Mal ,'Safe'
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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.
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.
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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:
Personally I'd use fdisk and delete the partition, then repartition, then format....
NiMH are nickel metal hydride, not alkalines.
I think they're often marketing ate rechargeable alkalines, or equivalent, I guess.
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 I don't think there's any truly sensitive information on there that wouldn't be out of date, but I do want to wipe it once, at least.
Equivalent maybe, but they would never be marketed as alkalines, because they aren't alkalines. It's a different chemistry.
Well that was easy. I booted the computer up, and it's saying that no hard disk is installed. Either my brother ripped it out when I asked him if he wanted it a few years ago, or sitting in my closet for four years has killed it.
While we're on the subject of rechargeable batteries. I have two sets of Duracell NiMH AA batteries. One set I bought with the charger, and one I bought later. The later set always gets hot when I charge them. The original set does not. I can't see any difference in the batteries other than the change in the packaging design. Should I worry?
It seems a popular ad network was compromised yesterday, so those using IE may want to run a quick virus scan today.
eta - more detail
Saturday, my internet connection at home went kerpluey, and I'm hoping someone here can provide some advice. I'm using Linux (Fedora), and my guru/advisor recently left town (the nerve!).
The sitch:
I tried to connect to the internet. The computer dialed and connected normally. Immediately upon connecting (before doing anything silly like pulling up a page), it hung up and re-dialed. This appears to be an endless loop until I cancel. I have no idea what could be the problem. I used it just fine Friday night. Any ideas?