July 13, 2020
- Cnet Wipe Hard Drive Clean
- How To Wipe A Hard Drive Clean
- Software To Wipe Mac Hard Drive Clean
- Free Hard Drive Wipe Download
- How To Completely Wipe A Mac
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So it is advisable to erase your hard drive to reduce the risks. How to Securely Erase Data from Your Mac and External Drives? You can use Disk Utility to securely erase hard drive in mac or an external hard drive. All you have to do is follow the steps given below: 1.Wiping your hard drive will erase everything. The newer APFS is best for solid-state drives, and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is best for older, mechanical hard drives. Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map. Next, click Erase and after Disk.
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You want to donate or recycle your old computer gear, but there’s something you have to do first — wipe your hard drive. That means clearing out all your personal information.
You may think that’s not a lot of stuff, but your old devices probably hold a ton of information. Your medical records, browser history, login info for your bank account, past emails — all that information about you that accumulates on a device.
It’s not enough to simply delete old files. Why? The delete button doesn’t actually delete.
Your personal information will be retrievable on a computer’s hard drive unless you take steps to wipe the hard drive clean. If you don’t, the files are there for the taking. Anyone with recovery software and bad intentions could access them and put your privacy and the security of your personal information at risk.
How to completely wipe a hard drive
Follow these steps to ensure you’re truly wiping your hard drive clean. They’ll help keep you from passing on or losing your documents, photos, passwords, financial information, and personal data when you say goodbye to your old device.
Step 1: Back up your hard-drive data
Before you wipe your computer’s hard drive or do a factory reset, make sure to back up all of your information to your new computer, an external hard drive, or a web service.
Backing up your data regularly is a smart way to keep your data safe. Hard drives can crash, get lost, stolen, or encrypted by ransomware software. The best defense is to make sure all the data is backed up safely and frequently.
You can back up your data on thumb drives or USB flash drives. But keep in mind these are small storage devices and may not accommodate all the data from your PC. External hard drives can offer more storage. You can also transfer your data to another laptop or PC.
“Cloud backs” are another option. They’re safe and one of the most convenient ways to store data. Here’s how it works.
First, you create an account and complete the initial setup. Next, you enable the storage of your data to the cloud — a network of remote servers. There’s no physical location for the backed-up data. So the risk of it getting stolen or destroyed by things like floods or fires is mitigated. Plus, the files are encrypted. That makes it difficult for cybercriminals to access or steal your information.
The importance of data backup
It’s a good idea to make backing up data a part of your cyber hygiene. If you happen to lose your data due to a hardware defect or ransomware attack, having a backup could be the respite you’re looking for.
Step 2: Don’t just delete files from your computer
You might think moving your documents to the trash or recycle bin and emptying it will do the trick. Maybe not. This action appears to delete the files, but often leaves them where they were, hidden from view. Most data recovery programs can actually recover these hidden files.
Here’s why. When you empty files from the trash or recycle bin, the file name or the reference to the deleted file is erased. The computer can no longer see the file.
This means the space the file took up on the laptop or PC is no longer reserved for that file. But the file is still in the hard drive. It will stay in the hard drive until its location is given up for a new file to be stored in that exact location.
Data recovery software is capable of rebuilding the file header. This makes it possible for the computer to see the file again.
Here’s the risk. When your files are not deleted completely from the hard drive, cybercriminals can run data recovery software to access your deleted files.
Law enforcement agencies use data recovery software to access deleted files from confiscated computers. Cybercriminals can use the same tools and techniques to commit identity theft.
Step 3: Use a program to wipe your drive
Special software programs can permanently erase your hard drive. There’s little chance you can get any data back. Similarly, no one else will be able to use data recovery software to recover your files.
Most programs run a low-level format that overwrites all the deleted files with zeros and other incomprehensible data. This makes it impossible for data recovery software to recover the files.
DBAN is a free data destruction program* that completely erases files on a hard drive. This includes all personal files, operating systems, and installed programs.
It’s smart to use a program to wipe your device. Most products offer proof of erasure. Some even provide information about what was done to the drive and its data. This helps when wiping a company laptop or PC.
