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I am planning to sell my old PC (Core 2 Duo) and buying a new one (Core i7). There is a lot of personal data stored on my hard disk. Even if I delete the data or format the hard disk, I know there are certain recovery softwares or other techniques which can recover the deleted data.
So I want to know if there is any way that I can permanently delete the data stored in the hard disk before selling the PC so that it can not be recovered later by any means?
2013-01-23 02:38:44
wipe the disk with 3rd party partition wizard. then no one, no software, can recover the data.
2012-09-14 21:52:46
Do a zero fill pass multiple times, I think the standard for the FBI and military is no fewer than 11 passes!
2012-09-08 22:37:29
The only tool I use is a hammer,I don't believe that there is any software that I would trust to permanently clean a drive.Why take a chance.
2012-09-03 13:48:34
Read the MUO 's yesterday article .http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-things-you-must-do-when-selling-or-giving-away-your-old-computer-phone-or-tablet/
2012-09-02 11:21:06
Help, talking about the best of the best (commercial) I'd suggest you: EST-tec eraser 2012; it is able to erase data beyond any hardware recovery! I mean that rely on wave shape.Thank you.
2012-08-31 13:57:53
The best way is to use hard disk shredder software which deletes all the files and make it impossible to be recovered by any software.Search on Google for shredder software
2012-08-30 05:08:59
Their is no fool proof way of doing this, best you just sell the system without HDD, their are too many softwares that will still recover the info from a drive, even after using these so-called zero formats or HDD erasers.
2012-08-29 17:42:08
Use CCleaner to permanently wipe data beyond recovery
2012-08-27 05:12:57
you can try a hd shredder but like you said, they don't exactly wipe out everything, but my best guess is to do a complete factory restore on your computer. i guess it depends on which pc you're using, but most of the time, continuously pressing F8 when starting up will boot you up to a repair screen where you can manage to restore to factory (stock) state. it's safest and most secure way. it's like turning on a new computer, you have to set up wireless network, name your computer etc.
2012-08-25 17:15:41
Use a zero-fill software to erase the complete hard drive or use Darik's Boot and Nuke Software http://www.dban.org/ to permanently erase the hard drive
2012-08-25 02:33:12
Agreed: use Darik's Boot and Nuke
2012-08-24 14:47:15
Ubunu Has built in tools for shredding files / hard Disks [Broken Link Removed]
2012-08-23 23:53:28
I would recommend using the Ultimate Boot CD (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/). It's free and doesn't require any special software to run. Just burn it to a CD, boot from the CD, and navigate to a wiping program.
2012-08-23 23:16:16
Use File Shredder in IObit Advance Systemcarehttp://iobit.com
2012-08-23 20:02:59
In short, to guarantee reliable data erasure, it is necessary to overwrite the other (garbage) data, and sector by sector.This can be done with many different simple techniques. In severe paranoia, you can use any of a class of programs eraser / wiper, which will be overwritten by a special algorithm (US DoD 5220.22-M, Peter Gutmann alg, .. etc.)For example - free DBAN
2012-08-23 17:37:19
First I would try to perform an ATA secure erase which not only deletes readable parts but also old sectors that have been reallocated.E.g. Parted Magic has a wipe program that can perform an ATA secure erase assuming it is supported by the hard disc.http://partedmagic.comAnother secure way is to simple overwrite the entire drive with a single pass or better two single passes with random data.The chances of recovering data after an (successful) overwrite is close to none. At best they can read some data of old sectors that have been reallocated which on their own don't represent any usable data.
2012-08-23 16:31:41
Go through this MUO article-5 Tools To Permanently Delete Sensitive Data From Your Hard Drive [Windows]http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-tools-permanently-delete-sensitive-data-hard-drive-windows/
2012-08-23 15:44:52
WipeDrive is what my Enterprise corporation uses. We have to maintain certain security measures for legal and client reasons. It allows for DoD level wipes. I guess no service is perfect, but it's good enough for our purposes.
2012-08-23 14:34:31
2012-08-23 14:36:03
To erase your entire HDD you can use this:
HDShredder
2012-08-23 14:33:03
cleaning a drive completely is very difficult. (technically) a solid wipe of HDD writing zeroes to all the clusters still leaves a lot of recoverable data.
2012-08-23 14:11:32
You can use one of many zero-fill application downloadable from the internet such asKilldiskhttp://killdisk.com/If you have Hirens Boot CD, it contains HDD Erase v.4.0 [Broken Link Removed]There's Hard Drive wipe utility in CCleaner for Windows as well.http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/wiping-free-disk-spaceAnd of course you can always boot Ubuntu and run HDD Shred[Broken Link Removed]If you live nearby LHC/MagLev/Supertransistor use theirs magnetic field to wreck havoc on your drive ;)
2012-08-23 13:02:25
You can use this: http://www.dban.org/ Darik's Boot and Nuke works well for complete data destruction before selling or recycling computers and storage devices.