[sckrem]

I cleaned out my hard drive. I used a program called Drive Scrubber. Because I wanted to put Linux on it and start from scratch. Well I go put the Linux in CD in and it say no program found. Then I put the Window XP and it say " FIle\i386\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded. The error code 27648
setup can't continue. Press any key to exit. So Am I screwed lol. I clean it to much.

[bzerph]

do you have an os on another driver or a linux os cd that you can run to try to format the drive? the program could have possibly removed a necessary boot record.

[IT-Support]

I thought drive scrubber is for making drives unreadable on machines that are being discarded. It is used so that no one can get data off said harddrive if it falls into the wrong hands. So yeah I think you have screwed it. Someone else may be able to help you with this but i think you're going to need a new harddrive.

[sckrem]

I think you are right IT-SUPPORT..... Bzerph I did put a Linux and a Window OS CD in nothing.

[Byteman]

Generally, utilities like Active Killdisk result in an UNusable drive.....until the drive is formatted by another machine. I used to use Killdisk, and would have to connect the hard drives to an XP machine and format the drives, after that they would be "seen" just fine. I don't recall any drive that was permanently wrecked but it would seem like that when you are trying to install some OS unless you are able to first format it. A few times, I formatted 2 or more times, just to be more sure, and had 0 problems, an OS would install OK afterward.

You might try the drive manufacturer's program (free from their support pages) that can probably reset the drive the same as a format in XP computer....

[arochester]

Well I go put the Linux in CD in and it say no program found.

What Linux distro have you tried? If you use a LiveCD it will work totally from your CD-Rom and not access the Hard Drive at all. So the condition of your Hard Drive should not matter.

I suspect that you have a bad burn. It is common for newbies to just copy the ISO to a CD and not properly "burn an ISO" to create a Linux, bootable disk.

Can you check the disk? Does it work on another machine?

Have a look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto . It shows how to burn an ISO properly.

If your computer supports booting from USB you can also boot from a USB stick.

[IT-Support]

Im agreeing with Byteman on this one. Plug the harddrive into a different machine. If it is recognised by windows do a NTFS format. If it doesnt get recognised by windows then right click on my computer and goto manage. Once that has loaded you should have disk management near the bottom. In there you should see the main drive and another one that will have no drive letter assigned, from there you should be able to format and assign a letter to the drive. Once that's done turn off that machine take your drive out whack it back in the original machine and you should be able to install as OS.

[Byteman]

Others have had the same experience I am reporting.....

http://forums.techguy.org/windows-vi...ubber-now.html

I do not neccessarily agree with what is posted about the hard drive not supposed to be usable after a drive wipe with any product.... it would depend on the expertise of the user and the amount of "scrubbing" done to the drive. There may be damage done, but there is not SUPPOSED to be, your drive is able to be used again.....

The detection by the BIOS doesn't happen for scrubbed drives.... rewriting the partition lets you boot up with an OS CD.

Anyone doubting this can read about it here:

http://www.techsoup.org/learningcent...e/page5726.cfm

Iolo DriveScrubber
Unlike some of its competitors, Iolo DriveScrubber will not allow you to create a bootable CD, so if you happen to be donating newer machines without floppy drives, you'll need to order the actual boxed product. Also, if you want to clean data using more secure methods such as DoD 5220-22.M or Gutmann, you'll need to opt for the pricier DriveScrubber Professional version rather than the Personal edition, though both will work with Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. For information on purchasing multiple DriveScrubber licenses, visit Iolo's pricing-matrix page

Using the very most destructive level of wiping maybe could render the drive "broken"--- but you don't have to do that at the home level....if you want to re-use the drive, especially. I believe each wiping program tells you that up front and if they don't that needs to change.

DriveScrubber also offers two options for data wiping: wiping all content from a drive or wiping just the free space. Both levels meet or exceed the standards of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD 5220.22).

Wiping all contents completely erases all data beyond recovery. People find this useful if they want a "like new" drive after virus damage or if they are giving away their computer and want absolutely no data to remain.

Wiping the free space erases just the data remnants and tracks left by deleted files. Existing files, programs, and the operating system are all left in intact. People find this useful for regular computer maintenance and security.

[sckrem]

well If I hook up Another hard drive it works fine I don't understand this what you are saying here " would have to connect the hard drives to an XP machine and format the drives,"

[IT-Support]

The harddrive has been ripped of all data including format tables. You need to format it before you can do anything with it, the easiest way is to remove the drive from its current computer and put it another that boots as secondary drive and then format it on that machine and put it back once the format is complete. You can get software that may boot before it tries to read the disk, Partition magic maybe? But that requires buying the software where are the other method is free

[arochester]

This looks a bit windoze-centric...format NTFS? If for example Ubuntu Linux is being installed it should partition and format for Linux

[sckrem]

sorry but I don't understand " put it in another that boots as secondary drive and then format it on that machine and put it back once the format is complete."

[sckrem]

AROCHESTER: When I put in the linux it tell me no program can be found

[Byteman]

My experiences include working between hard drives that HAD XP, were then WIPED at not a very high level with a wiping utility....then, I wanted to INSTALL XP, but the drive was not detected, or seen, or appearing in the BIOS and booting with a legal, nice, usable Microsoft XP CD would not work to go into XP Setup... just by fooling around, I discovered that by putting the drive in a second XP computer...connecting it as a Slave drive.... I could get to work on what I thought was a messed up drive.

You have to have a spare computer and should probably use one that is not too vital to you......
you do not want to REinstall XP or any O/S while the hard drive is in another computer as a Slave....you would RE-install it back where it came from to do that...

Here's some info on connecting an IDE hard drive (I haven't done this with a SATA drive yet) as a Slave drive:

http://www.ehow.com/video_6030_install-second-hard.html

http://askbobrankin.com/add_a_second_hard_drive.html <<There are SATA drive directions here





I don't know why, but the drive now was "seen" by the host computer then and able to be formatted, and when I RE-installed the same drive back into it's normal computer, the XP CD had not problem booting up and installing correctly.

For some drives, I had to format them a few times --- I am still using these drives. Again, the level of "secure wiping" I did was not the DoD level 7 or anything, not the "highest level" and I did not do more than one or two passes on the drive to wipe it.

I recall using Disk Management for some, and some boot CDs I made , to do the formatting.

Remember, you will probably have to reposition drive jumpers and install the drive correctly to connect it as a Slave drive in the second computer. and REdo the jumpers to make it a Master or Single drive again, just like it was-

After they were formatted in the second computer as a Slave drive> I had XP setup create new partitions and format them again!


I am not sure why this has to be done, but I see a lot of people with the same problem. TOO secure a wipe maybe, or just the motherboard or BIOS or the configuration of drives on the board.


WhiteCanyon is a top of the line drive eraser program:

http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive...hard-drive.php

[sckrem]

Thank you byteman Maybe I blew it because I went all the way to level 7. What if I put a working hard drive in this machine then hook the hard drive having trouble with as a seconary will that still work