dcs18 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 As suggested by A. lemane, you should write-protect the drive which you don't want to be formatted. This won't do the trick. Rather, you can write-protect your drive and change to boot priority as Internal HDD first then password protect your BIOS. This will help protect your data from unauthorized access and attacks.I have this partition at PC in my company. I want to protect my files and use them when possible. Also I want that no one can format HDD when I am not aroundThis won't be possible as far as I know. If one can get access to a HDD, he can format it. Although, if you have admin privillages then you can restrict access to your partition for all user or you can keep it hidden. But if BIOS is not password protected, one can format your partition. You must have BIOS password set and known to only you if you want to fully protect your drive. Except that, I don't think there's any way around.A BIOS password does not protect against a format.If boot priority is set as internal HDD first and the BIOS is password protected, won't that help?Every brands come pre-installed with their own hot-key (like, for example - F9, F2, etc., etc.) which can be used at startup to change the boot order from HDD to CD/DVD or even to USB (if so required - for the format.)FWIW, a couple of weeks ago, I formatted an old ThinkPad with its venerable proprietary IBM encryption, with success.Ah man! Then what's the point of BIOS password. Seems like BIOS password is just a show-off security feature. Damn!The bad news in a Corporate environment is that when the User enters his/her BIOS with an intention of password-protecting the same - (s)he most probably finds it already password-protected, by his/her SysAdmin (like me - ask Ghazi.)BIOS passwords are not stone-walls - they are merely hurdles which prolong the obvious results. SysAdmins use it just as another layer of protection (every little layer contributes significantly towards frustrating the end-User.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazi Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 The bad news in a Corporate environment is that when the User enters his/her BIOS with an intention of password-protecting the same - (s)he most probably finds it already password-protected, by his/her SysAdmin (like me - ask Ghazi.)BIOS passwords are not stone-walls - they are merely hurdles which prolong the obvious results. SysAdmins use it just as another layer of protection (every little layer contributes significantly towards frustrating the end-User.)Very interesting replies. Firstly I would say this is my work station that I have been given. Also the data is used by me mainly. BIOS password is gone when you remove battery in main board. So bad news for someone who gives physical access of their desktop to others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike.mt Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Very interesting replies. Firstly I would say this is my work station that I have been given. Also the data is used by me mainly. BIOS password is gone when you remove battery in main board. So bad news for someone who gives physical access of their desktop to others.Then your left with either an external usb drive or cloud storage, if they comply with your company's policy.Unless you want to fall out of favour with your powers to be, customising settings that change preset functionality is not a way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VileTouch Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 This won't be possible as far as I know. If one can get access to a HDD, he can format it. Although, if you have admin privillages then you can restrict access to your partition for all user or you can keep it hidden. But if BIOS is not password protected, one can format your partition. You must have BIOS password set and known to only you if you want to fully protect your drive. Except that, I don't think there's any way around.A BIOS password does not protect against a format.If boot priority is set as internal HDD first and the BIOS is password protected, won't that help?Every brands come pre-installed with their own hot-key (like, for example - F9, F2, etc., etc.) which can be used at startup to change the boot order from HDD to CD/DVD or even to USB (if so required - for the format.)FWIW, a couple of weeks ago, I formatted an old ThinkPad with its venerable proprietary IBM encryption, with success.Ah man! Then what's the point of BIOS password. Seems like BIOS password is just a show-off security feature. Damn!When someone adds a BIOS password, one should not be able to modify the features inside the BIOS without entering the password. That's how it should work.oh, maybe just to stop the poisonous frogs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalju Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 How to make a partition unformatable -the only way is - take two big stones. 100% sure, it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totoymola Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Short answer: There is no way to prevent a partition from being formatted.If I understand correctly, you are trying to accomplish two goals:1) To protect your data from unauthorized access, and2) To protect your data from being deleted.By trying to accomplish goal #2, you are actually trying to make your data "indestructible". Unfortunately, there is no such thing. And even if assuming you can find a way to make it difficult to format your encrypted partition, your data is still not "indestructible" in the event of a hardware failure. If your drive crashes, your data is gone. You need to make backups.Using a BIOS password is easily defeated by a paperclip, or by removing the motherboard battery. BIOS password will not make your partition indestructible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalju Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Short answer: There is no way to prevent a partition from being formatted.If I understand correctly, you are trying to accomplish two goals:1) To protect your data from unauthorized access, and2) To protect your data from being deleted.By trying to accomplish goal #2, you are actually trying to make your data "indestructible". Unfortunately, there is no such thing. And even if assuming you can find a way to make it difficult to format your encrypted partition, your data is still not "indestructible" in the event of a hardware failure. If your drive crashes, your data is gone. You need to make backups.Using a BIOS password is easily defeated by a paperclip, or by removing the motherboard battery. BIOS password will not make your partition indestructible.You understand nearly everything - most is usually possible to recover, if something happens, but Your data are not protected never before, if this disk is fully destroyed, where they were stored.PS. Consider this also before you give, sell computer to someone. The same is true for the cell phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totoymola Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 You understand nearly everything - most is usually possible to recover, if something happens, but Your data are not protected never before, if this disk is fully destroyed, where they were stored.PS. Consider this also before you give, sell computer to someone. The same is true for the cell phone.Even though data recovery is beyond the scope of the situation described by the original poster, I completely agree with your recommendation above. Even a hard drive that is reformatted and wiped using a tool that complies with DoD standards can be recovered nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazi Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Thanks all for sharing such useful info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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