Windows 7 question

[billabeasta]

Hey Everyone,

 

So quick question, right now I need to completely wipe a windows 7 hard drive, but the computer itself is getting tossed. So what I want to do is wipe it but still have windows on it just because it does have a windows 7 license and it also hard the office suite on it (97-2003 but still free license). Cause it is apparently ok for me to take the computer considering it's just going in the trash. Is there a way to get the product key remotely? I have a drive enclosure for the 3.5 hdd to connect to my laptop, and I can access it that way. I tried using produkey but that wouldn't pull up any of the keys. The other dilemma is it does boot, but the windows log in has been lost to time, which is the original reason I needed the external drive enclosure to pull data off it originally. Even if there is a way to get the product key for windows 7, completely wipe the drive, then reinstall windows I'd be game for that, right now I am just struggling with the how to do it. Appreciate any help.

[porina]

Is there a licence sticker on it with the key on it? That's typical for the era. You can use that to re-install, although if it is a large OEM system you will need their particular OEM customised version of Windows to auto-activate, as regular versions wont have the OEM specific keys baked in.

[NelizMastr]

12 minutes ago, porina said:

Is there a licence sticker on it with the key on it? That's typical for the era. You can use that to re-install, although if it is a large OEM system you will need their particular OEM customised version of Windows to auto-activate, as regular versions wont have the OEM specific keys baked in.

Auto activation isn't required though. The phone activation is easy enough. Just get the link texted to you, fill in the details, lie that it's not activated currently and you're done

[Thirdgen89GTA]

What kind of wipe are we talking about here?  Just a wipe and re-install, or the type of wipe that will prevent your personal data from being recovered?

 

If you want your personal data gone, DBAN will do it, and fairly easy. https://dban.org.  Use the DoD Short 3 pass method if its a platter drive.  If its a SSD, you can still do it for free, but a ATA Secure Erase command is a bit of a pain to use.  The SSD' vendor might have a toolset that will make it easier for you.

 

Your computer should have come with a DVD containing the OEM customized windows 7 install.  If not, that's okay, your Product Key code should be on a sticker on the computer, and from there you can use a generic Windows 7 ISO.

 

 

[TheDelphiDude]

23 hours ago, billabeasta said:

The other dilemma is it does boot, but the windows log in has been lost to time

If you can access the BIOS of the computer and set the boot order you could try something like NT Offline registry editor to remove the password from the account(s) and log in that way. Then you can run ProduKey and get the product keys.

Note: if it is a major brand PC you'll need to use the Windows product key from the COA sticker, as the one ProduKey shows will only work for that particular brand / model of PC.

[billabeasta]

On 8/8/2019 at 8:12 AM, porina said:

Is there a licence sticker on it with the key on it? That's typical for the era. You can use that to re-install, although if it is a large OEM system you will need their particular OEM customised version of Windows to auto-activate, as regular versions wont have the OEM specific keys baked in.

There was a sticker on the side of it, I am gonna give it a shot, and thanks!

[billabeasta]

17 hours ago, Thirdgen89GTA said:

What kind of wipe are we talking about here?  Just a wipe and re-install, or the type of wipe that will prevent your personal data from being recovered?

 

If you want your personal data gone, DBAN will do it, and fairly easy. https://dban.org.  Use the DoD Short 3 pass method if its a platter drive.  If its a SSD, you can still do it for free, but a ATA Secure Erase command is a bit of a pain to use.  The SSD' vendor might have a toolset that will make it easier for you.

 

Your computer should have come with a DVD containing the OEM customized windows 7 install.  If not, that's okay, your Product Key code should be on a sticker on the computer, and from there you can use a generic Windows 7 ISO.

 

 

I need to completely wipe the drive. So it was a lab computer so more than anything it's anything on it for personal, as well as any private data. So pretty much the whole thing. I haven't ever used DBAN before, can I use that if the hard drive is connected to my laptop through a USB? I have an external enclosure for it. Also as a side note would that method also work on an older hard drive from the xp era? I need to do the same thing there, but one program would make life easier. Also these computers were found in a back storage room unfortunately, they didn't even come with power cords. My game plan is to (for the windows 7 one) to wipe the drive, probably put like a cheap ssd in it, then reinstall windows 7 and sell it. 

[billabeasta]

6 hours ago, TheDelphiDude said:

If you can access the BIOS of the computer and set the boot order you could try something like NT Offline registry editor to remove the password from the account(s) and log in that way. Then you can run ProduKey and get the product keys.

Note: if it is a major brand PC you'll need to use the Windows product key from the COA sticker, as the one ProduKey shows will only work for that particular brand / model of PC.

I am also going to give this a shot. So more fun fact than anything, there's no wifi card on it (to the best of my knowledge) and no connection so I'm gonna put produkey on a flash drive, then use that to try that out.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

2 hours ago, billabeasta said:

I need to completely wipe the drive. So it was a lab computer so more than anything it's anything on it for personal, as well as any private data. So pretty much the whole thing. I haven't ever used DBAN before, can I use that if the hard drive is connected to my laptop through a USB? I have an external enclosure for it. Also as a side note would that method also work on an older hard drive from the xp era? I need to do the same thing there, but one program would make life easier. Also these computers were found in a back storage room unfortunately, they didn't even come with power cords. My game plan is to (for the windows 7 one) to wipe the drive, probably put like a cheap ssd in it, then reinstall windows 7 and sell it. 

DBAN will work on any platter based disk as long as DBAN itself can see the drive.  USB, SATA, PATA, it all works.

 

However, DBAN works by sequentially writing 0/1/random bits in a pass.  So it will do a pass of random, then 1s, then 0's.

 

That works great for a platter based drive which generally has to write data sequentially.

 

But SSD's work in a totally different method and DBAN is not a reliable method of data destruction for them.