[lug] drive free space "wiper" recommendation

[Anthony Foiani]

karl horlen <horlenkarl at yahoo.com> writes:

> i need to ship a computer back that's under warranty. i've already
> moved / deleted the files off of the drive that i deemed sensitive.
>
> can anybody recommend a good, free, non spyware based utility to
> help me "wipe" the free space left by my previous deletes and moves?
> dban looks like an *entire* drive wipe utility.  i don't want to
> permanently delete the entire drive, just the unused space.
>
> fyi, this is a win xp based system.

Since this is a Linux-centric list, might I suggest a Linux-based boot CD?

I haven't tried these, but from a quick google search:

  http://www.sysresccd.org/System-tools

    "Secure Deletion
       Several wiping tools (such as shred and wipe) ensure that files
       are really erased from the hard disk."

  http://www.dban.org/

    "Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that
    securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will
    automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk
    that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk
    or emergency data destruction."

Even something like Fedora Live should have drive-wiping tools, since
"shred" is a part of coreutils.

Good luck,
t.