Format is not enough...?

I currently have a Vista Home Premium notebook w/ 1 hdd that I'
selling. The hdd has a hidden partition which has all the recovery stuf
on it that the notebook mfr has included

I'm selling my notebook and want to know what is the best way t
completely erase all data on the drive but NOT on the recover
partition

This way, my data will not be recoverable, but keeping the recover
partition will allow me to start the recovery program so that it wil
reinstall everything back to factory spec and the person that bought i
will see the initial Vista screen upon first boot up

Thank you
A

--
typeadam

Boot with WinPE or Vista DVD OR attach the HDD on different PC
Open* Command Prompt *and run *DISKPART
Exexcute the following command

> Clean Al

It cleans all stuff...

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Ramesh Kumar MV

RAMESH KUMA
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Actually, if you transfer everything you want to keep to removeable media,
then run the recovery and do a 'destructive restore'
it should format the C drive but not the recovery partition.
once formatted, it is difficult to recover any information without spending
a lot of $$ on data recovery tools or services.
and once restored, install updates, AV, etc the more the better to overwrite
any possible recoverable data still on the disk.
the more you use it after the restore, the less likely anything could be
recovered, even with expensive recovery tools.

"typeadam" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> I currently have a Vista Home Premium notebook w/ 1 hdd that I'm
> selling. The hdd has a hidden partition which has all the recovery stuff
> on it that the notebook mfr has included.
>
> I'm selling my notebook and want to know what is the best way to
> completely erase all data on the drive but NOT on the recovery
> partition.
>
> This way, my data will not be recoverable, but keeping the recovery
> partition will allow me to start the recovery program so that it will
> reinstall everything back to factory spec and the person that bought it
> will see the initial Vista screen upon first boot up.
>
> Thank you,
> AP
>
>
> --
> typeadam

typeadam <> wrote the following in
microsoft.public.windows.vista.general on Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:53:32 GMT

> I'm selling my notebook and want to know what is the best way to
> completely erase all data on the drive but NOT on the recovery
> partition.

This might be worth looking into.

http://www.dban.org/

--
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than
sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity.

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thanks for eveyone's input

--
typeadam

typeadam wrote:
> I currently have a Vista Home Premium notebook w/ 1 hdd that I'm
> selling. The hdd has a hidden partition which has all the recovery stuff
> on it that the notebook mfr has included.
>
> I'm selling my notebook and want to know what is the best way to
> completely erase all data on the drive but NOT on the recovery
> partition.
>
> This way, my data will not be recoverable, but keeping the recovery
> partition will allow me to start the recovery program so that it will
> reinstall everything back to factory spec and the person that bought it
> will see the initial Vista screen upon first boot up.
>
> Thank you,
> AP
>
>


To protect your personal information and data from any future users
of average skills, you should, at the very least, format the hard drive.
You can do this using the original Installation CD.

If you had an OEM installation (pre-installed at the factory) on
the laptop, simply follow the manufacturer's recovery instructions in
the manuals that came with the computer (or consult the manufacturers'
web site). The OEM is contractually obligated to have provided you with
some means of restoring the computer to its original, ex-factory state.

If you wish to do a more thorough job of protecting your personal
data, WipeDrive
(http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive...hard-drive.php) meets U.S.
DoD standards for securely cleaning surplus unclassified hard drives,
and could be used before formatting and reinstalling the OS and
applications. There are also several freeware utilities available for
this purpose, although they don't necessarily meet the DoD standards.
Google is your friend.



--

Bruce Chambers

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