I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
drive?
void.no.spam.com@gmail.com wrote:
> I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
> error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
> an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
> then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
> be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
> wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
> drive?
void.no.spam.com@gmail.com wrote:
> I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
> error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
> an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
> then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
> be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
> wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
> drive?
>
Page 21 "Reverse Wiping Direction" sounds like a
possible solution.
There is also a "Pattern: Hardware" option which uses
the secure erase option built into modern IDE (not SCSI)
hard drives. But with bad sectors, I don't know how that
feature works. What will happen, if you try it, is you lose
communication with the drive, until the secure erase
runs to completion internally. If the secure erase
fails at the 52% mark, you might not get any other
opportunities to talk to the drive again. So
I'd reserve "Pattern: Hardware" for another day.
More information on the ATA/ATAPI built-in hardware
erase option can be found on this site.
On Jun 13, 4:26*pm, Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:
> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
> > I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
> > error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
> > manufacturer. *But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
> > an error at 52%. *It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
> > then Copywipe freezes the system. *So it looks like Copywipe will only
> > be able to wipe half the drive. *Any way I can get past that error and
> > wipe the rest of it? *Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
> > drive?
>
> I found a manual.
>
> http://www.docsdownloads.com/download/copywipe.pdf
>
> Page 21 "Reverse Wiping Direction" sounds like a
> possible solution.
That will reverse directions on each pass, but if the first pass
always fails, then I won't ever wipe in the other direction.
>
> There is also a "Pattern: Hardware" option which uses
> the secure erase option built into modern IDE (not SCSI)
> hard drives. But with bad sectors, I don't know how that
> feature works. What will happen, if you try it, is you lose
> communication with the drive, until the secure erase
> runs to completion internally. If the secure erase
> fails at the 52% mark, you might not get any other
> opportunities to talk to the drive again. So
> I'd reserve "Pattern: Hardware" for another day.
I tried it, and it said my hard drive does not support it.
On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT), "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com"
<void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote:
>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>then Copywipe freezes the system.
I get freezes over the years (and in my previous thread here) for
various reasons, and I've never understood all these freezes.
Shouldn't properly written software intercept bad return codes from
subroutines, including system subroutines, display an error message,
and keep going? Even if they can't complete the assigned task.
I've only written software for IBM mainframes, but if I didn't check
if I was dividing by zero before I divided, it was MY fault. If I
called a subroutine and didn't check for a bad return code as soon as
the subroutine ended, it was MY fault. If I wrote a subroutine that
could crash, it was MY fault. I prevented this by careful reviewing
of the code and by careful testing, including with bad data. And by
fixing it after the user found that I hadn't adequately tested it,
which was rare, but it was MY fault.
And nothing I could do would crash the OS because it had been tested
too, by IBM.
So how come there are so many crashes and freezes in the PC world?
People, including MS, eager to get their products on the market
without adequate testing?
> So it looks like Copywipe will only
>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>drive?
If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)
"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:0am554l7ibaosk2fg20eccbb5sihkckdqc@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT), "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com"
> <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>then Copywipe freezes the system.
>
> I get freezes over the years (and in my previous thread here) for
> various reasons, and I've never understood all these freezes.
All depends on the OP definition of "freezes".
I've seen HDD errors cause a system to become unresponsive while the system
tries to access a bad sector, and it can last for several minutes.
On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT), "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com"
<void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>drive?
Why not use a disc editor (eg Norton's Diskedit) to copy the first 50%
of wiped sectors to the last half of the drive starting at the 53%
mark, or wherever the drive starts to become good?
- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
<void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:537fec7c-eeaa-4601-af94-9c79941af037@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
> error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
> an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
> then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
> be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
> wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
> drive?
>
Hold the drive next to the magnet of a large stereo speaker for about 30
seconds. God could not reconstruct your data then.
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage void.no.spam.com@gmail.com <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
> error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
> an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
> then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
> be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
> wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
> drive?
You can use dd_rescuce under Linux. It will continue on errors
and it can be set to start at an offset. You can use it from
a knoppix CD for example (also allows you to only have the drive
to be wiped connected to the system to prevent accidents).
