Ways to wipe a hard drive vguma

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. Use the operating system to securely wipe a hard drive. The simplest and cheapest method to securely wipe a hard drive is to use the operating system or free software. In Windows: Open a CMD window as an administrator. Type or paste 'format C: /fs:ntfs /p:1' and hit Enter. Where you see 'C', change to the drive you want to wipe. 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.

Note: For this tutorial I have used my flash drive as a partition to demonstrate how the process wiping hard drive works. Now your partition is completely wiped and available for use. As simple as that. Wipe Hard Drive in Windows 7 and Windows 8. In case, you want to completely wipe hard drive in Windows 7 and Windows 8; then you're in luck.

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

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.

If you're selling or giving away a Windows computer, you'll want to wipe the hard drive to remove all of your personal data from it before handing it over to someone new. Simply deleting files or formatting the hard drive isn't enough, as data recovery software may make it possible to recover the data later. That's when you wipe your computer's hard drive and reinstall its operating system. Doing this reverts your computer to its pristine state, deleting all your personal information, applications 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.