![]() To install it, head to the Eraser download site and click on the latest file name under the Build name list. The program works within Windows, and should be used to target your folders where you keep files, photos and documents. There are numerous tools for performing a data deep clean, such as Eraser. These programs don't just delete data - they overwrite it multiple times to erase all trace, making it almost impossible for anyone to retrieve it. In order to really eradicate data you need to use data-shredding software. Simply deleting a file from your hard drive doesn't mean it's no longer there – it just means the computer doesn't know where to go and look for it.Ī forensic expert, digital criminal or any ne’er-do-well with the right equipment could easily access every single detail even from deleted hard drives that look empty to the untrained eye.Įven if you're only passing an old laptop on to a relative, it's still worth taking precautions, in case they don't wipe the machine when they upgrade. Data recovery software is simple to use, after all.ĭispose of your computer responsibly with our guide to recycling an old computer This presents a real risk of personal information falling into the wrong hands. Yet every year thousands of hard drives end up undeleted on the scrapheap or sold second-hand. Our computers and mobile phones contain all manner of personal data, from documents featuring details of your date of birth and address to financial records and family photos. Follow our step-by step guide to make sure your data is gone Most of the standards that exist to erase a hard drive mention several ways to physically destroy one including disintegration, grinding, pulverization, incineration, melting and shredding.If you're getting rid of an old device, it's important to securely wipe your data from it first. Just as there is no way to extract the written information from a burned piece of paper, there is no way to read the data from a hard drive that is no longer a hard drive. ![]() Physically destroying a hard drive is the only way to absolutely and forever ensure that the data on it is no longer available. In most cases, physically destroying the drive (below) is the best solution if the drive isn't needed anymore. For example, you should erase a hard drive this way if you're selling or giving the drive away.Īnother way to permanently erase a hard drive is to use a degausser to disrupt the magnetic domains on the drive - the very way that a hard drive stores data.įor the average computer owner or organization, degaussing probably isn't a cost-effective way to completely erase a hard drive. The next way to erase a hard drive will make the drive unusable. Important: You must erase a hard drive using this method if you, or someone else, ever plans on using the drive again. Regardless of what you call it, a data destruction program is a piece of software designed to overwrite a hard drive so many times, and in a certain way, as to make the ability to extract information from the drive nearly impossible. Wipe the Hard Drive Using Free Data Destruction Software:ĭBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) Hard Drive Wiping Program:īy far, the easiest way to completely erase a hard drive is to use free data destruction software, sometimes called hard drive eraser software or disk wipe software. However, all the data is still there and, unless you truly erase the hard drive, can be recovered using special software or hardware. Since the operating system can't see the data, the drive looks empty when you look at its contents. ![]() When you format a hard drive you don't actually erase the hard drive of data, you only erase the location information for the data, making it "lost" to the operating system. ![]() To truly erase hard drive data forever, you'll have to take some extra steps. If you want to completely erase a hard drive, it's not as easy as deleting everything on it.
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