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I want to run in the background software/command (if possible) that know if I press some combination of keys in the KeyBoard it's will wipe all of my HDD data (much likely in the movie HITMAN).
What I want it to do basically is to format all of my HDD and after that to write "junk" file's (related to the HDD size) for making sure that no one could ever restore it.
There is anyway to do so Through the KeyBoard, or I have to use the GUI for that?

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  • 3
    It'd be easier - and cooler - to wire a mechanical switch to some thermite in the chassis. But of course, that's just me being silly...
    – Shinrai
    Feb 18, 2013 at 22:26
  • Maybe not so cool and lamer - a double click on a virus exe that would write and keep writing 1s and 0s non stop on all block and over existing data. I am sure someone has contrcted one over the years.
    – Carl B
    Feb 19, 2013 at 1:12
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    You do understand that movie is fiction right? This type of script is fiction.
    – Ramhound
    Feb 19, 2013 at 13:13
  • @Ramhound I know this movie is a fiction, However this type of script is not very far from reality. Feb 19, 2013 at 16:02

3 Answers 3

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It will be almost impossible to do this while Windows is running, but there is another solution called Darik's Boot and Nuke.

https://www.dban.org/

Instead of just hitting some keys, you will have to insert the boot disk and go from there. Having key combinations on Windows to do that is brain-dead since your cat might walk over the keyboard and goodbye cat video collection.

The Boot And Nuke is a good solution since it resides in memory and will not get in the way of erasing the data like the Windows OS does.

To fully do this from the keyboard:

  1. Set your BIOS to boot from the CD.

  2. Start Windows.

  3. Put the Boot and Nuke into the CD/DVD drive.

  4. When Windows is running, hit CTRL+ALT+DEL or whatever keys you need to reboot the machine.

  5. When it is booting, hit some key when it says "Hit any key to boot from CD..."

  6. The Darik's Boot And Nuke will load.

  7. Press the options you want from the keyboard and execute it.

So that about does it I suppose. If you really, really, really want to do it without the CD in the drive, then install Grub4Dos or the like and then install the Bot and Nuke on the hard disk and then boot from the Grub. But that's beyond the scope of the question.

In all cases, if you can reboot with the keyboard, then all the other commands after booting happen with the keyboard too, so I suppose it is the same thing.

In short, it is just a case of rebooting and then executing some Linux shell via some multi boot loader that then does the actual erasing.

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  • Unfortunately I can't test it today (I dont want to destroy THIS drive =]). So I will have to inform you how did it go some other day, A week at most. +1 For the cat videos, although I dont have any cats Feb 18, 2013 at 23:07
  • It may make sense to ensure windows is not creating restore points. If someone where to stop the process mid stream, they may be able to use the restore feature in windows and you will have failed to wipe the drive. Just a thought.
    – Carl B
    Feb 19, 2013 at 2:59
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I think it's possible. you'd have to write a script that would do the following things,

  1. Instantly reboot the OS
  2. Load a Preboot Enviroment
  3. Automate the preboot enviroment to launch a data sanitation routine.

All of this is theoretical, and would require quite a bit of testing but a PC kill switch could be scripted, and all you'd have to do is buy one of those programmable keyboards and point one button at the script.

OR

buy one of these:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57436441-1/runcore-intros-hard-drive-with-a-kill-switch-a-real-one/

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  • you are also aware there are boot discs for this as well, right?
    – MDT Guy
    Feb 18, 2013 at 22:30
  • Yes I'm aware, but it's little bit more complicated than that. I need to do so in my HDD and the solution you gave me works with SSD, Furthermore I dont really have a lot of experience in writing scripts. So... do you have more technics other than those? Feb 18, 2013 at 22:43
  • If you can't script it, then you'll need to buy that self destructing SSD.
    – MDT Guy
    Feb 18, 2013 at 22:46
  • BTW the button solution is more for destroying than for wiping. Also is for SSD and not for HDD Feb 18, 2013 at 22:48
  • Again, if you want software, somebody would have to write a script to do the three things I listed. I would have the routine start with a clean, then a quick format, THEN start wrting trash to the HDD. I'm not aware of any software that does this.
    – MDT Guy
    Feb 18, 2013 at 22:52
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On linux you could wipe the disk with:

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sda

This could be stopped if/when it wipes out any of your OS/s files that are needed to run, causing the OS to segfault and kill all applications that are being run.

Of course to stop that happening, you'll want to use an OS/Distro that can support that, so one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions_that_run_from_RAM

As an uber pro hacker, that wouldn't be a problem, right?

Now, could you do that on Windows?

Actually, the answer is yes!

take a look at: http://reboot.pro/topic/16646-run-windows-7-from-ramdisk/ which describes a way to boot Windows 7 from ramdisk. You could trigger a disk wipe from that OS and not crash the machine.

Note: Now that SSDs are more prevalent, if you have one of those, you will want to instruct the disk itself to do a secure erase instead of just blatting data at it. SSDs manage their internals differently, and can have copies of data on the disk that are not normally accessible.

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