Starting with XP, Microsoft Windows operating systems are equipped with a utility for wiping free space on media where your data once was. With it, you can permanently delete all information from your computer without the possibility of recovery, even with the help of special programs. This can be useful for protecting confidential information.
Necessary
- - operating system Windows XP;
- - cipher.exe utility.
Instructions
Step 1
Turn on your computer. Wait until the operating system is fully loaded.
Step 2
Please sign in. Sign in with a user account with administrative rights. As a rule, all accounts in Windows are created just like this. Wait until the desktop is fully loaded.
Step 3
Run Command Prompt. To do this, you need to open the "Start" menu, then sequentially select the items: "Programs", "Standard", "Command line".
Step 4
Check out the help. It will be helpful to read the help information for the cipher.exe utility before using it. To do this, enter cipher.exe /? and complete the entry by pressing the Enter key. Pay attention to the / W switch - it is it that allows you to perform the indicated mashing task. Basically, cipher.exe is designed to manage encryption in the NTFS file system.
Step 5
Decide where to start. Consider on which logical disks of your computer or removable media you need to completely overwrite the information. For a convenient overview of the available logical drives, you can open "My Computer".
Step 6
Set aside enough time. Note that the erase operation can take quite a long time to complete, since cipher.exe performs it in three passes: first it writes zeros, then 255, and then random values.
Step 7
Start the operation. For example, the command to wipe drive C will look like this: cipher.exe / W C:.
Step 8
Wait until the program finishes. Once launched, cipher.exe will display information about the progress (degree of completion) of the current operation. If necessary, you can interrupt the erasing operation, but note that the next time you start it, it will start from the very beginning.
