Instructions on how to permanently erase data on your hard drive

Are you selling or giving away your computer? You may have deleted your files and information, or you may have reinstalled or reset Windows, thereby erasing your private data. Either way, you’re not done yet. There is one important action you should take before saying goodbye to an old friend. That’s Permanently Wipe Your Hard Drive.

Simply deleting your files doesn’t do the trick, as they can be restored from the Recycle Bin. If you empty the Bin, your deleted files can often be recovered with the right recovery utility. Using the Reset feature in Windows 8.1 or 10 to return your PC to factory condition will erase the drive when reinstalling the OS. So that’s a viable option. But what if you’re running an older version of Windows or want a more powerful hard drive wipe method than Reset offers? That’s when you need a good hard drive eraser utility.

First, a little background information. Today, most laptops and many desktop computers use solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of mechanical hard drives. SSDs are faster than their mechanical counterparts. However, SSDs are more difficult to wipe, and not all hard drive erasers support them. If you’re erasing a mechanical hard drive, you’ll want a drive-to-erase utility that offers a data destruction method called DoD 5220.22-M. By default, this method is served by the US Department of Defense; by default, this method overwrites your data three times with different characters to completely wipe your drive.

PartedMagic

PartedMagic is a jack of all transactions. For $11, this utility offers disk partitioning, disk cloning, file recovery, last but not least, drive wipe. The software also supports SSDs. To use the program’s “Secure Erase” feature, follow the instructions at the bottom of the Downloads page. Once you’ve created a bootable CD/DVD or USB drive, then disassemble as instructed on the Safe Erase website to learn how to erase your drive.

Blancco Drive Eraser

Blancco Drive Eraser costs $18.46 for a single license, which offers a lot of money. It supports SSD as well as DoD 5222.2M method for erasing. It is recommended for use by businesses and organizations, so it is not only capable of handling Disk Erase for personal use.

After you download Drive Eraser, you will receive an email with instructions on creating a bootable USB drive to download the software.
Place the USB drive in the computer with the hard drive you want to erase. Boot the USB drive and follow the steps to erase your drive.