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akif
03-21-2003, 01:59 PM
What is the difference between "Windows Registry" and "System Registry"?
When it is created?
By deleting windows,is Registry deleted?
By formatting the C: drive, is Registry deleted?
mjc
03-21-2003, 02:35 PM
Windows Registry is the data files where most of the control and install information for all programs and Windows itself is stored. It is often used synonymously with system registry. It is created as part of the Windows installation process.
Budfred
03-21-2003, 11:25 PM
And that means that it is deleted/destroyed by deleting Windoze or by reformatting the hard drive. If you REALLY want to get rid of it, zeroing out the hard drive is the surest way....
akif
03-24-2003, 03:50 PM
by the way, what is that zeroing of Hard Disk precisely?
mjc
03-24-2003, 05:39 PM
Zeroing a hard drive is using a program to overwrite all the existing data with the binary zero, effectively erasing the drive (no, it will not stand up to a determined analyst, but for most purposes, one or two passes will suffice).
Budfred
03-24-2003, 10:21 PM
Usually the hard drive maker has a free utility that will zero out the hard drive, but there are a number of other utilities that will do it as well.
akif
03-26-2003, 02:12 PM
Thanx mjc and Budfred
can u kindly name some of such (zeroing) programs/utilities, so that i can buy one for myself.
mjc
03-26-2003, 03:03 PM
Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/) has the ability to create a bootable disk that will wipe a drive. (From version 5.6 on...)
pentachris
03-26-2003, 04:01 PM
Ranish Partition Manager (http://www.ranish.com/part/) is a great utility that has an option to zero a partition or a whole drive.
Budfred
03-26-2003, 09:09 PM
There are a number of free options, so you shouldn't have to buy any version. The utility that the hard drive maker provides is free and I believe Ranish is free, I am not sure about Eraser. In any case, I wouldn't run out and buy one if I were you.
Sylvander
03-26-2003, 10:08 PM
The Windows Registry [in Windows 98 at least] consists of two files:
1. C:\Windows\System.dat
2. C:\Windows\User.dat

1 is the System portion of the Registry.
2 is the User portion of the Registry.

1 includes all the System Configuration Settings.
2 includes all the User Configuration Settings.

Delete the Windows folder and you delete these files.
Reformat the drive and you remove any reference to the files in the File Allocation Table, so as far as any Operating system is concerned they do not exist.

The data still exists on the drive but since the location of each file is not listed in the FAT they are ignored and MAY by chance be overwritten.
People with the requisite skill and knowledge can recover any data that are not overwritten.
To prevent such recovery it is possible to overwrite these data deliberately with zeros.
It seems that there may still be faint magnetic traces of the originals, so this overwriting is done a number of times.

So I believe.
Budfred
03-26-2003, 10:30 PM
Overwriting several times is done if you really want to obliterate all possibility of recovering the data. However, as others have said, the only way to really make sure that your data will never be recoverd is to use a sledge hammer.....