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Follow-on question from Rufus rejecting HDDErase.iso.

So after getting HDDErase.exe onto the DOS-booting USB stick and running it, I ran into yet another problem; the USB boots, the program runs, and progresses normally through its motions until this point;

After I confirm, it goes to this screen. According to the videos I've watched I'm supposed to be presented with a list of drives for the program to erase.

As you can see, nothing. I don't understand what's going on.

As before, system is Windows 8.1. I'm fairly sure I do actually have a HDD (that is, not the other thing, an SSD) but I have no idea how to check. Thanks in advance.

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There can be a few reasons for the issue. I use quite a few bootable live disks/usbs for my job and usually it's just a hardware compatibility/driver issue. Live disks/USBs will typically have generic and specific drivers to handle certain chipsets and controllers on the motherboard, however if the generic nor the specific drivers included in the image don't work then there is no way to communicate with the device (eg. your HDD). This is why it is undetected.

You have two options:

1) Pull the drive from the current PC and connect it to another. Hopefully the program you're using will identify the hardware and be able to communicate with the controller and in turn the HDD.

2) Try another program. There are tons of HDD wiping programs available. I recommend DBAN. It seems to work on most systems, although I have experienced what you are experiencing with DBAN as well.

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  • Thank you and I'm now trying to run the software via an old Toshiba satellite laptop, but it's... not even picking up the DOS-booting key. At all. Just skipping it and loading the OS. So I removed the hard drive and got "No bootable device -- Please restart system." Why are all computers so unremittantly spiteful?
    – user602826
    Jun 6, 2016 at 1:16
  • I also tried two other bootable USB sticks with different things (a copy of DBAN and a Windows 7 ISO) to see what would happen. The laptop did not detect either of those either.
    – user602826
    Jun 6, 2016 at 1:19
  • Additionally, the reason I'm trying so hard to use HDDErase is that it deletes HPA and DCO sectors, which I need gone to ease my paranoia because I suspect spyware infection might have jammed itself in there.
    – user602826
    Jun 6, 2016 at 1:20
  • Nevermind! Toshiba satellites have some really weird boot mechanics. Got the USB recognised, but it's not detecting the drive on this one either- that is, an entirely different drive that was in the Toshiba and has nothing on it. So I assume the Toshiba's motherboard is uncooperative too. Great. Going to try with every other computer I can access; do you know any other ways to wipe HPA/DCO?
    – user602826
    Jun 6, 2016 at 1:35
  • See my answer here: superuser.com/a/1650850/647235
    – asheroto
    May 22, 2021 at 10:30

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