You may still have to skip over a lot of errors manually. In addition,
all the handling and postage fees and effort is probably not
worthwhile investing for a 120GB drive, unless it is a 10000rpm or
notebook drive.
lisa swallowz <poken@uranus.org> wrote:
> <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:537fec7c-eeaa-4601-af94-9c79941af037@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>> I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>> error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe
>> encounters an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I
>> enter Y, but then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like
>> Copywipe will only be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can
>> get past that error and wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping
>> software that can handle a bad drive?
>>
>
> Hold the drive next to the magnet of a large stereo speaker for about 30 seconds.
On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
"void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
wrote:
>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>drive?
Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
but if you have something illegal on the drive you should
learn from your mistakes and accept loss of the drive.
120GB drive isn't exactly valuable today.
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
> "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>>drive?
> Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
> to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
I do not believe that. I have by now read of quite a few cases
where people got convicted because of things found on their
HDDs when they handed in their computer for repairs. I would
not be surprised if some HDD manufacturers actually where
running a specific content scanner on disks sent in for
repairs and perceive that as a public service. There also
have been several reports of repair shops harvesting contents
from customer's computers.
In message <6bguk8F3bl0f2U1@mid.individual.net> Arno Wagner
<me@privacy.net> wrote:
>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
>> "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>
>>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>>>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>>>drive?
>
>> Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>> to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
>
>I do not believe that. I have by now read of quite a few cases
>where people got convicted because of things found on their
>HDDs when they handed in their computer for repairs. I would
>not be surprised if some HDD manufacturers actually where
>running a specific content scanner on disks sent in for
>repairs and perceive that as a public service. There also
>have been several reports of repair shops harvesting contents
>from customer's computers.
You snipped the "unless you have something illegal" and then argued as
though kony was giving bad advice due to the potential for getting
caught doing something illegal.
Consider the value of the drive vs the value of the content on the drive
and proceed accordingly.
A new 160GB drive can be purchased for around $50 brand new, so if you
have something illegal or private, something you'd pay $50 to not have
revealed, replace and destroy the drive and move on.
On the other hand, if you have Windows, pictures of your family
gathering, with a few angry letters to the editor and you don't care,
then wipe what you can and warranty the drive -- Recovering the drive
would take a pretty decent amount of time, money and effort which simply
isn't worth it on an ongoing basis.
Personally, I'd just write off the drive, it would probably cost more
then $50 of shipping, packaging, and hassle (time) then to risk
violating an NDA.
On Jun 13, 1:04 pm, Grinder <grin...@no.spam.maam.com> wrote:
> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
> > I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
> > error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
> > manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
> > an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
> > then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
> > be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
> > wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
> > drive?
>
> Probably not, but you can try dban.
I am running DBAN now, and after 4 hours, it has already completed 3
passes. After 4 hours, Copywipe had only completed 20% of the first
pass. And DBAN has an error counter that says 0. So that seems
strange.
I believe that DBAN will write all zeros for the last pass. After it
is done, is there any way for me to verify that it actually wiped the
drive, and that the drive has all zeros?
On Jun 13, 7:08 pm, "Calab" <mys...@csd.ca> wrote:
> "mm" <NOPSAMmm2...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>
> news:0am554l7ibaosk2fg20eccbb5sihkckdqc@4ax.com...
>
> > On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT), "void.no.spam....@gmail.com"
> > <void.no.spam....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
> >>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
> >>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
> >>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
> >>then Copywipe freezes the system.
>
> > I get freezes over the years (and in my previous thread here) for
> > various reasons, and I've never understood all these freezes.
>
> All depends on the OP definition of "freezes".
>
> I've seen HDD errors cause a system to become unresponsive while the system
> tries to access a bad sector, and it can last for several minutes.
I waited over an hour and the progress meter didn't move, hitting ESC
didn't do anything, and the computer started beeping as if the
keyboard buffer was full.
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage void.no.spam.com@gmail.com <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 13, 1:04 pm, Grinder <grin...@no.spam.maam.com> wrote:
>> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>> > I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>> > error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>> > manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>> > an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>> > then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>> > be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>> > wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>> > drive?
>>
>> Probably not, but you can try dban.
> I am running DBAN now, and after 4 hours, it has already completed 3
> passes. After 4 hours, Copywipe had only completed 20% of the first
> pass. And DBAN has an error counter that says 0. So that seems
> strange.
> I believe that DBAN will write all zeros for the last pass. After it
> is done, is there any way for me to verify that it actually wiped the
> drive, and that the drive has all zeros?
