Securely delete and purge Windows files and folders using US-DoD-M with 3 passes
The goal here is to "securely destroy" any sensitive files on a legacy Windows Server or legacy Windows Desktop machine to be decommissioned permanently.
Once this is done, you should still mechanically crush the hard drive, if possible, for good measure.
- sdelete-v161.exe - Only this older executable version 1.61 actually works properly on recent Windows Server, since v2.00 is buggy and crash.
- destroy_permissions.bat - Use this VERY carefully !!! This will destroy any permissions that will prevent you from deleting files or folders on Windows Server.
- del_1.bat - Delete the sub-folder named ".\1" recursively in an infinite loop until everything is deleted.
- Step 1: Move all your files into C:\1\ or D:\1\
- Step 2: Open cmd.exe run as administrator
- Step 3a: pushd "C:\1\"
- Step 3b: pushd "D:\1\"
- Step 4: Copy these git files into that folder
- Step 5: Run destroy_permissions.bat on that folder
- Step 6: Run del_1.bat
If it fails or is stuck in a loop, rerun destroy_permissions.bat or manually fix the permissions, then run that script again.
- Step 7: run sdelete-v161.exe to clear and zero free disk space on drive C: and D:
Enjoy!
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sdelete
- https://download.sysinternals.com/files/SDelete.zip
SDelete - Secure Delete v1.61
Copyright (C) 1999-2012 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
SDelete - Secure Delete v1.6
Copyright (C) 1999-2010 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
