formatting

[Michael Hipp]

koko wrote:
> I have dual boot Redhat and XP, boot loader is Grub, default is RH.  I 
> am getting rid of the dual boot scenario and will have separate machines 
> for both.  I have copied everything over to another machine on my 
> network that I need to copy back to both OS' when I am ready.  What is 
> the most efficient way of  wiping out both OS on my single disk?  
> Unfortunately, all I really know is how to wipe out Windows with a boot 
> disk on a Windows-only machine.  Since RH is the default and Grub is the 
> boot loader, how would I proceed to clean up this machine?  Is there a 
> command?  A disk scenario?

The simplest way might be to just use the install disk for your favorite 
distro (RH) and use the partitioning tool to delete all partitions. You can 
then re-partition the machine to whatever OS lands on it later.

Note that this doesn't do a secure "wipe" of the disk. Someone knowledgeable 
could rebuild the disk files. Not sure if security is the issue or just how to 
wipe/reload the machine.

Michael