Step 4: Physically wipe your hard drive
If you want to double-ensure your hard drive is wiped, you can take additional measures. For instance, you can physically wipe the drive. Just remove your hard drive and take a rare earth magnet to it. Another option? Physically dismantle it with a screwdriver.
A rare earth magnet, like the neodymium magnet, can be used to deform the metal plates in the hard disk. This makes it unusable. One warning: The magnets are powerful and can cause physical harm if used incorrectly.
A safer method might be using a screwdriver to dismantle the pieces of the hard drive to make it useless.
Step 5: Do a fresh installation of the operating system
There’s another way to completely rewrite over the whole hard drive. That’s by completing a clean installation of the original operating system that came with the computer. This can be especially important if you’re giving the device to someone like a friend or family member.
What are the risks of not wiping my hard drive?
As the line between the real world and digital world blurs, it’s smart to understand how cybercriminals work. A security product like Norton Security Premium helps protect your personal PC files, financial information and your family’s devices. But when you discard your device without properly wiping the hard drive, you run the risk of losing your data.
Cybercriminals value your personal data — such as your email address, passwords, Social Security number, driver’s license details, and credit card information. They could sell the information on the dark web.
Cybercriminals can buy the information and launch cyberattacks to commit other kinds of crimes like identity theft and extortion. They could open bank accounts in your name, purchase items with your credit card information, or take out loans and default on them, leaving you with the consequences.
Thieves also look for private and confidential information. This may include non-disclosure agreements, personal photographs, private chat conversations, and other details you may not want to expose. If a hard drive wasn’t wiped clean, cybercriminals could retrieve this information to blackmail the owner of the content.
Types of data deletion
No matter what kind of data you had on your computer before you decided to donate or recycle it, it pays to play it safe.
Remember, deleting your files from the recycle bin or trash doesn’t mean the file is gone from your device. It only means its location is available. Data recovery software can easily find those files in your hard drive.
Here are a few ways to wipe your hard drive like the pros and avoid the risk of someone accessing your old data.
1. DBAN
Short for Darik’s Boot and Nuke, DBAN* uses a random number generator that wipes and overwrites everything on the drive several times. Every file that has been deleted now has the new number assigned to it. This makes it impossible for data recovery tools to access it. This tool is useful if you plan to sell, donate, or recycle your computer or laptop.
2. Destroy the hard drive
A sure way to completely destroy the hard drive is to make it physically impossible to access the disks. This can be done by dismantling the pieces of the hard disk with a screwdriver and using a hammer to scratch and mangle the disk. The goal is to make sure the disk will not work when it is loaded into another hard drive. A powerful rare earth magnet can also be used to destroy the platter in the hard drive.
How Norton Utilities can help wipe your hard drive
Your PC is likely packed with personal files. It’s wise to keep all that information secure and private. Norton Utilities is a handy tool that keeps your PC running like new. It fixes common issues that slow down or crash your PC. It also frees up space by finding duplicate files and unused applications.
It’s commonplace to store personal files on your PC. Now it’s easy to keep your digital life private. Safely dispose of personal documents, so no one can access them. Think of it as a digital shredder. Norton Utilities helps keep what you do on your computer private. It can permanently erase all record of your computer and web-based activities to help protect your privacy.
It also safely disposes of personal documents permanently and renders them inaccessible. Most of all, it maintains your digital privacy by erasing your recently opened files and website browsing history.
There’s a lot you can do to help protect your personal information if you take the right steps before disposing of your old computer.
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Cnet Wipe Hard Drive Clean
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In this digital world, people often search for some best hard drive wipe software mainly to erase the data from the hard drive. Even if you’re not looking for the hard drive wipe software, you should look at them.
Most of you might think about why you should know about the hard drive wipe?
Here’s is the proper Guide to hard drive eraser tools:
In this digital world, hard drives are having great importance because we store important information on the drive. Sometimes we want to erase the information for unforeseen situations or other reasons at that time you definitely need a best hard drive wipe software to erase all the data.
Ex: If you are in a condition where you have to sell your old system to someone else? Then you should wipe your data and then hand over the computer to them so they can’t access your files again. If you didn’t wipe out your data then your sensitive information might be restored by them. So you shouldn’t take a risk about it.
Although most of you might say we’re living in a cloud-system based era but just think we’re not fully cloud-connected yet.
