Dell Latitude D620 data wipe

[rans6andrew]

Hello again, I have been given another laptop for clearance of personal data, by the same lady as the Apple MB Pro. This one is a Dell Latitude D620 loaded with Win XP Pro. The BIOS does not have any of the Passwords set so I was able to run the machine up and see what needed clearing. After removing downloads, documents, pictures and videos there was little left to worry about.

Then I thought I would just see if the machine was still powerful enough to run anything. I usually find that machines as old as this one, 10 years plus, have been dragged down to a snails pace by software bloat. This one is surprisingly usable when browsing with FF loaded with many addons. Not bad for a 32 bit, 2 core cpu with 2GB Ram. It could be a bit quicker though........

So, I used a Linux Live USB to install Mnt 18.3 onto the original HDD and installed FF and the same addons. On testing in a non scientific way (browsing my favourite websites) it did feel a bit quicker than Win XP with FF. Then I wondered if changing the HDD to a SSD would give any more speed. That was when the difficulties arose. The BIOS detects the HDD identity and wont allow access to a drive that does not match the original device unless an HDD password is entered. I can boot up from the Live USB but the SSD is not detected and the Linux installation fails due to insufficient space (it only sees the 2GB USB stick with the live code).

I can't get my mind around what this bit of security is for. If I put the HDD into a caddy I can read all of it on my Mint desktop machine. So clearly the drive is not secure in itself. As a Live USB has allowed me to over write the HDD this again has not protected the data on the drive. The only thing protected by this odd security feature is the machine itself, it stops you from swapping the HDD or substituting an SSD without going back to DELL and probably paying for an unlock code???? Even then the machine runs up on a USB stick and will browse the web so even the machine is not fully protected.

I wonder if I clone the HDD onto an SSD the HDD identity will be carried across?

Fun and games.....

Rans6..........

[TheReverend]

OEM Windows OS licenses are usually tied to hardware. Dell's OEM installation of XP will have come with a reinstall disk that should only work with Dell hardware.
The unique platform license is generated from an install medium key and hardware data such as processor and hard disk serial number. That's why if you've ever had to replace a major part of a Windows machine (HD for example) you need to re-authenticate the Operating System. Nowadays that can be done online or by phone to MS.
The reason for a machine-unique key is of course to stop users installing Windows on lots of machines without paying for licensing.
As it seems you will be running Linux you shouldn't need to worry about Windows licensing. Can you boot the Dell into BIOS setup mode and disable/delete disk ID there? (Tap the F2 key as soon as the Dell logo appears).
- Or Google* "replace dell laptop hdd with ssd"
*Other search engines are available.

[rans6andrew]

Apparently the answer is yes! If you clone the HDD onto an SSD the security passes the bios check.

It works, sometimes, when installed due to some mechanical variations between the old HDD and the new SSD. The SSD is in a thinner housing and the mounting holes are a slightly different distance from the edge connector causing the drive to fail to connect unless popped in and padded out with a folded business card or two. I will make something to hold it in the ideal position and let the hatch in the case be fitted, sometime.

Still I have learned something today.

Rans6.................