How to Wipe Out Data from Your Old Hard Disk Drive

So you have finally decided to get a larger and faster hard disk drive so you can store more files and have a speedier system. When you take out your old hard drive, do not throw it away! You can donate it to charity institutions and the like, but make sure that you remove all of your old data first. There are three things that you can do to wipe out data from your old hard drive.

* Reformat Your Drive

A simple reformat of your hard drive usually does the trick. Depending on your operating system, there are many different ways to reformat an old hard drive.

Reformatting a hard drive does not actually delete all your files and data, however. It simply prepares your hard drive to accept new files and overwrite the “deleted” files. Your old files can readily be retrieved by anyone who is of a mind to do it, such as criminals and data thieves, through the use of data recovery software.

If you have stored sensitive and personal information in your hard drive, you will want to get rid of your data completely. To do this, get a disk wipe utility.

* Run a Disk Wipe Utility

Unlike reformatting, data removed via disk wiping cannot be recovered by data recovery software. With a disk wipe utility, you can prevent identity theft and ensure that your uncompromising secrets remain as secrets. You can download a number of disk wipe utilities for free on the Internet.

* Destroy Your Drive

Destroying your hard drive can effectively deter unscrupulous individuals from mining your personal information, but it will render your drive useless and unfit for any type of charity work. There is only one reason why anyone would want to destroy their drives — lack of time. Reformatting a hard drive and running disk wipes, done the right way, will take hours to finish. If you are in a hurry, you can smash your hard drive to bits and be done with it in mere moments!

When wiping out data from old hard drives, it is always best to reformat them and run disk wipe utilities, instead of destroying them. While you no longer have any use for these drives, many other people can still benefit from them. You will also reduce the amount of global electronic waste.

Three Tips to Keep Your Laptop Computer Cool

Running a hot laptop computer on your lap is a sure fire way to not only burn your legs, but also reduce the life of your laptop. If you want your laptop to last longer, you need to reduce the heat it generates. Here are some great tips that can help you keep your laptop cool!

* Ventilate

Ensure that your laptop has access to adequate airflow. The movement of air in between laptop components helps dissipate the heat the components generate.

Your laptop “breathes” through air vents located at its sides and at the bottom of the unit. To enhance and promote airflow, do not block your laptop’s air vents. You may inadvertently do this if you operate your laptop on your bed or on top of a pillow. Crumpled sheets and the depressed mattress or pillow may block or partially cover your laptop’s air vents.

A great way to optimize airflow is to perch your laptop on top of four level bases, such as wooden toy cubes, so that the unit’s bottom does not come into contact with the surface of your table. This allows your laptop to breathe more easily through its bottom air vents.

* Get a Notebook Cooler

A more effective way to control your laptop’s temperature is to use a notebook cooler. A notebook cooler is a perforated platform that has a fan inside. The laptop computer is placed on top of the platform. The whirring fan hastens air exchange at the bottom of your laptop computer.

* Power Down

If you do not have an immediate need for your laptop, turn it off or operate it at a lower power state such as in sleep or hibernate mode. Lesser computer activity means lesser heat. This also means lesser power consumption so you can save on your electricity bill!

Keeping your laptop cool should be easy so long as you keep it well ventilated and well rested.

POST Beep Codes

POST ABCs
The computer power-on self-test (POST) tests the computer to make sure it meets the necessary system requirements and that all hardware is working properly before starting the remainder of the boot process. If the computer passes the POST the computer will have a single beep (with some computer BIOS manufacturers it may beep twice) as the computer starts and the computer will continue to start normally. However, if the computer fails the POST, the computer will either not beep at all or will generate a beep code, which tells the user the source of the problem.

The steps of a POST

Each time the computer boots up the computer must past the POST. Below is the common steps a POST performs each time your computer starts.

1. Test the power supply to ensure that it is turned on and that it releases its reset signal.
2. CPU must exit the reset status mode and thereafter be able to execute instructions.
3. BIOS checksum must be valid, meaning that it must be readable.
4. CMOS checksum must be valid, meaning that it must be readable.
5. CPU must be able to read all forms of memory such as the memory controller, memory bus, and memory module.
6. The first 64KB of memory must be operational and have the capability to be read and written to and from, and capable of containing the POST code.
7. I/O bus / controller must be accessible.
8. I/O bus must be able to write / read from the video subsystem and be able to read all video RAM.
   

AMI BIOS Beep Codes

Beep Code	Descriptions
1 short	DRAM refresh failure
2 short	Parity circuit failure
3 short	Base 64K RAM failure
4 short	System timer failure
5 short	Process failure
6 short	Keyboard controller Gate A20 error
7 short	Virtual mode exception error
8 short	Display memory Read/Write test failure
9 short	ROM BIOS checksum failure
10 short	CMOS shutdown Read/Write error
11 short	Cache Memory error
1 long, 3 short	Conventional/Extended memory failure
1 long, 8 short	Display/Retrace test failed

AWARD BIOS Beep Codes

Beep Code	Description
1 long, 2 short	Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information
Any other beep(s)	RAM problem.

IBM BIOS Beep Codes

Beep Code	Description
No Beeps	No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
1 Short Beep	Normal POST, computer is ok.
2 Short Beep	POST error, review screen for error code.
Continuous Beep	No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
Repeating Short Beep	No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
One Long and one Short Beep	Motherboard issue.
One Long and Two Short Beeps	Video (Mono/CGA Display Circuitry) issue.
One Long and Three Short Beeps.	Video (EGA) Display Circuitry.
Three Long Beeps	Keyboard / Keyboard card error.
One Beep, Blank or Incorrect Display	Video Display Circuitry.

