Erase Hard Disk Procedures

3.1. Prepare bootable USB, floppy (startup disk)  

Active@ KillDisk operates from the USB / floppy drive in a Microsoft DOS environment. For hard drives on PCs with operating systems other than DOS or Windows, you must create a DOS-bootable USB / floppy on a DOS or Windows machine and use it on your alternate-OS machine.

If you have a bootable USB / floppy, skip to the Copy Active@ KillDisk section, below.

To prepare a bootable USB / floppy from MS-DOS, Windows 95/98/ME/XP, put a USB / floppy in the USB / floppy drive (a:) and follow the appropriate instructions below:

• From MS-DOS or in Command Prompt mode of Windows 95/98:
  • On the screen, type the format command as follows (see Figure 3-1):
    FORMAT A: /S
• Follow on-screen messages until process is complete

Figure 3-1: DOS Format Progress Messages

• From the Windows 95/98/ME screen:
  • Click the Start button and click Settings, Control Panel.
  • From the Control Panel screen, click Add/Remove Programs.
  • In the Add/Remove Programs screen, click the Startup Disk tab.
  • Click the Startup Disk... button and follow the screen instructions until the process is complete.

Figure 3-2: Windows Format Startup Disk Screen

• From the Windows XP screen:
  • Right-click A: drive.
  • From the drop-down menu, click Format...
  • Enable the checkbox beside Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
  • Click the Start button and follow the screen instructions until the process is complete.

3.1.1. Copy Active@ KillDisk  

• Copy Active@ KillDisk file (KILLDISK.EXE) to the bootable USB / floppy disk or startup disk in drive A:
• If you don't have the Active@ KillDisk file, download it from http://www.killdisk.com
• After copying the file onto the USB / floppy, remove it from the USB / floppy drive

3.1.2. Label the Disk  

Active@ KillDisk can be used two ways:

• DOS Interactive mode
• Command Line mode

If you plan to use Active@ KillDisk in DOS Interactive mode, label the disk as follows:

• Active@ KillDisk
• Data Eraser Utility

If you plan to use Active@ KillDisk in Command Line mode, please skip the next section and read Boot to DOS (Command Line Mode).

Once preparation of the bootable 3.5-inch USB / floppy disk is complete, you are ready to begin removing data.