Under Linux do:
cat <device> | hex
THis will list all non-zero areas and compress the lsiting for
zero areas into one line ach.
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net> wrote:
> In message <6bguk8F3bl0f2U1@mid.individual.net> Arno Wagner
> <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>>> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
>>> "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>>>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>>>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>>>>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>>>>drive?
>>
>>> Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>>> to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
>>
>>I do not believe that. I have by now read of quite a few cases
>>where people got convicted because of things found on their
>>HDDs when they handed in their computer for repairs. I would
>>not be surprised if some HDD manufacturers actually where
>>running a specific content scanner on disks sent in for
>>repairs and perceive that as a public service. There also
>>have been several reports of repair shops harvesting contents
>>from customer's computers.
> You snipped the "unless you have something illegal" and then argued as
> though kony was giving bad advice due to the potential for getting
> caught doing something illegal.
I actually think that the illegality is not relevant. There is a
good possibility that the contents of your drive will be looked at.
> Consider the value of the drive vs the value of the content on the drive
> and proceed accordingly.
> A new 160GB drive can be purchased for around $50 brand new, so if you
> have something illegal or private, something you'd pay $50 to not have
> revealed, replace and destroy the drive and move on.
INdeed.
> On the other hand, if you have Windows, pictures of your family
> gathering, with a few angry letters to the editor and you don't care,
> then wipe what you can and warranty the drive -- Recovering the drive
> would take a pretty decent amount of time, money and effort which simply
> isn't worth it on an ongoing basis.
> Personally, I'd just write off the drive, it would probably cost more
> then $50 of shipping, packaging, and hassle (time) then to risk
> violating an NDA.
I think I argued that way eralier in the thread already adn I agree
completely.
void.no.spam.com@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jun 13, 1:04 pm, Grinder <grin...@no.spam.maam.com> wrote:
>> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>>> I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>> error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>> an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>> then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>> be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>>> wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>>> drive?
>> Probably not, but you can try dban.
>
> I am running DBAN now, and after 4 hours, it has already completed 3
> passes. After 4 hours, Copywipe had only completed 20% of the first
> pass. And DBAN has an error counter that says 0. So that seems
> strange.
>
> I believe that DBAN will write all zeros for the last pass. After it
> is done, is there any way for me to verify that it actually wiped the
> drive, and that the drive has all zeros?
If each sector contained nothing but zeros, then you'd have a slightly
easier time to verify the disk. For example, if the data was streamed
into a checksumming tool, then the end result should be a grand total
of zero. If some other programmatically created data pattern is used,
then you'd have to write a tool to verify that the pattern is reproduced.
If I was doing this verification project myself, and I couldn't find
a tool to automatically verify what was written, I might head to
Linux land. Writing programs to work on storage devices isn't that
hard - it really depends on how rusty you are, as to how long it would
take. And the program wouldn't necessarily have to be that long either.
As a friend at work would quip - "yup, that needs a three line program".
To give you a hint, at least in Windows land, there is a port of "dd".
Apparently "dd" can be instructed to copy to "standard out", so if
you piped the output into another Windows tool, like a checksum program,
you might just be able to compute a checksum over the entire data
stream. If the data on the sectors was supposed to be zero, then the
results should be zero.
On my Windows disk, I have a small collection of GNU tools, such as
"coreutils", and in there, I have a copy of "sum.exe". Perhaps "dd"
could be piped into a copy of "sum" from coreutils.
Since "dd" is part of Linux as well, you could also use the same concept
with a Linux LiveCD. (Knoppix and Ubuntu can be booted from their
respective CDs, and you can keep a few small files on a removable
storage device, while working with them. The LiveCDs don't have to
be installed to a hard drive, to do useful work.)
My suspicion is, that DBAN doesn't leave zeros on the disk for all of
its erasing options. At least some of them will have used the
Mersenne Twister, to make random data. (I tried to find a nice manual
for DBAN, but all I found was text files of one sort and another.)
Your first task, might be to find a sector editor and look at just
a couple sectors, to see what kind of a mess you're dealing with.
(I.e. Whether sectors are zeroed, or contain random data.)
