How to Erase a Hard Drive

Unless you completely erase a hard drive on the old computer you are getting rid of, someone could steal your private information. Chances are you have your social security number or tax return or bank account number sitting somewhere on that hard disk.
Beware that if you simply delete your files by sending them to Recycle Bin or even reformat the hard drive, the data is still not completely wiped and can sometimes be recovered with data recovery utilities.
Read on to learn how you can make sure that any files on that hard disk are really destroyed.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. ***Back up your data***
   
   Back up any important data from the hard drive you are planning on wiping, because you won't be able to recover any of it after you erase the hard drive.

2. ***If you are selling or giving your computer away***
   
   Download one of the data destruction utilities, designed to completely wipe hard drives. DBAN and Secure Erase are both good choices and are available for free - you can find links under resources below. Read instructions carefully before using them.
   Remember that once you run such utilities, you won't be able to recover any of your data from the hard drive.

3. ***If you are throwing an old computer away***
   
   If you haven't used the computer for a while, you might have a hard time installing and running programs on it. You can make sure that no one gets to your data by simply taking the hard drive out and literally destroying it (by hammering or shredding, etc.) to render it unusable. As harsh as it may seem, this is actually a preferred method of erasing sensitive data in many corporations and government agencies.

Tips & Warnings

• Both Windows and Mac provide utilities to encrypt your files, and it is a good idea to do so. When encrypted files are deleted, it is a lot harder to recover them than unencrypted data.

Resources

• DBAN
• Secure Erase

[admiller]

on 5/6/2009 Interesting stuff here.

[sonni57]

on 5/6/2009 Thanks for the good directions on erasing a hard drive you never know when you might need to do it.