write zeros

Hello Group,
I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from WD
tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write zeros.
I'm on home premium.
Any ideas will be appreciated.
Bob

"Bob Hansen" <> wrote:

> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western
> Digitals utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume
> cant be erased because that's where my operating system is. I've
> had no response from WD tech. So, I'm looking for some third party
> utility that will write zeros. I'm on home premium.
> Any ideas will be appreciated.

You can't overwrite an OS from within itself, you need to boot into DOS
using the WD CD or a floppy drive.


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://improve-usenet.org

Well you cant erase your win, that'll be like cutting off the branch whilst
your stitting on it - oops
You can write zeros to free space
You can do all manor of things with your hd if you boot from an appropriate
floppy / cd

"Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
news:eWFV%...
> Hello Group,
> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
> utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
> because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from WD
> tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write zeros.
> I'm on home premium.
> Any ideas will be appreciated.
> Bob

Thanks for your responses, I forgot to mention that I don't have a floppy
drive.

"DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message
news:...
> Well you cant erase your win, that'll be like cutting off the branch
> whilst your stitting on it - oops
> You can write zeros to free space
> You can do all manor of things with your hd if you boot from an
> appropriate floppy / cd
>
> "Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
> news:eWFV%...
>> Hello Group,
>> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
>> utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
>> because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from WD
>> tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write zeros.
>> I'm on home premium.
>> Any ideas will be appreciated.
>> Bob
>
>

Bob,
If you have a Windows CD you can boot with it and delete all partitions.
That will give you a clean drive to play with.

Jerry

"Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
news:eWFV#...
> Hello Group,
> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
> utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
> because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from WD
> tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write zeros.
> I'm on home premium.
> Any ideas will be appreciated.
> Bob

"Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Thanks for your responses, I forgot to mention that I don't have a floppy
> drive.
>
> "DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Well you cant erase your win, that'll be like cutting off the branch
>> whilst your stitting on it - oops
>> You can write zeros to free space
>> You can do all manor of things with your hd if you boot from an
>> appropriate floppy / cd
>>
>> "Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
>> news:eWFV%...
>>> Hello Group,
>>> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
>>> utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
>>> because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from
>>> WD tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write
>>> zeros. I'm on home premium.
>>> Any ideas will be appreciated.
>>> Bob
>>
>>
>


You can download a CD version from here..

http://support.wdc.com/download/?cxml=n&pid=999&swid=30

--
Mike Hall - MVP
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

Thanks Mike, this looks like my best shot so far.

"Mike Hall - MVP" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> "Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Thanks for your responses, I forgot to mention that I don't have a floppy
>> drive.
>>
>> "DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> Well you cant erase your win, that'll be like cutting off the branch
>>> whilst your stitting on it - oops
>>> You can write zeros to free space
>>> You can do all manor of things with your hd if you boot from an
>>> appropriate floppy / cd
>>>
>>> "Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
>>> news:eWFV%...
>>>> Hello Group,
>>>> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
>>>> utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
>>>> because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from
>>>> WD tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write
>>>> zeros. I'm on home premium.
>>>> Any ideas will be appreciated.
>>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> You can download a CD version from here..
>
> http://support.wdc.com/download/?cxml=n&pid=999&swid=30
>
> --
> Mike Hall - MVP
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
>
>
>
>

"JerryM" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> Bob,
> If you have a Windows CD you can boot with it and delete all partitions.
> That will give you a clean drive to play with.
>
> Jerry
>
He wants to do more than delete the partitions, he probably wants to make
sure that there is no personal data left on the drive.


> "Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
> news:eWFV#...
>> Hello Group,
>> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
>> utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
>> because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from WD
>> tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write zeros.
>> I'm on home premium.
>> Any ideas will be appreciated.
>> Bob
>

So, now I have created 2 CDs with the WD Diag504 utility on each of them in
my 2 DVD drives. I've changed the boot order in setup so a CD rom drive is
set to boot first. But it still boots to Windows. Part of it is that I cant
match up what I see in setup with my drives. They are just listed as SATA 1,
SATA 2, etc. Not sure which is which.
Not sure what my next move will be. Appreciate all your input.

"Bill Yanaire" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> "JerryM" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
>> Bob,
>> If you have a Windows CD you can boot with it and delete all partitions.
>> That will give you a clean drive to play with.
>>
>> Jerry
>>
> He wants to do more than delete the partitions, he probably wants to make
> sure that there is no personal data left on the drive.
>
>
>> "Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
>> news:eWFV#...
>>> Hello Group,
>>> I've been trying to write zeros to my hard drive using Western Digitals
>>> utility. I get stopped by a message that says the volume cant be erased
>>> because that's where my operating system is. I've had no response from
>>> WD tech. So, I'm looking for some third party utility that will write
>>> zeros. I'm on home premium.
>>> Any ideas will be appreciated.
>>> Bob
>>
>
>

Hello Bob,

How did you burn the CDs? You need to use the burn image to disc function
in your burning program (Nero, Roxio, etc), to get a bootable CD. The
inbuilt burning in Windows cannot burn .iso images to disc.

--
Jane, not plain 64 bit enabled :-)
Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation ;-)
MVP Windows Shell/User

"Bob Hansen" <> wrote in message
news:...
> So, now I have created 2 CDs with the WD Diag504 utility on each of them
> in my 2 DVD drives. I've changed the boot order in setup so a CD rom drive
> is set to boot first. But it still boots to Windows. Part of it is that I
> cant match up what I see in setup with my drives. They are just listed as
> SATA 1, SATA 2, etc. Not sure which is which.
> Not sure what my next move will be. Appreciate all your input.
>