"dd" can also be used to write zeros to a drive. In fact, that is
what I've used it for recently, as a means of erasing the "front part"
of a disk drive. Using "/dev/zero" as a source of data, you can
instruct dd to transfer "/dev/zero" to the hard drive, which will
overwrite the drive with zeros. If you then streamed the data to
standard output and piped it to a checksum or to a "word count" program
such as "wc", then you can compute the checksum of all the data,
and also verify the byte count available from the drive. So
there are "toy" programs, and bits and pieces of solutions around.
To use "dd" in Linux to write zeros, this is what you do.
1) Boot Knoppix CD into Linux desktop.
2) Open a terminal window. Type
That fills the first 10000 sectors with zeros. The command
syntax assumes /dev/sda is the disk to be hammered. Any time
I'm doing this kind of "surgery", only the disk to be hammered
is connected to the computer. Then, I can't possible make
a mistake with my selection of "/dev/sda" and hammer the
wrong drive. (That is one thing that worries me about using
the "dd" port in Windows - my boot drive would be a sitting
duck if I made a mistake typing in the command. Not so with
a Linux LiveCD, as the CD can't be erased.)
After your erasure pass is complete, then you could use dd
again, to read /dev/sda and pipe the output into checksum
or wc, to compute a checksum and to verify the total number
of bytes read, respectively. (A Linux/Unix guru can easily
improve on the above suggestions. I don't use this stuff
enough any more, to be good at it.)
Paul wrote:
> My suspicion is, that DBAN doesn't leave zeros on the disk for all of
> its erasing options. At least some of them will have used the
> Mersenne Twister, to make random data. (I tried to find a nice manual
> for DBAN, but all I found was text files of one sort and another.)
> Your first task, might be to find a sector editor and look at just
> a couple sectors, to see what kind of a mess you're dealing with.
> (I.e. Whether sectors are zeroed, or contain random data.)
Just a quick interjection: WinHex and Hex Workshop can edit physical (or
logical) drives directly. ie, they qualify as "sector editors."
void.no.spam.com@gmail.com wrote
> Grinder <grin...@no.spam.maam.com> wrote
>> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>>> I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered
>>> an error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe
>>> encounters an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and
>>> I enter Y, but then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like
>>> Copywipe will only be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can
>>> get past that error and wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping
>>> software that can handle a bad drive?
>> Probably not, but you can try dban.
> I am running DBAN now, and after 4 hours, it has already completed 3
> passes. After 4 hours, Copywipe had only completed 20% of the first
> pass. And DBAN has an error counter that says 0. So that seems strange.
> I believe that DBAN will write all zeros for the last pass.
> After it is done, is there any way for me to verify that it
> actually wiped the drive, and that the drive has all zeros?
Nope, particularly with the sectors that the drive has decided are too bad to use.
If they have something illegal in them, you can still get shafted because of that.
The only viable approach is to physically destroy the drive
if you do have something seriously illegal on that drive.
If you dont, the risk of someone getting some detail
like your credit card numbers etc off the drive is minimal.
>Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
I got a replacement laptop drive from Samsung. It had a complete NTFS
filesystem from someone in Brazil. [He liked Christina Aguilera...]
It failed within days; it would work only when cold. I got a third one
and it was empty...
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
On 14 Jun 2008 04:09:44 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net>
wrote:
>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
>> "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>
>>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>>>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>>>drive?
>
>> Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>> to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
>
>I do not believe that. I have by now read of quite a few cases
>where people got convicted because of things found on their
>HDDs when they handed in their computer for repairs.
1) You have heard of snooping techs at some repair shop,
not one of the hard drive manufacturers pulling data off to
scrutinize what it was.
2) As I wrote above, but that you snipped out, if something
illegal was on the drive such that the OP would get
themselves in trouble, they can just destroy the drive
instead. Discount the return shipping cost and then how
much is a used (may get refurb drive in return as well)
120GB drive worth? Not very much, it would be easier to
state it's value in replacement cost of a new drive or about
$40 if that, except it's non-appliable as the new drive has
it's full lifetime of use ahead of it.
>I would
>not be surprised if some HDD manufacturers actually where
>running a specific content scanner on disks sent in for
>repairs and perceive that as a public service.
You might not be surprised if there is a prowler outside 104
E. Main Street, Nowhere USA either, but that doesn't mean
there actually is one!
Show one example of it happening from a HDD manufacturer.
It goes against customer trust and would destroy their
business in a heartbeat.
> There also
>have been several reports of repair shops harvesting contents
>from customer's computers.
