Couple of questions for the computers experts out there

[Tgo01]

Alright I got two questions for our many wonderful computer experts out there. First can some viruses still exist after formatting a hard drive? I was always under the impression that formatting a hard drive got rid of all viruses in the process but I was reading some websites earlier that said some viruses can still exist after a hard drive format. I recently just formatted my hard drive, deleted the partition, created a new partition and reinstalled Windows. Is it possible for a virus to still be active after that?

Second question. I'm going to try and sell an old computer of mine and was wondering if anyone can recommend a program to use to ensure all the data on my hard drive is completely removed. I know formatting a hard drive doesn't really delete anything it just allows stuff to be overwritten. CCleaner has a "drive wiper" that will overwrite everything up to 35 times, however how would this overwrite the entire hard drive if I'm in the process of using Windows and CCleaner in the first place? Is there some sort of program I should use that does something similar at boot up?

[subzero]

Alright I got two questions for our many wonderful computer experts out there. First can some viruses still exist after formatting a hard drive? I was always under the impression that formatting a hard drive got rid of all viruses in the process but I was reading some websites earlier that said some viruses can still exist after a hard drive format. I recently just formatted my hard drive, deleted the partition, created a new partition and reinstalled Windows. Is it possible for a virus to still be active after that?

Yes. Partitions can be hidden from Windows and not erased. There are non-Windows based utilities, though I can't think of any free ones off-hand, that you can use to securely format a drive.



Second question. I'm going to try and sell an old computer of mine and was wondering if anyone can recommend a program to use to ensure all the data on my hard drive is completely removed. I know formatting a hard drive doesn't really delete anything it just allows stuff to be overwritten. CCleaner has a "drive wiper" that will overwrite everything up to 35 times, however how would this overwrite the entire hard drive if I'm in the process of using Windows and CCleaner in the first place? Is there some sort of program I should use that does something similar at boot up?

I'm assuming the program has all it needs loaded into RAM so that when the program starts to wipe the drive, all continues working as it should. I'd say to do a 2-3 pass format, but it's really not that easy (or cheap) to get data restored. I doubt you'll have anyone looking to buy it with the intent of trying to get the data on your HD restored, but if you're really concerned with it, 2-3 should be sufficient. You could always do a couple more if you feel the need. That said, there's no need to use CCleaner for this. If you're concerned that a virus may still exist and use a decent format utility to wipe out all partitions, it should have an option for multiple passes which will solve both the virus and data problem.

[Bobmuhthol]

I'm going to say no to the first question with the caveat that you actually had to have formatted the entire drive. subzero's answer basically assumes you didn't do your job correctly; if you did, there is no way that a virus survived.

I don't use CCleaner but a lot of programs load themselves into memory and are run independent of the operating system (Partition Magic and probably any other program you've ever used to play with partitions outside your OS work this way, which is also why you probably needed to restart your computer if you've ever done it). According to (maybe now outdated) military standards, the only way to destroy data on a hard drive is to put a hole through the disk, which is counterproductive when you want to sell it. Multiple passes is a sufficient method.

[Tgo01]

Well I download and ran Darik's Boot and Nuke and another hard drive wiper called kill disk, I like to be thorough. It seems to have gotten everything off the hard drives but now I'm wondering if I should even bother trying to sell these things.

One has an 80 gig hard drive, 512 megs of ram and I don't recall the CPU or video card but the computer is at least 8 years old.

The other has a 100 gig hard drive, 382 megs of ram (something like that) and it's at least 8 years old as well.

Both have Windows XP.

I know computer prices depreciate in value fast but damn, I saw computers better than these going for less than 50 bucks on Ebay. Not even going to bother trying to find a buyer for less than 50 bucks. Think that's about all I'll get for these computers? Not to mention I found out yesterday the hard drive on the first one I mentioned is apparently dead.

[Androidpk]

I'm sure you could find a buyer for like $10 but I don't see anyone paying anything more than that. Oh, and that's $10 for both of them.

[Tgo01]

I'm sure you could find a buyer for like $10 but I don't see anyone paying anything more than that. Oh, and that's $10 for both of them.

Well I forgot to mention they both have 17 inch monitors and mice and keyboards, surely that would double the value!

[Androidpk]

If they're CRT monitors you might find a museum you could donate them to.

[Tgo01]

If they're CRT monitors you might find a museum you could donate them to.

Well...one is a CRT monitor :(

[Androidpk]

Well...one is a CRT monitor :(

If you are feeling a bit malicious you could also donate it to Tyler Durden, he loves CRT monitors.