Active@ KillDisk is software that can completely and securely destroy all data on hard drives, removable disks, and flash media devices, without the possibility of future recovery. U-M has a license for its use by faculty and staff on U-M owned computers on all U-M campuses, including the U-M Health System. This document provides instructions for downloading, installing, registering, and using the U-M licensed copy of Active@ KillDisk. A freeware version of Activ@ KillDisk is available for use on personally owned devices.
Download and Install
Follow these instructions using a Windows computer with Intel Pentium or higher, 1 GB of RAM, Video VGA resolution 800 x 600 or better, and Windows 7 or higher. The bootable medium you create to erase a drive can be used on devices running other operating systems. A bootable USB drive, 1GB or larger in size is recommended for creating boot media.
- Download the U-M licensed version of Active@ Killdisk from the U-M Box location.
- Run the KillDiskUltimate-Setup.exe file downloaded from the U-M Box folder.
- Click Next on the initial Welcome and Setup Wizard screens.
- Select I accept the agreement to agree to the licensing terms, and click Next.
- Click Next to accept the default install location (the Program Files directory) or define a custom install location if needed.
- Uncheck the Launch Universal Boot Disk Creator when the install process ends.
- Click Finish.
Register on First Use
You must register Active@ KillDisk before first use.
- Click Registration.
- Using the information downloaded from the U-M Box download location, copy and paste your registration information and the registration key into the registration form.
- Click OK to verify registration information, and store this information locally so you will not need to enter it the next time you launch the application.
Check for Updates Before Using
The Active@ Killdisk program will need to be updated periodically to make sure you are using the current version. Run the check below before use to be sure your copy is up to date.
- Launch the Active@ KillDisk program.
- Click the Help menu, and select Check for updates.
- A window will open indicating the status and current version of Active@ KillDisk.
- Click Cancel if an update is not needed, or click Update if an update is needed.
Prepare Bootable Media
You will need to prepare a bootable device in order to erase a complete drive on a machine where the drive is installed internally. We recommend that you use a USB device, 1GB or larger in size. You can select other bootable media if needed, including a CD/DVD/Blu-ray disk, a USB Flash Drive, or an ISO Image file to be burned later. Active@ KillDisk also offers the ability to erase an external hard drive, as well as specific partitions and empty space on a drive.
To prepare a bootable device:
- Run Bootable Disk Creator from the Windows Start menu. The Active@ Boot Disk Creator main page appears.
- Select the USB drive you wish to use on the Active@ Boot Disk Creator main page. If your USB is not displayed in a combo-box, you may need to initialize it.
- Click Next.
- Select the target platform for booting up: Windows, Linux GUI, Linux Console or DOS.
Erase a Hard Drive
- Boot the computer you will be erasing using the bootable USB drive you created, and open Active@ Killdisk.
- Select the appropriate drive and partitions you would like to erase, most likely fixed Disk0 for a computer's internal hard drive. Click Kill.
Important! Pay close attention to selecting the disk to be erased. Do not proceed until you are sure the selected disk is the one you want to erase.
- Double check your selection in the objects to Kill pane of the Kill pop up window. If correct, proceed to step 4, if incorrect, change the selections.
- Choose your Erase Method in the Erase pane of the Kill pop up window. At minimum, select NIST 800-88 (1 pass random).
Note: NIST 800-88 (3 passes) may be required for procurement and property disposition.
- Leave the verification selection at 10%.
- Click Start.
- Confirm action by typing ERASE-ALL-DATA in the Confirm Action window. Click OK.
Print a Verification Certificate
Once the erase process has completed, Active@ KillDisk will produce a certificate containing the date, information about the disk, and a sanitization status of pass or fail, as well as a verification status. If you handle data governed by an agreement to provide a certificate of deletion, you can save it as a PDF or print to a locally installed printer.
To save the certificate as a PDF:
- Choose View from menu bar.
- Click Save a Certificate, then choose the location.
Tip: In order to save the PDF certificate to an alternate drive (external / usb) when using the product from Active@ boot disk you may need to format the destination drive for the certificate to FAT32.
You can print the certificate to an installed printer if you are using Active@ Kill disk to erase an external hard drive. Press the Print icon in the certificate display window, choose your preferred printer, and print.