Trying To Wipe Hd On Gateway Zx-4931

Hi Everybody!

This is probably verging on a dumb question, but I searched and couldn't find anything before on this issue (although maybe I didn't have the right key words).

Anyway, I have been tasked with wiping a couple of old computers before they are sent to recycling. One was no problem, but the other has no password that we can find (it may have none that we can access, it belonged to an employee who jacked as much stuff up as they could before they left) and I have tried all the hotkeys I can think of to try to open the bios before it boots up and nothing is working to get access to it. Is there some way to wipe the drive with a bootable disk without accessing the bios? Does anyone have any suggestions for programs or anything else I can try to wipe it or access the bios so that I can boot from another drive?

The computer in question is a Gateway ZX-4931 all in one. It was originally installed with win 7, it is now running win 10 (very poorly, I might add, it takes forever to boot and shut down). The first boot screen shows the Gateway logo, but no information on bios access.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

DBAN - Darik Boot and Nuke boot CD/USB, but if the system is not set to boot from CD/USB then you're at square one. Which keys have you tried? ESC, f1,f2,f10,f11,f12, enter, del?
Pull the BIOS battery? Disconnect the hard drive? This might cause it to fail startup and allow you to enter the BIOS.


https://www.lifewire.com/bios-setup-utility-access-keys-for-popular-computer-systems-2624463
https://www.biosflash.com/e/bios-passwords.htm

 

Thank you for the suggestion of the Nuke and Boot. I actually managed to find the bios key, It wasn't coming up on the opening screen until one of the other employees remembered the password for their account on the beast. It wasn't an admin account, but I checked it out anyway for files. When I booted it again the information helpfully presented itself on the lower screen. The quick key was a combination of keys (esc+Del) so I don't feel too bad about not figuring it out immediately. I have it set to boot from CD ROM or USB now and can get a utility in to wipe it. Thanks for the help, saves me from taking out the hard drive and sending the warehouse manager out to the parking lot with a sledge hammer, LOL!

 

For future reference, CCleaner has a great wipe feature called Drive Wiper that is very effective too. I mention this for two reasons. First is a lot of people already have CCleaner but second, it also has a nice feature that lets you wipe only the free space. So if, for example, you reset the computer to factory settings before getting rid of it, but are worried sensitive information may still be in what is now, the free spaces, this feature will wipe those areas clean while leaving the computer (and OS) in its factory (still usable) state.

Of course, if the computer is going to the recycling centers (instead of being handed down to another user), you don't care if still usable, or not.

If you have drives laying around, a Hard Drive to USB Adapter can be very handy and simple to use. I have one I take on house calls. At home I use a (similar to this) docking station I keep connected to my PC. Very handy. It is "hot swappable" too.

The sledge hammer will work - but a lot of work. Hard drive are surprising tough. Drilling 3 holes an inch out from the center hub with a carbide tip drill is what we used to do - until we located a hard drive shredder. These are much more fun and entertaining.

 

The hard drive shedder sounds like fun. I will keep the CCleaner in mind. Both of these computers are all in ones. The one I am having problems with is crappy anyway-old, bulky, set up for the old plug-in keyboard and mouse and really, really slow. The other is somewhat newer and we were using in our reception area until about 6 months ago and it might still have some life in it. I might try the CCleaner and see if it can be passed on because it runs OK and would be a fine computer for someone just doing schoolwork or something.

I will be looking into one of those hard drive adapters, that sounds like a very handy tool to have. The business I work for has an IT company it contracts with, but they sometimes chuck low-level tasks at me because for that stuff I'm way cheaper than a 'house call'. I like it because it makes at least a few hours more interesting than usual.

Thanks for the insight!

 

Sounds like a plan. Good luck.

 

I'd caution ccleaner. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner - malware infections and most recently the current owners (Gen Digital) of ccleanner have had a breach of their paying customers.

 

Come on, foogoo. That hack has nothing to do with the actual program. The parent company's network was hacked. And it only affected "paid" customers.

The program itself was not compromised.

As I noted above, I mentioned CC in reference to people already having the program. I never suggested anyone EVER go out and buy it.

The free version is just fine. You don't even have to provide your email address to get the free version.

This is fear mongering.

Once again we see where CC is unjustly singled out and attacked - most likely because CC also has a Registry cleaner feature which some automatically assume is evil because decades ago, a few registry cleaners were poorly written.

Why not warn against DBAN? Sourceforge which hosts DBAN, has been hacked in the past too?

Or Gateway? Acer, Gateway's parent company has been hacked multiple times over the years.

And OMG! I actually included multiple links to Amazon - a company that has been breached numerous times!

Once again. CCleaner Free is safe. It contains no malware. It is not malicious. And you can for free from here without having to give them a shred of your personal information.

 

"In September 2017, CCleaner 5.33 was compromised by the incorporation into the distributed program of the Floxif trojan horse that could install a backdoor, enabling remote access to 2.27 million machines which had installed CCleaner to be infected. Avast insisted that the malware was already in CCleaner version 5.33, prior to the purchase of Piriform."
The most recent issue effected paid customers.... don't take everything personally, I said caution...do you work for ccleaner?

 

Right. So this "most recent issue" you warn about was over 6 years ago!

Did you research the incident to find out what really happened? Clearly not.

And you automatically believe Avast? Based on what? Their say-so?

Piriform was an Avast owned company.
The affected version was hosted on and distributed by Avast owned servers and distribution network, not Piriform's.
The certificate used to authenticate the affected version was controlled by Avast, not Piriform.​

And yet, you totally believe Avast (also owned by Gen Digital - formally Symantec and NortonLifeLock) when they put the entire blame on Piriform?

Do you work for Avast/Gen Digital? What about SourceForge/DBAN?

Did you take the time to understand who was affected and what damage was done by this Trojan? Clearly not.

According to Bleeping Computer's report, my bold underline added,

So, well less than 3% of all their users downloaded the file and NO HARM WAS DONE. And yet, as soon as CC is merely mentioned, you have to jump in to warn users about something that didn't really affect anyone, over 6 years ago!!!

This despite the fact Avast itself has been hacked more than once since then AND involved in a scandal where they illegally harvested and sold their customer's data to 3rd parties.

Yet did you warn about Avast? Nope.

Do you understand that the MOVEit hack hit nearly 1,000 organizations - yet you center your entire attack on just one, the parent company of CCleaner.

No. I don't work for CCleaner. Never did. I am however, retired military where I spent 24+ years defending your rights, as well as the rights of others. Just because I am retired I see no reason to stop defending those rights now.

"Everything"? Please don't exaggerate. What I take personal is [particularly "opportunistic"] unfair accusations and attacks against other parties - especially when done without cause, without true basis in fact, and with prejudice.

You are entitled to your own opinions and I will defend your right to express them with the same vigor I show here for CCleaner. But you are not entitled to your own facts and so I will defend those unfairly or unjustly accused with that same vigor.

Of course, one must be cautious. But that same precaution applies to everyone when downloading any file - including DBAN and CCleaner.

 

lol