There is a program designed to fill a usb memory stick with 1 GB files then verify the files have the correct checksum. Then program ccleaner can wipe the free space of a driveĮraser is another usefull data destruction program (Heidi) The ata specification includes a means of wiping hard drives The hard disk manufacturers hard disk diagnostics usually include a wipe hard drive option You normally only worry about wiping disks on disposal unless particularly paranoid
USB FORMAT TOOL SOURCEFORGE CODE
I don't know why you are so worried about open sourceįew people can understand c, c++ or what ever code programs are produced in I believe old versions of dban are still open source, the company behind dban produced a new product which is not freeware The chance of things going tits up are slimmer than winning the lottery, but why not avoid potential problems if you can with relatively minimal effort? There's no reason for you to have their data on your HDD, so get rid of it. Wiping the drive of a used computer you just purchased makes a lot of sense.
The real reason is simple: If I own the computer, and there is incriminating evidence of something from the previous owner still on the computer, and my computer gets a proper forensic search for any reason, then I might be the new suspect in some investigation by random chance. When I got a laptop off CL, I wiped it for one reason- I didn't want their data to stay on the HDD. Unless the person selling the computer was hacked, or targeted for surveillance by the authorities, the likelihood of your data being compromised after a format is extremely slim. The majority of attacks that you would find from a CL hacker would be ones that are easily removed and formatting would most likely take care of them. Yes, a CL laptop can definitely be reason enough to be paranoid.
Want to make sure nobody put anything on there to try to steal my data Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, but buying a used laptop off of craigslist is reason enough to be paranoid.