[SOLVED] Wipe an extra used Internal Hard Drive

[Ginn115]

I recently was given a friends used full sized tower. It is a whole set up but the issue is, he does not know his windows 10 password. We tried to reinstall windows 10 to clean install through the log in options but it just stops the reinstall process at random times and then boots normally till the log in screen. So with that not working, I am planning to wipe both the SSD and Hard Drive but they are both internal drives. I never had to wipe internal drives before so I am wondering what is the best way to do this? I bought a SATA to USB cable thinking I could access the Hard Drive but it never showed up in my own PC. So do I need to hook up this used Drive to my own PC like my current internal ones? Any information or any way to do this would be great.

 

[El Topo]

Darik's Boot and Nuke?

Darik's Boot and Nuke - Browse /dban/dban-2.3.0 at SourceForge.net

A hard drive disk wipe and data clearing utility

sourceforge.net

 

[Ginn115]

Darik's Boot and Nuke?

Darik's Boot and Nuke - Browse /dban/dban-2.3.0 at SourceForge.net

A hard drive disk wipe and data clearing utility

sourceforge.net

How would I hook up the other drive to my pc?

 

[El Topo]

I am planning to wipe both the SSD and Hard Drive but they are both internal drives.

How would I hook up the other drive to my pc?

Not even needed, I think.

Just boot up DBAN from a DVD-R or USB-Stick on the machine where the drives are currently installed. You don't need a working OS, like Windows, for that.

At one point, DBAN will show a list of all drives it found and allows you to select the one(s) that should be wiped.

See also here:
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-erase-a-hard-drive-using-dban-2619148

(BTW: I think most SSD vendors also offer special tools that can be used to perform a "Secure Erase" of the SSD. I'd have a look at the SSD vendor's web-site)

 

[USAFRet]

I recently was given a friends used full sized tower. It is a whole set up but the issue is, he does not know his windows 10 password. We tried to reinstall windows 10 to clean install through the log in options but it just stops the reinstall process at random times and then boots normally till the log in screen. So with that not working, I am planning to wipe both the SSD and Hard Drive but they are both internal drives. I never had to wipe internal drives before so I am wondering what is the best way to do this? I bought a SATA to USB cable thinking I could access the Hard Drive but it never showed up in my own PC. So do I need to hook up this used Drive to my own PC like my current internal ones? Any information or any way to do this would be great.

Couple of things:

A " SATA to USB cable" won't work for 3.5" HDD.
A SATA-USB dock with a wall plug in will work.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099TX7O4


Commandline function diskpart and the clean command will wipe those drives easily.
https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/...-a-drive-through-the-command-prompt-005929en/
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase-disk-using-diskpart-clean-command-windows-10-a.html
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/format-hard-drive-command-prompt,37632.html

 

[Ginn115]

Couple of things:

A " SATA to USB cable" won't work for 3.5" HDD.
A SATA-USB dock with a wall plug in will work.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099TX7O4


Commandline function diskpart and the clean command will wipe those drives easily.
https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/...-a-drive-through-the-command-prompt-005929en/
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase-disk-using-diskpart-clean-command-windows-10-a.html
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/format-hard-drive-command-prompt,37632.html

So no way to get into this drive without a wall plug? I cant hook it up with another SATA cable if my power supply can handle it?

 

[USAFRet]

So no way to get into this drive without a wall plug? I cant hook it up with another SATA cable if my power supply can handle it?

Sure you can connect it as an internal drive. Both SATA power and data.