How to Erase a Hard Drive Completely

If you plan to sell, donate or give your old computer away, you will need to erase your hard drive completely. Deleting files and formatting hard drives are not permanent, as there is software that is available that can recover deleted files. You should be really concerned about making sure that your hard drive has been completely erased so that important information such as your social security numbers and other sensitive information will not be compromised.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet connection
• Boot-up disk (Floppy disk, USB Drive, DVDR, CDR)

1. Back up your data. It is best practice to always back up any data first before doing anything major, especially when erasing your hard drive. Bear in mind that when you erase your hard drive completely would not be able to recover your files. Backing up will ensure that your data that you may still need will be available for you should you need them.

2. Go online to the DBAN website (see Resources). This is the website where you can download a DBAN software to create a boot disk. DBAN stands for Darik's Boot and Nuke. DBAN has several options to choose from in wiping up hard drive depending on the level of effectiveness. Using DBAN would get rid of all your files completely. Keep in mind that when you use this program there will be no chance of recovery.

3. Read the "Readme.Txt" file before proceeding.

4. Get some media to copy the program on which you will use. You can choose one of the following: floppy disk, DVDR, CDR or USB Drive.

5. Download the program dban_1.0.7_I386.iso, then burn it onto your disk.

6. Insert the disk in the computer you want to erase completely.

7. Go to BIOS and ensure that the computer is configured to boot from disk. Go to "Startup," check if it is set to boot from disk. Different BIOS may be configured differently, so ensure that it boots up from where your disk is, then you press "Yes" or any key that your BIOS is set up with. If it is not, scroll to the device where your disk is inserted then click "Yes" when window pop-ups.

8. Boot up your computer from the disk. This would show you a blue screen with header "Darik's Boot and Nuke." Go to Steps 9 and 10 if you want a more guided or cautious way of wiping out your hard drive, which is an advisable way to do. If you know for sure and you want a quicker way to wipe out your hard drive, go to Step 14 right away.

9. Press the "Enter" key from your keyboard to select interactive mode. You will see a list of disks and partitions.

10. Press the spacebar on your keyboard to select each partition you would want erased. This will show the word "wipe" inside a clause.

11. Press "N" and you will get a list of different methods to wipe out the drive.

12. Choose DoD5220.22-M by scrolling down the list, which is a standard used by the Department of Defense.

13. Press "F10" key on your keyboard when you are ready to wipe out the drives you have selected. It will show the progress in percentage at the bottom.

14. Type in the word "autonuke" right where the cursor blinks to do a shorter or quicker method compared to Steps 9 through 13. Do this following Step 8. Autonuke will do all the wiping automatically getting rid of all your data.

Tips & Warnings

• There are other ways that you can use DBAN to delete your hard drive and you can find out more information by reading important information online (see Resources) find out more.
• There are other methods available for download for free or for a fee. Researching and comparing these methods will ensure that you will be able to complete this task successfully.
• Remember that once you have wiped out your hard drive there will be no chance of recovery so, do this only when you are 100 percent sure.

Resources

• Download the DBAN program here

[kilroy]

on 4/14/2009 dban works but is slow!