
Regulatory requirements may require multiple passes.
Also requirements are different for HD versus SSD.
What Is a DoD Multiple Pass Hard Drive Wipe? | CDR Global

These are the commonly used guidelines:
https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...00-88-rev1.pdf


Some computer vendors (for example HP) provide firmware in the BIOS to secure erase or sanitize drives depending upon whether HD or SSD. The end user can choose the number of passes, etc.