Restoring Hard Drive after Malware/vi​rus Infection

I've been reading some posts/comments around the 'net about this topic and was wondering if anyone has encountered a situation similar to this post that I read at another site ↓

 

Malware in windows (yes), possibly rootkit/bootkit. Don't want to take any chances. So, wiped drive with DBAN foolishly (PRNG, 8 pass). Later came to know that DBAN does not kill HPA (host protected area) and DCO (Drive configuration overlay) which are "hidden areas" (if present) in a hard drive. Saw that HDDErase made by CMRR can remove DCO and HPA, if present. But project was stopped in 2005 or 7. So, I came to HDPARM of linux in the hope that it will wipe my HDD 100% clean so that i can install  windows again on a 100% clean hard drive. As an aside, I also looked at "BC Wipe Total Wipeout" which does HPA and DCO removal @ $50.

 

 

 

My system and HDD info:

 

- Windows 7 x64

- Seagate Barracuda HDD's (5)  

 

- 3 ea   1 Tb      ST1000DM003-9YN162

- 2 ea   500Gb  ST3500418AS-9SL142-302

 

All's running fine but I have had to install a cloned spare HDD to recover from malicious intrusions a couple of times during the past few years.

 

After removing the infected HDD, I would remove the partitions and re-clone to restore the HDD as a working shelf spare HDD.  In both cases, all went well and I have used the same HDD's without any issues.

 

All of my HDD's are installed using the Windows (7) default OS install with 2 partitions, the "System Reserved" and the main partition.

 

Recently, I have been reading about rootkit infections that are still present on the HDD after using a disk wipe tool, ie, "DBAN", "Killdisk", etc.

 

According to some posts that I have read online, the user will wipe the infected HDD using one of the freeware wipe tools, reinstall Windows, and still have a malicious rootkit present on the HDD.

 

Since wiping the disk should completely erase/write over the entire HDD, I'm curious about how a malicious object can still be present on a HDD.

 

I read about 2 areas of HDD's that I hadn't previously known about:

 

- Host Protected Area

 

- Drive Configuration Overlay

 

I have a couple questions:

 

1) Where are the HPA and DCO located on the HDD?  Does this vary by HDD manufacturer?  Are they actual sectors on the platter or are they part of the Firmware?

 

2) If I have a rootkit that's infected the HPA or DCO areas on my Barracuda HDD, how would I completely clean the entire HDD before re-cloning back to it and restoring it to a working spare HDD?  Will reloading the Firmware accomplish this?

 

3) Does the "Seatools" bootable utility tool have an option that will completely wipe the entire HDD, including the HPA and DCO areas of the HDD?  I have it downloaded to my PC as an ISO but haven't tried using it yet to boot and check out its capabilities.