Macintos

Tones	Error
Error Tone. (two sets of different tones)	Problem with logic board or SCSI bus.
Startup tone, drive spins, no video	Problem with video controller.
Powers on, no tone.	Logic board problem.
High Tone, four higher tones.	Problem with SIMM.

Phoenix BIOS beep codes for  PHOENIX BIOS Q3.07 OR 4.X

Beep Code	Description / What to Check
1-1-1-3	Verify Real Mode.
1-1-2-1	Get CPU type.
1-1-2-3	Initialize system hardware.
1-1-3-1	Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values.
1-1-3-2	Set in POST flag.
1-1-3-3	Initialize CPU registers.
1-1-4-1	Initialize cache to initial POST values.
1-1-4-3	Initialize I/O.
1-2-1-1	Initialize Power Management.
1-2-1-2	Load alternate registers with initial POST values.
1-2-1-3	Jump to UserPatch0.
1-2-2-1	Initialize keyboard controller.
1-2-2-3	BIOS ROM checksum.
1-2-3-1	8254 timer initialization.
1-2-3-3	8237 DMA controller initialization.
1-2-4-1	Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller.
1-3-1-1	Test DRAM refresh.
1-3-1-3	Test 8742 Keyboard Controller.
1-3-2-1	Set ES segment to register to 4 GB.
1-3-3-1	28 Auto size DRAM.
1-3-3-3	Clear 512K base RAM.
1-3-4-1	Test 512 base address lines.
1-3-4-3	Test 512K base memory.
1-4-1-3	Test CPU bus-clock frequency.
1-4-2-4	Reinitialize the chipset.
1-4-3-1	Shadow system BIOS ROM.
1-4-3-2	Reinitialize the cache.
1-4-3-3	Auto size cache.
1-4-4-1	Configure advanced chipset registers.
1-4-4-2	Load alternate registers with CMOS values.
2-1-1-1	Set Initial CPU speed.
2-1-1-3	Initialize interrupt vectors.
2-1-2-1	Initialize BIOS interrupts.
2-1-2-3	Check ROM copyright notice.
2-1-2-4	Initialize manager for PCI Options ROMs.
2-1-3-1	Check video configuration against CMOS.
2-1-3-2	Initialize PCI bus and devices.
2-1-3-3	Initialize all video adapters in system.
2-1-4-1	Shadow video BIOS ROM.
2-1-4-3	Display copyright notice.
2-2-1-1	Display CPU type and speed.
2-2-1-3	Test keyboard.
2-2-2-1	Set key click if enabled.
2-2-2-3	56 Enable keyboard.
2-2-3-1	Test for unexpected interrupts.
2-2-3-3	Display prompt Press F2 to enter SETUP.
2-2-4-1	Test RAM between 512 and 640k.
2-3-1-1	Test expanded memory.
2-3-1-3	Test extended memory address lines.
2-3-2-1	Jump to UserPatch1.
2-3-2-3	Configure advanced cache registers.
2-3-3-1	Enable external and CPU caches.
2-3-3-3	Display external cache size.
2-3-4-1	Display shadow message.
2-3-4-3	Display non-disposable segments.
2-4-1-1	Display error messages.
2-4-1-3	Check for configuration errors.
2-4-2-1	Test real-time clock.
2-4-2-3	Check for keyboard errors
2-4-4-1	Set up hardware interrupts vectors.
2-4-4-3	Test coprocessor if present.
3-1-1-1	Disable onboard I/O ports.
3-1-1-3	Detect and install external RS232 ports.
3-1-2-1	Detect and install external parallel ports.
3-1-2-3	Re-initialize onboard I/O ports.
3-1-3-1	Initialize BIOS Data Area.
3-1-3-3	Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area.
3-1-4-1	Initialize floppy controller.
3-2-1-1	Initialize hard-disk controller.
3-2-1-2	Initialize local-bus hard-disk controller.
3-2-1-3	Jump to UserPatch2.
3-2-2-1	Disable A20 address line.
3-2-2-3	Clear huge ES segment register.
3-2-3-1	Search for option ROMs.
3-2-3-3	Shadow option ROMs.
3-2-4-1	Set up Power Management.
3-2-4-3	Enable hardware interrupts.
3-3-1-1	Set time of day.
3-3-1-3	Check key lock.
3-3-3-1	Erase F2 prompt.
3-3-3-3	Scan for F2 key stroke.
3-3-4-1	Enter SETUP.
3-3-4-3	Clear in-POST flag.
3-4-1-1	Check for errors
3-4-1-3	POST done--prepare to boot operating system.
3-4-2-1	One beep.
3-4-2-3	Check password (optional).
3-4-3-1	Clear global descriptor table.
3-4-4-1	Clear parity checkers.
3-4-4-3	Clear screen (optional).
3-4-4-4	Check virus and backup reminders.
4-1-1-1	Try to boot with INT 19.
4-2-1-1	Interrupt handler error.
4-2-1-3	Unknown interrupt error.
4-2-2-1	Pending interrupt error.
4-2-2-3	Initialize option ROM error.
4-2-3-1	Shutdown error.
4-2-3-3	Extended Block Move.
4-2-4-1	Shutdown 10 error.
4-3-1-3	Initialize the chipset.
4-3-1-4	Initialize refresh counter.
4-3-2-1	Check for Forced Flash.
4-3-2-2	Check HW status of ROM.
4-3-2-3	BIOS ROM is OK.
4-3-2-4	Do a complete RAM test.
4-3-3-1	Do OEM initialization.
4-3-3-2	Initialize interrupt controller.
4-3-3-3	Read in bootstrap code.
4-3-3-4	Initialize all vectors.
4-3-4-1	Boot the Flash program.
4-3-4-2	Initialize the boot device.
4-3-4-3	Boot code was read OK.