Which is quite a bit different. Working drive, low-skilled
tech, legitimate reason to dig into files on the system,
feeling insulated from any repercussions.
Regardless, like I already wrote but you snipped out, just
destroy the drive if there's something really bad on it (and
make lifestyle changes?).
On 14 Jun 2008 09:05:02 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net>
wrote:
>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>> In message <6bguk8F3bl0f2U1@mid.individual.net> Arno Wagner
>> <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>>>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>>>> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
>>>> "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>>>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>>>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>>>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>>>>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>>>>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>>>>>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>>>>>drive?
>>>
>>>> Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>>>> to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
>>>
>>>I do not believe that. I have by now read of quite a few cases
>>>where people got convicted because of things found on their
>>>HDDs when they handed in their computer for repairs. I would
>>>not be surprised if some HDD manufacturers actually where
>>>running a specific content scanner on disks sent in for
>>>repairs and perceive that as a public service. There also
>>>have been several reports of repair shops harvesting contents
>>>from customer's computers.
>
>> You snipped the "unless you have something illegal" and then argued as
>> though kony was giving bad advice due to the potential for getting
>> caught doing something illegal.
>
>I actually think that the illegality is not relevant.
Of course it is relevant.
>There is a
>good possibility that the contents of your drive will be looked at.
Based upon what? That you have no evidence to the contrary?
But do you have even one example of it ever happening?
There is a clear expectation that if it ever did, it would
make waves around the internet for many years, you'd get
tired of reading about it over and over.
There is an even better possiblity you are just being
paranoid. What about those people who aren't doing anything
illegal and take their PC to a regular repair shop? They
too know it is *possible* some files on their system could
be looked at. What about when you leave your house? It is
*possible* someone could take a picture of you. What about
when you post to usenet? It is *possible* someone could
archive it. There is a reasonable limit to how much effort
one goes to, to protect their privacy, when there are no
examples of the situation under which you are concerned
having ever been a problem.
There's probably even some pervs out there that deliberately
take nude pictures of themselves and put them on their PC
just for the tech to find. Come to think of it, would be
funny as heck if someone made TubGirl their wallpaper before
taking the system in. Gross, but still funny to see the
look on the repair shop's technician's face.
Lastly, consider just how many drives pass through a hard
drive manufacturer's doors for RMA. Do you really think
they don't monitor handling of these drives? It's probably
a pretty high security area given their desire to prevent
the things you speculate might happen, not to mention that
anyone there intent on doing so would have thousands upon
thousands of drives to pick from, even if there were no
security at all do they really go to the effort of repairing
a damaged hard drive so they can snoop the files, or do they
grab one of the piles and piles of drives that still work if
they're just in a nosey mood?
The whole thing is unrealistic at least. The risk of
sending a damaged hard drive in for RMA replacement is even
close to the same risk as taking a PC to a repair shop,
handing your system over to the geek tech down the street,
or even throwing the drive away without wiping it first.
If you want to go to extra measures out of paranoia where
there is no indication it is warranted, then by all means go
right ahead... we have no idea what is on your hard drive.
On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:07:47 +0000 (UTC), David Lesher
<wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:
>kony <spam@spam.com> writes:
>
>
>>Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>>to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
>
>I got a replacement laptop drive from Samsung. It had a complete NTFS
>filesystem from someone in Brazil. [He liked Christina Aguilera...]
So it isn't a situation like we're talking about here where
the filesystem is already wiped to the point where only a
wiping utility has anything to do (and fail at completing).
Regardless, you do bring up a good point I had not
considered, that if they made a huge blunder and somehow
managed to divert some returned drive to replacement status
without having checked it thoroughly and wiped it, then if
the drive had intact filesystem instead of wiped as far as
OP has, it would expose the original owner's files.
Did you notify Samsung of this? I hope so, that they might
put more attention into preventing it.
kony <spam@spam.com> wrote
> Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote
>> DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net> wrote
>>> Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote
>>>> kony <spam@spam.com> wrote
>>>>> void.no.spam.com@gmail.com <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote
>>>>>> I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered
>>>>>> an error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>>>>> manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe
>>>>>> encounters an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue,
>>>>>> and I enter Y, but then Copywipe freezes the system. So it
>>>>>> looks like Copywipe will only be able to wipe half the drive.
>>>>>> Any way I can get past that error and wipe the rest of it?