So, you have to use hard drives to secure your information and you have to use data destruction software to wipe its data when it’s needed.
If you’re unsure about how a hard drive wipe software work? Then have a look at the below.
How does a hard drive wipe software work?
The Hard Drive Wipe, Data Destruction software or hard drive eraser tool works to remove sensitive data from your hard drive. This tool does remove all traces of your data in the storage device so you will be safer. It works on the principle of Peter Gutmann, Bruce Schneier’s algorithm.
In this process, your storage drive will be replaced by the value of 0s and 1s so it simply makes impossible for people to restore the wipe data. Although most of these tools use different techniques but overall this is the basic and most used pattern.
Now, we have learned how does a hard drive wipe software work? let’s have a look at the best hard drive wipe software in 2019. So, that you can use them to destroy hard drive data.
Let’s get into the list of best hard drive wipe software in 2019
Best hard drive wipe software in 2019:
In this list, you can find the best data destructions softwares which are so-called as hard drive wipe software. These tools will help you wipe out your data from the hard drive.
Usually, when people delete files and then they empty the recycle bin but they won’t actually erase the information from the hard drive. It stays in the hard drive and it can be restored. So to avoid that we have listed some best hard drive wipe software in 2019.
Windows 10 hard drive wiper (In-built) feature:
Firstly, before going into the free tools list. Let’s check out the windows 10 in-built hard drive wiper. This can wipe all your data and help you be secured.
This process works on windows 10 platform only. The windows 10 operating system has lots of preloaded features so this one of its preloaded features. It can erase the hard drive and make it look like a new one. But, this wiping is only helpful to clean the hard drive and to get rid of the data.
Process:
- Firstly you have to go to Settings — Update & Security — Recovery.
- Then click on Reset this PC — Get Started.
- After that, Remove Everything and follow the steps which are displayed on the computer.
Mac OS — Disk Utility:
If you’re a macOS user then you can make use of this disk utility option or else use Windows 10 process or else skip to the below free third party software.
In macOS, all you have to use is its in-built data sanitization utility option to wipe out all the data before giving your system away. With this process, you can erase all the data simply by opening Spotlight and type the disk utility option.
Key Features of Disk Utility:
- Disk Utility is the best cleaning utility tool for Mac users when it comes to preloaded features.
- It can erase the hard drive.
- Can erase tools which support both internal and external storage media.
- It also provides different options which include a fast process and a slow process.
3. DBAN (Darik’s Boot and Nuke)
DBAN is one of the most popular hard drive wipe software in 2019. Although it’s not frequently updated like other tools but it works better than most of the data eraser software.
This Darik’s Boot and Nuke is usually called as DBAN and it’s a free data eraser software in 2019. DBAN uses these data Sanitization Methods: RCMP TSSIT OPS-II, DoD 5220.22-M, Gutmann, Write Zero, Random Data.
This tool is ready to download in ISO format, so all you have to do is burn it to your CD or you can even boot it from a flash drive. The interface of this tool is quite easy to use and the best choice for people who strive to erase data.
Key Features of DBAN:
- The best hard drive wipe software which can wipe data with ease.
- Supports all cleaning methods such as DOD 5220.22-M, DOD Short, Gutman methods, quick erase, etc.
- It supports automatic data wipe option on the network which is connected to systems.
- It can clean hard drives based on SCSI, ATA, SATA interface.
As DBAN works from outside the operating systems so it can work on both Windows, macOS.
Hard Drive Wipe Software Eraser:
Easer is another cool tool to wipe data from the hard drive. Samsung driver for macbook. It’s a free data wiping tool which is helpful to remove all sensitive data with ease. This tool works on Windows devices and it is loaded with different techniques of data sanitization.
It’s a good fit for the users who have different cleaning needs. If you are striving to use a professional data destructor then you can make use of this free professional hard drive wipe software.
This is the perfect alternative to the DBAN software as well. It works perfectly but starters might find it somewhat tricky at the start.
Key Features:
- This app can erase hard drive files seamlessly.
- You can boot from an external media.
- This software supports different techniques such as DOD 5022, HMG IS5. Schneier (7 passes), Gutmann (35 passes), etc.
- User can save and perform multiple disk wipe tasks.
- You can even schedule automatic disk wiping at a particular time.
