Erase Hard Drive
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How does the licensing work?

The software is licensed on a per USB / floppy or CD basis. Each license allows you to use the program from a USB / floppy or CD. If you want to use the program to wipe 5 computers concurrently, you would need USB / floppy or CDs, and therefore need a 5 user license.

How to update my current KillDisk software online?

To update or re-download your KillDisk software go to the link below and follow the instructions: https://secure.lsoft.net/clients/

How can I set bootable CD/USB in BIOS?

To boot from a CD, DVD or USB device, make sure that the device has the boot sequence priority over the hard drive.

BIOS (Basic Input Output Subsystem) is a programmable chip that controls how information is passed to various devices in the computer system. A typical method to access the BIOS settings screen is to press ESC, F1, F2, F8 or F10 during the boot sequence.

BIOS settings allow you to run a boot sequence from a floppy drive, a hard drive, a CD-ROM drive or an external device. You may configure the order that your computer searches these physical devices for the boot sequence. The first device in the order list has the first boot priority. For example, to boot from a CD-ROM drive instead of a hard drive, place the CD-ROM drive ahead of the hard drive in priority.

While you are in the BIOS Setup Utility, you will not be able to use your mouse. Use the keyboard arrow keys to move around the screen.

Before you set boot priority for a USB device, plug the device into a USB port.

To specify the boot sequence:

1. Start the computer and press ESC, F1, F2, F8 or F10 during the initial startup screen. Depending on the BIOS manufacturer, a menu may appear.
2. Choose to enter BIOS setup. The BIOS setup utility page appears.
3. Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab. System devices appear in order of priority.
4. To give a CD or DVD drive boot sequence priority over the hard drive, move it to the first position in the list.
5. To give a USB device boot sequence priority over the hard drive, do the following:
   1. Move the hard drive device to the top of the boot sequence list.
   2. Expand the hard drive device to display all hard drives.
   3. Move the USB device to the top of the list of hard drives.
6. Save and exit the BIOS setup utility.
7. The computer will restart with the changed settings.

Picture. Boot Priority Options.

Some computer manufacturers allow you to select the device that contains the boot sequence from a special device selection menu. The example below uses a Dell system board.

To set boot priority using a device selection menu:

1. When the computer starts to boot up, after the manufacturer's ID screen, press F12 several times. The device selection menu appears.
2. Use the up and down arrows to select CD-ROM.
3. To boot from the selected device, press ENTER.

Using an incorrect BIOS setting can cause a system malfunction. Please follow the BIOS guide provided with your computer motherboard. If you read these instructions and you are not sure how to change a setting, it is better to leave it as the default setting.

How is the data erased?

Active@ KillDisk communicates with the system board Basic Input-Output Subsystem (BIOS) functions to access hardware directly.

It uses Logical Block Addressing (LBA) access if necessary to clean FAT32 drives more than 8 Gb in size. To erase data it overwrites all addressable locations on the drive with zeros (FREE version). Active@ KillDisk Professional version suggests several methods for data destruction.

For example, in US DoD 5220.22-M method it overwrites all addressable storage and indexing locations on the drive three times: with zeros (0x00), complement (0xFF) and random characters; and then verifies all writing procedures. This complies with the US DoD 5220.22-M security standard.

What is the difference between the Site and Enterprise license?

Site License means an unlimited usage of the program in one location , Enterprise License - in any location.

What is the difference between FREE and Professional versions?

Professional version in addition to all features of FREE version supports more than one hard drive and user can specify number of passes for data overwriting. Professional version of KillDisk is DoD 5220.22-M compliant.

Which method is used for data access in DOS?

KillDisk uses BIOS functions to access hardware directly. It uses LBA access if necessary to clean drives more than 8GB in size.

Does KillDisk support command line arguments?

Yes, it does. You can place line into for example autoexec.bat to destroy all HDD (Hard Disk Drive) found. See help for the details.

What types of HDD it understands?

All types of HDD are supported. KillDisk will clean it up properly if hard disk drive or USB disk is visible in BIOS, or accessible under Windows environment (device drivers properly installed).

Will I be able to use my HDD after Active@ KillDisk erase operation?

To be able to use HDD again you need to:

• repartition HDD using standard utility like FDISK
• reformat hard drive using standard utility like FORMAT
• reinstall Operating System using bootable CD-ROM or USB / floppy

Why does the computer reboot after 72 hours after running anything from within Boot Disk?

Windows PE reboots after 72 hours of continuous running. This is by design and can not be changed.

For more information, please refer to the Microsoft's MSDN article: Benefits and Limitations of Windows PE

Why can killdisk (or hard drive monitor) not return serial numbers from drives hooked up to RAID controllers?

The software uses standard SCSI/ATI function calls (through Windows or DOS) to get serial numbers from hard drives.

Most, if not all, RAID controllers do not properly process these requests.

Typically, a RAID controller is used to hook up 2 or more hard drives in such a way that the operating system thinks it is one drive. Therefore, the operating system can not access the drives individually. When queried for a hard drive's serial number, the RAID controller does not know which serial number to return, so it does not return a serial number at all. All RAID controllers tested will do this even if there is only one drive in the RAID set.

How many operating systems supported by KillDisk?

KillDisk is a DOS program and it does not matter which operating system is installed on the machine. If you can boot in DOS mode (from boot diskette for example), you can erase any drives independently of Operating System installed. The only requirement is that machine be a standard PC (Intel-architecture, not PPC, not ARM, not MIPS).

Does KillDisk run on any computer?

KillDisk runs on any PC-compatible machine, which is based on Intel architecture. It does not run on MIPS, ARM, PPC processors, for example it won't run on Sun SPARC systems or iPad & Android tablets.