Deep (low-level) format and Wipe of main HD

[thyj]

I need to do a full-format and DoD wipe of an infected internal SATA HD, including wiping the Win7 Master Boot Record (MBR).

A friend suggested DBAN... I downloaded it and created a bootable ISO. However, after starting it up, it's looking for USB drives, and it doesn't recognize my internal HD ("missing a driver"?). What am I doing wrong? The version I'm using is 2.2.6 from 2010, but do I need to use an older version?

Also, based on this video, it appears that DBAN might not be able to get rid of an "OEM" partition, where a trojan/rootkit could hide: http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=videos/using-dban-to-wipe-a-drive

Can someone recommend a bootable HD wiper which would be sure to delete/zero out EVERYTHING, including the MBR? I've heard mixed thoughts on whether Win7 DVD's "clean all" cmd (Diskpart) does so. Should I try Ubuntu in Linux? Thanks.

 

[runswindows95]

http://www.killdisk.com/

 

[thyj]

http://www.killdisk.com/

Thanks. Do you know if the wipe will include deleting the MBR, to make sure rootkits are gone?

I've heard of KillDisk, but someone told me it is so harsh that it is likely to render your HD un-usable afterward. Is that true?

Is it safe to use on an SSD? Thanks.

 

[runswindows95]

I'm not sure about SSD's, but I've used it on HDD's before, and never had an issue. You might have an issue if you run it once a week or something like that.