>>>>>> Any other wiping software that can handle a bad drive?
>>>>> Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>>>>> to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
>>>> I do not believe that. I have by now read of quite a few cases
>>>> where people got convicted because of things found on their
>>>> HDDs when they handed in their computer for repairs. I would
>>>> not be surprised if some HDD manufacturers actually where
>>>> running a specific content scanner on disks sent in for
>>>> repairs and perceive that as a public service. There also
>>>> have been several reports of repair shops harvesting contents
>>>> from customer's computers.
>>> You snipped the "unless you have something illegal" and
>>> then argued as though kony was giving bad advice due to
>>> the potential for getting caught doing something illegal.
>> I actually think that the illegality is not relevant.
> Of course it is relevant.
>> There is a good possibility that the contents of your drive will be looked at.
> Based upon what?
Based on those caught when it has happened.
> That you have no evidence to the contrary? But do
> you have even one example of it ever happening?
Yep.
> There is a clear expectation that if it ever did, it would
> make waves around the internet for many years, you'd
> get tired of reading about it over and over.
Pity it didnt when that happened.
> There is an even better possiblity you are just being paranoid.
Nope, not when at least one has got caught when it happened.
> What about those people who aren't doing anything
> illegal and take their PC to a regular repair shop?
> They too know it is *possible* some files on their
> system could be looked at. What about when you
> leave your house? It is *possible* someone could
> take a picture of you. What about when you post
> to usenet? It is *possible* someone could archive it.
Irrelevant if it isnt illegal.
> There is a reasonable limit to how much effort one goes to, to
> protect their privacy, when there are no examples of the situation
> under which you are concerned having ever been a problem.
Only if you're as pig ignorant as you are.
> There's probably even some pervs out there that deliberately
> take nude pictures of themselves and put them on their PC
> just for the tech to find. Come to think of it, would be
> funny as heck if someone made TubGirl their wallpaper
> before taking the system in. Gross, but still funny to
> see the look on the repair shop's technician's face.
> Lastly, consider just how many drives pass through
> a hard drive manufacturer's doors for RMA. Do you
> really think they don't monitor handling of these drives?
> It's probably a pretty high security area given their
> desire to prevent the things you speculate might happen,
Have fun explaining the Samsung drive someone else mentioned.
> not to mention that anyone there intent on doing so would have
> thousands upon thousands of drives to pick from, even if there
> were no security at all do they really go to the effort of repairing
> a damaged hard drive so they can snoop the files,
You aint established that they need to repair the drive, or that they wont
repair the drives that are repairable, and discover the illegal content.
> or do they grab one of the piles and piles of drives
> that still work if they're just in a nosey mood?
Or the repair a repairable drive or one with an
intermittent fault and discover the illegal content.
> The whole thing is unrealistic at least.
Have fun explaining those who have got caught.
> The risk of sending a damaged hard drive in for RMA replacement
> is even close to the same risk as taking a PC to a repair shop,
> handing your system over to the geek tech down the street,
> or even throwing the drive away without wiping it first.
Some have got caught that way too.
> If you want to go to extra measures out of paranoia where
> there is no indication it is warranted, then by all means go
> right ahead... we have no idea what is on your hard drive.
Yep, and for all you know it could be flagrantly illegal.
<void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ab9aa514-3343-4e6d-a518-55cafaa106cd@m3g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> On Jun 13, 7:08 pm, "Calab" <mys...@csd.ca> wrote:
>>
>> All depends on the OP definition of "freezes".
>>
>> I've seen HDD errors cause a system to become unresponsive while the system
>> tries to access a bad sector, and it can last for several minutes.
>
That's because Windows does several retries, and the drive does too.
> I waited over an hour and the progress meter didn't move, hitting ESC
> didn't do anything, and the computer started beeping as if the
> keyboard buffer was full.
This indicates the drive's firmware has crashed and hung the IDE channel.
Windows does not handle hung IDE devices well, does any OS?
I once destroyed a 15 year old SCSI drive with a speaker magnet.
It hung Windows 2000, and I had to power cycle it get it back.
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
> On 14 Jun 2008 09:05:02 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net>
> wrote:
>>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>>> In message <6bguk8F3bl0f2U1@mid.individual.net> Arno Wagner
>>> <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>>
>>>>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>>>>> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
>>>>> "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>>>>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>>>>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>>>>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>>>>>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>>>>>be able to wipe half the drive. Any way I can get past that error and
>>>>>>wipe the rest of it? Any other wiping software that can handle a bad
>>>>>>drive?