CBL Data Shredder:
CBL Data Shredder is also helpful to wipe your hard drive data. This tool comes in two forms, firstly you can either boot from the disc or you can use USB stick similar to DBAN.
In this tool to wipe the data that’s running on an operating system, you have to boot to the program. These tools use all methods such as DoD 5220.22-M, Gutmann, RMCP DSX, Schneier, VSITR. Apart from that, you can use your custom method which includes 1s and 0s with this software.
Key Features:
- Wipes all your hard drive data in two different processes.
- Supports DoD 5220.22-M, Gutmann, RMCP DSX, Schneier, VSITR.
- The bootable version will tell you how large each drives how to wipe the data.
- This version works in all versions of windows.
How To Wipe A Hard Drive Clean
Popular Hard Drive Wipe Software: CCleaner Wipe Drive
Most of you might be familiar with this tool because it is quite popular. CCleaner is a free tool which is used to free up valuable space on your computer hard drive just by removing all the unwanted files.
Along with this feature, CCleaner is also having a special feature to wipe out the hard drive completely. It’s a relatively best tool to clean your storage media as well.
Key Features:
- Seamlessly easy to free hard drive and wipe the data from this tool.
- This tool supports advanced overwriting up to the 35 passes.
- Users can easily configure to overwrite the free space.
- You can also find a disk eraser tool to wipe third party drives as well.
Free Hard Drive Wipe Software Kill Disk:
Kill Disk is another free tool hard drive wipe tool for 2019. It is a freeware where you will also find pro data destruction features as well. This tool uses a write zero data sanitization methods.
Kill Disk is similar to other bootable data destruction software. In this tool, all you have to do is download the ISO file for burning to the disc. It works perfectly on Windows 7,8,10. You can even find the Mac and Linux version of killdisk as well.
Key Features:
- Parallel Erasing is one of the good features in killdisk
- It helps you to wipe out unused space
- Disk inspection tools are also available in this software.
MHDD Tool:
MHDD is a data destruction tool which helps you to securely erase all the data from your hard drives. This tool can erase both solid-state hard drives and mechanical state drives.
The user interface of MHDD is quite easy and you can download it for free. All you have to do is download the ISO file and burn that on CD or flash drive and use it. MHDD uses the secure Erase data sanitization method to wipe out the data. This is one of the best hard drive wipe software in 2019 so i have listed in this list.
Key Features:
Software To Wipe Mac Hard Drive Clean
- This tool uses the Secure Erase option to wipe out the data.
- It’s a bootable data destruction program designed to wipe out everything on the hard drive.
PC Disk Eraser:
PC Disk Eraser is a free hard drive wipe software. This tool runs before the computer boots up. It’s pretty much similar to the DBAN and other programs.
This data destruction tool uses DoD 5220.22-M technique to wipe the data. Apart from that, it’s having an easy user interface so it can be used seamlessly. If you’re striving to try the alternatives to the hard drive wipe software then you can try out this app.
Key Features:
- It uses the DoD 5220.22-M technique to wipe all the hard drive data.
- You can confirm the selection and then erase the data with this tool.
- This tool works amazingly as you cant restore any information after it wipes out the data.
Macrorit Data Wiper:
Macrorit Data Wiper is one of the different software than other hard drive wiper software. This program doesn’t run like the other bootable disc programs. It is a portable program which should be opened from the computer like other programs.
This uses DoD 5220.22-M, Random Data, Write Zero and DoD 5220.28-STD data sanitization methods to wipe the data. You can use this app effectively because it is easy to use. All you have to do is select the hard drive you should erase data from its app and click on wipe now. Rest it will take care, and erase all your data.
Key Features:
- This app uses different techniques like DoD 5220.22-M, Random Data, Write Zero and DoD 5220.28-STD.
- It works perfectly in windows and can wipe the hard drive effortlessly.
- This work different from other apps, as its portable you can simply control it from the app.
Free Hard Drive Wipe Download
Conclusion:
How To Completely Wipe A Mac
This is all about the best hard drive wipe software, hard drive eraser, or data destruction software of 2019. Use these and erase all the data and make it impossible for others to restore your sensitive data. In this modern world begin safer and secured is often important so use these hard drive wipe software to stay away from threats.