Ways to wipe a hard drive

This should be your first option when trying to completely wipe your computer and re-install Windows 10. It's simple, doesn't require a DVD or USB drive, and doesn't even require you to enter your Windows license key. In the Type here to search bar, start typing Settings. When the Settings utility is shown, click on that to start it.

Another reliable way to erase a hard drive is with the GNU Shred tool. Like DD, it's included on all Linux distributions in some form. Unlike DD, it can delete both files and entire hard drives. This method is ideal, especially if you want to erase aspects of the hard drive, but maybe not the whole file system. It is also a top free disk wipe tool for Window 10/8/7. It has free version and advanced version. Its free version only has one type of hard drive erasing method, namely, erase hard drive with one pass zeros. If you want to try other ways to wipe hard drive, you need to pay for the professional version. #5 CCleaner Physically Destroying Your Hard Drive. When disposing of an old computer, there is really only one way to securely erase the information on the hard drive: destroying the magnetic disk (also called a platter) inside. To begin, locate where your hard drive is within your computer. The best way to restore your Mac to factory settings is to erase your hard drive and reinstall macOS. After macOS installation is complete, the Mac restarts to a setup assistant that asks you to choose a country or region. To leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, don't continue setup. Instead, press Command-Q to shut down the Mac. Most hard drives come "preformatted" and ready to use these days. But you occasionally might need to format one yourself. For example, formatting typically removes most of the data on a drive, making it a quicker way to erase a large drive than simply deleting everything on it. This tutorial shows you how to wipe a hard drive in Windows XP without CD before selling or replacing it in two ways. One is using the EaseUS wiping tool to easily erase the partitions or disks in case you want to keep the system, the other is wiping hard drive and OS together in the WinPE environment with a bootable disk. Read to see step-by-step guides.

And if you're going to erase a laptop's hard drive, be sure to plug the notebook in before you start. If the power goes out in the middle of a disk wipe, it could spell disaster for the drive.

Getting rid of your old laptop or desktop? Whether you're selling it, donating it to charity, or gifting it to a friend or family member, you should wipe the drive before you give it away. Completely erase everything from hard drive, external hard drive, USB, memory card, files and folders. Permanently wipes data on partitions and disk volumes with advanced wiping algorithm which overwrites your data up to 35 times. Uses advanced algorithms (Dod 5220-22.M, US Army, Peter Guttman) to 100% completely wipe data. Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk.. Erasing a volume on your disk: In other cases, such as when your disk contains multiple volumes (or partitions) and you don't want to erase them all, you can erase specific volumes on the disk. Part 1. Three ways to wipe hard drive for the Windows computer Way 1. ERASER. The ERASER is a nice tool for the Windows users, with which you can easily wipe the data on the drive of the Windows computer. With an interface full of instructions, you can easily learn to use this tool once you launch it.

Of course, there are less aggressive ways to wipe clean a drive. Both Windows and Mac OS X include utilities that securely erase drives by overwriting existing contents with random 0s and 1s.

This should be your first option when trying to completely wipe your computer and re-install Windows 10. It's simple, doesn't require a DVD or USB drive, and doesn't even require you to enter your Windows license key. In the Type here to search bar, start typing Settings. When the Settings utility is shown, click on that to start it. The right way to destroy an old hard drive. Don't put it in the microwave, don't roast it on a spit, don't soak it in acid, and don't put it next to an industrial-strength magnet; the key is to Right-click your external hard drive. This displays a pop-up menu next to the hard drive. If your external hard drive has a specific name, it will be listed in File Explorer. Otherwise, it may be listed as "USB Drive" or the make and model of your hard drive. The amount of space each hard drive has is listed below the drive name in File Explorer.