>>>>
>>>>> Just send the drive in as-is. They could not allow anyone
>>>>> to steal data off of drives as it would ruin their business,
>>>>
>>>>I do not believe that. I have by now read of quite a few cases
>>>>where people got convicted because of things found on their
>>>>HDDs when they handed in their computer for repairs. I would
>>>>not be surprised if some HDD manufacturers actually where
>>>>running a specific content scanner on disks sent in for
>>>>repairs and perceive that as a public service. There also
>>>>have been several reports of repair shops harvesting contents
>>>>from customer's computers.
>>
>>> You snipped the "unless you have something illegal" and then argued as
>>> though kony was giving bad advice due to the potential for getting
>>> caught doing something illegal.
>>
>>I actually think that the illegality is not relevant.
> Of course it is relevant.
>>There is a
>>good possibility that the contents of your drive will be looked at.
> Based upon what? That you have no evidence to the contrary?
Ine thing is personal communications (sorry). The story
about "Geek squad" even having servers in some locations
where emplyees would store things found on customer's
computers stands out. There are others I am too lazy to
look up.
> But do you have even one example of it ever happening?
> There is a clear expectation that if it ever did, it would
> make waves around the internet for many years, you'd get
> tired of reading about it over and over.
I think the waves have been far smaller than that. For example
they doid not even reach you. I am also surprised that there
was not significantly more oytrage and mainstream discuussion
about this.
> There is an even better possiblity you are just being
> paranoid.
Sorry, but no. Not in this case.
> What about those people who aren't doing anything
> illegal and take their PC to a regular repair shop? They
> too know it is *possible* some files on their system could
> be looked at.
It seems that it is likely. ''Possible'' does not concern me.
> What about when you leave your house? It is
> *possible* someone could take a picture of you. What about
> when you post to usenet? It is *possible* someone could
> archive it. There is a reasonable limit to how much effort
> one goes to, to protect their privacy, when there are no
> examples of the situation under which you are concerned
> having ever been a problem.
> There's probably even some pervs out there that deliberately
> take nude pictures of themselves and put them on their PC
> just for the tech to find. Come to think of it, would be
> funny as heck if someone made TubGirl their wallpaper before
> taking the system in. Gross, but still funny to see the
> look on the repair shop's technician's face.
> Lastly, consider just how many drives pass through a hard
> drive manufacturer's doors for RMA. Do you really think
> they don't monitor handling of these drives? It's probably
> a pretty high security area given their desire to prevent
> the things you speculate might happen, not to mention that
> anyone there intent on doing so would have thousands upon
> thousands of drives to pick from, even if there were no
> security at all do they really go to the effort of repairing
> a damaged hard drive so they can snoop the files, or do they
> grab one of the piles and piles of drives that still work if
> they're just in a nosey mood?
Well, I actually do think the risks from HDD are relatively
low, unless there is organized scanning to aid law enforcement.
So I would say: No illegal stuff -- Warranty return to the
manufacturer is safe. But that is a personal opinion.
> The whole thing is unrealistic at least. The risk of
> sending a damaged hard drive in for RMA replacement is even
> close to the same risk as taking a PC to a repair shop,
> handing your system over to the geek tech down the street,
> or even throwing the drive away without wiping it first.
Ah, maybe you say something else here than you indetded to?
The risk of the repair shop has been demonstrated and may be
pretty high. The HDD manufacturer risk should be low, I think.
> If you want to go to extra measures out of paranoia where
> there is no indication it is warranted, then by all means go
> right ahead... we have no idea what is on your hard drive.
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
> On 14 Jun 2008 04:09:44 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net>
> wrote:
>>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>>> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:59:35 -0700 (PDT),
>>> "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com" <void.no.spam.com@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>I have a 120 GB hard drive that my RAID controller encountered an
>>>>error with, so I am trying to wipe it and return it to the
>>>>manufacturer. But when I use Copywipe to wipe it, Copywipe encounters
>>>>an error at 52%. It asks me if I want to continue, and I enter Y, but
>>>>then Copywipe freezes the system. So it looks like Copywipe will only
>>&
Any way to wipe this drive? 