Clearing a hard drive, but not the OS?

[RocketMan]

So why in the world would there be an OEM version for "system builders" and a not-so-OEM
version for "retail boxes"?  

The OEM version is for "original equipment manufacturers" of computers.  In otherwords, those that build and sell computers commercially.
The retail boxed version is for those folks that want to put the O/S on their existing system.

To add to your confusion, there is, of course, an upgrade version of Windows XP Home Ed.  It was meant to allow upgrading from Windows 98, 98SE, and Millenium.  It did not work to upgrade Windows 95 or earlier versions of Windows.
And the upgrade COA is not compatible with either the OEM or retail boxed versions in my experience.

[sanglant]

So why in the world would there be an OEM version for "system builders" and a not-so-OEM version for "retail boxes"? 

money

oem retail

 

[S. Williamson]

Well, I've done the figurative "Burn it to ashes, then burn the ashes, then wash them down the garbage disposal, then Drain-O, then new plumbing" technique.  

Programs involved:
Incinerator
Restore
Free Space Wipe
Recuva
Auslogics Disk Defrag
DiskTune

Actions taken:
1.) Individual file delete w/ gibberish overwrite
2.) Defrag
3.) Disk optimization
4.) Free space gibberish overwrite
5.) Free space "all zeros" overwrite
6.) Old user account deletion
7.) Deep scan for all old files (brought up a LOT I'd "erased" years ago   )
8.) Complete deletion of file names
9.) Uninstall almost every non-OS-required-program


By using these in the steps 1, 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 3, 7, 6, 9, 3, 5, 4, 7, 8, 3, 5, and triple-checking with different programs after it was all said and done (about 10 hours total), it's squeaky clean. Runs a bit faster, too.  

oem retail

 

If I thought this old thing could run Windows 7 with any proficiency, I've got a Wichita State student email address (knocking the price down to ~$30, IIRC).

Before this thread, I'd never even heard of deleted-file restoration, nor "free space wipers."    They seem to work pretty well, as long as you can get them to cover each others' tracks.  

[Ben]

Did uninstalling almost every non-OS required prg include Tbird if you use it? Even if you uninstall Tbird it can still leave the profiles subdirectory intact and if you store to local, all your emails are EASILY recoverable, even after you deleted the account. You often need to manually nuke that directory. The profiles directory is in a normally hidden folder, documents and settings/application data

You have to have "show hidden folders" active to see the stuff there.

[Nick1911]

Lets hope no enterprising software developer decided to stuff settings/saved passwords/etc into the registry.   

[Ben]

What Nick said reminds me -- if you use Firefox and left it on, same thing. Even if you "clear all private settings", someone can still go into that profile folder and pull any saved passwords to sites you visited.

PS -- Not trying to be a jerk, just fearful of you giving private data away.

[S. Williamson]

Never used Tbird.

Also forgot to add to the list constant registry scans and mass deletions of invalid entries and the like. 

And yes, Firefox was one of the few programs that I downloaded the installer for, removed the "old" version, committed freespace genocide ( ), and re-installed.

And as far as saved passwords go, I recently changed most, if not all, my PWs, so that even if someone did recover something, it'd be wrong.

It's not paranoia, it's just good business.^TM 

[Firethorn]

Before this thread, I'd never even heard of deleted-file restoration, nor "free space wipers."    They seem to work pretty well, as long as you can get them to cover each others' tracks.  

The free space wipers I know of also got the deleted files, which is why I didn't worry about it.

You wasted a LOT of effort here, because you didn't follow the order.

Step 1:  Create new admin account
Step 2:  Using said admin account, delete the other profiles and uninstall unneeded software.  Delete any files stored elsewhere that aren't needed.
Step 3:  Wipe the freespace/cache/deleted files

Done!

Though to be more thorough you'd also want to go through the all users/default user to clear out stuff, as well as checking the registry.

[S. Williamson]

The free space wipers I know of also got the deleted files, which is why I didn't worry about it.

You wasted a LOT of effort here, because you didn't follow the order.

Step 1:  Create new admin account
Step 2:  Using said admin account, delete the other profiles and uninstall unneeded software.  Delete any files stored elsewhere that aren't needed.
Step 3:  Wipe the freespace/cache/deleted files

Done!

Though to be more thorough you'd also want to go through the all users/default user to clear out stuff, as well as checking the registry.

Feh. Following the "order" of things is for fools who know what they're doing. 

The "All Users," "owner.notebook," and any other things found in the "Documents and Settings" were cleared.

[sanglant]

Dionysusigma, sorry man. i was just posting that for price comparison. i have been trying to get up the nerve to upgrade to 7, so them was the links i had handy. i just can't seem to do it this time.