Theo, are they Alkalines or Ni-Cads? It's way more likely with the alkalines.
Everybody plays each other. That's all anybody ever does. We play parts.
Saffron ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
Buffistechnology 2: You Made Her So She Growls?
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DXMachina - Nov 21, 2004 10:59:35 am PST #72 of 10003
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
le nubian - Nov 21, 2004 1:13:30 pm PST #73 of 10003
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
Daniel,
I don't think I have the model number. I went to Best Buy and got a BB credit card, a tv stand, and a new tv.
Sue - Nov 21, 2004 1:16:26 pm PST #74 of 10003
hip deep in pie
Thanks so much, DX! They are labelled rechargeable, but it sounds like maybe they shouldn't have been.
The rechargeable alkaline (NiMH?) ones have to be recharged in chargers just for them, and not in rechargers meant for NiCads.
So I have an old 486 computer with windows 95 on it that I want to dispose of. Before I do, I want to wipe the harddrive,, including all the software. (It was a handmedown from my friend's work so I'm sure her org. wouldn't appreciate me giving away this computer with all this software registered to them.) Isn't there a simple command I can put in at the C:/ that will overwrite the harddrive?
Polter-Cow - Nov 21, 2004 1:20:37 pm PST #75 of 10003
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I went to Best Buy and got a BB credit card, a tv stand, and a new tv.
Philips/Magnavox isn't being very good to Buffistas, are they. But Best Buy sure is getting good business.
Isn't there a simple command I can put in at the C:/ that will overwrite the harddrive?
format c:
I believe.
DXMachina - Nov 21, 2004 1:26:22 pm PST #76 of 10003
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
The rechargeable alkaline (NiMH?)
NiMH are nickel metal hydride, not alkalines.
Gandalfe - Nov 21, 2004 1:28:15 pm PST #77 of 10003
The generation that could change the world is still looking for its car keys.
format c:
That should be sufficient for most people. If there is truly sensitive information on there that you want to be absolutlely certain nobody can ever ever get to, no matter what, make sure you have a seperate boot disk, do the format c: a few times, run a heavy magnet across it a bunch of times, open up the physical drive, melt the platens, and then maybe, MAYBE, there won't be anything at all left.
tommyrot - Nov 21, 2004 1:29:29 pm PST #78 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
This [link] link explains how to use the 'format' command to wipe a drive clean.
Other sources say that 'format' is not good enough if you want to completely wipe a drive clean with no possibility of a determined person being able to restore the data. If you're really nervous about someone getting the data it's a little more complicated. You'll need special software to wipe the drive, or else maybe run 'format' seven or more times.
----
yeah, x-posty, but check the link above - you should use the 'u' switch to force an unconditional format.
eta:
format /u
or is that only used on floppys?
eta: one example of special erasing software - I have no idea if this program is good:
DCJensen - Nov 21, 2004 1:48:53 pm PST #79 of 10003
All is well that ends in pizza.
Personally I'd use fdisk and delete the partition, then repartition, then format....
Sue - Nov 21, 2004 1:50:45 pm PST #80 of 10003
hip deep in pie
NiMH are nickel metal hydride, not alkalines.
I think they're often marketing ate rechargeable alkalines, or equivalent, I guess.
Sue - Nov 21, 2004 1:52:31 pm PST #81 of 10003
hip deep in pie
Oh, and thanks for the adivce. I don't think I'll go too nuts trying to reformat too many times. I don't think there's any truly sensitive information on there that wouldn't be out of date, but I do want to wipe it once, at least.