Darik's Boot and Nuke --------------------- Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction. Microsoft Windows Installation ------------------------------ Double-click the 'install.bat' file. or Get the ISO file from the DBAN homepage and burn it to a CDR or CDRW disc. or Get WinImage from http://www.winimage.com/ and use it to write the IMG file. Unix Installation ----------------- # dd if=dban-*.img of=/dev/floppy If /dev/floppy does not exist on your computer, then try /dev/fd0 or /dev/floppy/0 instead. Automatic Wiping ---------------- Enter "autonuke" at the boot prompt to automatically wipe all devices in the computer without confirmation. Note that you may change the default behavior of DBAN by editing the 'syslinux.cfg' file that is on the floppy disk. Free Updates ------------ If you wish to be automatically notified of DBAN updates, then go to http://freshmeat.net/subscribe/31200/ and subscribe to new releases. Contact ------- Darik Horn http://dban.sourceforge.net/ All e-mail messages must have "DBAN" in the subject line. Messages without "DBAN" in the subject line will be blocked by my spam filter. Please attach the DBAN log file, if possible, when sending a bug report. PRNG Seeding ------------ Seeding the PRNG is optional. It is not required for DBAN to work properly. Darik's Boot and Nuke can load prng seeds from a floppy disk to improve the quality of its wipe. DBAN will check A:\DBANSEED for seed files when it starts. Seed files must be exactly 512 bytes in size, but they can have any name. (The acronym "prng" stands for "pseudo random number generator".) The system entropy pool will be very small when DBAN begins to wipe hard disks, so it is important to seed the prng whenever possible. If you are using a unix system, then run this command to make seed files: # dd if=/dev/urandom of=MySeedFile bs=512 count=1 If /dev/urandom does not exist on your computer, then try /dev/random instead. If this command produces files that are smaller than 512 bytes, then your system entropy pool has been exhausted. Your system will replenish its entropy pool over time. If you are using a Microsoft Windows system, then you will need 3rd party software to make seed files. Consider using the Cygwin unix compatibility layer for Microsoft Windows. The Cygwin bash prompt can run the unix command given above. Download Cygwin from http://www.cygwin.com/. Logging ------- Darik's Boot and Nuke will attempt to write a log file to A:\DBANLOG after it wipes the hard disks in a computer. Log files are in the tarball format. The average log file will be 5 kilobytes in size, which means that about 30 log files can fit onto the DBAN floppy itself. If you are using a unix system, then use this command to unpack the tarball: # tar -xzvf dban0000.tgz If you are using a Microsoft Windows system, then use WinZip or WinRAR to unpack the TGZ file. Also note that Notepad will not display the text files in the tarball properly, so use Wordpad instead. (Click Start, click Run, enter "write" into the box, click OK.) Legal ----- This software is provided without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall the software authors or contributors be liable for any damages arising from the use of this software. This software is provided "as is". All DBAN components are subject to copyright. Please see the 'licenses' folder within the DBAN distribution package for additional information. EOF