ISO freeware for partial wiping of harddrives

Can anybody suggest freeware that can be used to DoD wipe only the unused part of a harddrive? That is, I have a working computer that I want to sell and I want to make sure that no data can be recovered from unused part of the drive (where there used to be files that were simply deleted). I don't want to wipe the whole drive and reinstall OS. Thx

Originally Posted by KzScrapper

I have no idea, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night

What a coincidence! I found a motel 6 sign in the floor of a barn one time : D

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Did Tom leave the light on for you??

No, but the farmers daughter did ; )

Originally Posted by ilyaz

Can anybody suggest freeware that can be used to DoD wipe only the unused part of a harddrive? That is, I have a working computer that I want to sell and I want to make sure that no data can be recovered from unused part of the drive (where there used to be files that were simply deleted). I don't want to wipe the whole drive and reinstall OS. Thx

I think you're asking a bit much Ilyaz, just my guess. There's something I've used, but I've never seen mentioned on here, if you have a partition magic or G-Parted type partitioning software available, and you can manually delete all unwanted information from the drive, then compress and defragment the drive several times with both Windows and Iobit Smart-Defrag programs to get it as condensed as possible. Then use the partitioning program to make a partition in the free space using a ext2, 3, or 4 type file system, then change it back to NTFS, rendering any info on the free space unrecoverable.
I have been around the block a few times with drives and partitions, and although I was never really in the know, I did enough experimentation on all forms of drives and circumstances, that would be my best suggestion, but it would seem an awful lot to do to save wiping the entire drive and starting with a fresh install of Windows ; )

Originally Posted by Bear

Then use the partitioning program to make a partition in the free space using a ext2, 3, or 4 type file system, then change it back to NTFS, rendering any info on the free space unrecoverable.
I have been around the block a few times with drives and partitions, and although I was never really in the know, I did enough experimentation on all forms of drives and circumstances, that would be my best suggestion, but it would seem an awful lot to do to save wiping the entire drive and starting with a fresh install of Windows ; )

Thanks Bear. I did not realize that you can use a partitioning program to make a new partition on a disk that already has one, without messing that one up. Learning something every day.

The reason why I want to do it this way is that this computer is low-end, has a small disk, little RAM etc and I don't have access to a free or cheap copy of Windows. So I just want to wipe whatever I can and sell the machine as is, without spending too much time on it.

Originally Posted by twmart

There is a utility built into Windows that will do just that let me dig around to find the name.

The program is called cipher it is in Windows 2000 and newer.
You type it at the cmd prompt cipher /w:c would wipe the free space on the C drive.

Just remember some of your data could still be recovered. if it shares a sector that is used that may not get wiped.

Thanks twmart. Interestingly, most articles on the MS Support page refer to Win 2K or XP, nothing newer, but that is probably all I need. Maybe if I run it a few times, I can claim victory and say old data cannot be recovered.