best way to wipe an hdd

[Cmcbee11]

i was wondering about the best way to completely wipe an hdd drive (due to a virus locking my pc) at the lowest price or preferably free but i want to know for sure that is is 100% wiped. please leave me links to LEGIT SITES. (i got my virus right after boot up looking for free drivers to update some stuff in my pc) also do i just redownload windows 7 just like how i did it the first time does it still work? thanks

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Sledgehammer.

Failing that, DBAN is quite good. Just make sure you unplug any drives you have important data on.

Just like the first time. This time, use drivers from Windows Update and the manufacturer - anyone else is quite likely to be a scam.

 

[jbseven]

it really is unnecessary to use dban for viruses except as a last resort when everything else has failed.

typically, installing windows 7 by deleting all partitions on the drive, repartitioning and formatting will get rid of the virus (and everything else on the drive) 100%. i have yet to find a virus that survives this procedure.

dban really is only necessary if you don't want data that was on the formatted drive to be recovered using data recovery tools.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Yup. A format should require using data recovery tools to get anything off it, and be plenty to prevent malware.

That said, he did say 100% wiped.

 

[jbseven]

Yup. A format should require using data recovery tools to get anything off it, and be plenty to prevent malware.

That said, he did say 100% wiped.

i think he meant that he wanted the virus 100% gone, and not that he wanted the virus to be erased and unrecoverable by a storage expert.

although i would nuke with dban if the virus particularly pee'd me off on a really bad day lol.