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.

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. 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. 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.

Fortunately, by simply knowing how to completely erase a hard drive, you can avoid this situation. You can securely destroy data stored on a drive in any of the following simple ways: 1. Using Hard Drive Erasure Software. The use of software to wipe hard drives can produce great results especially for people who don't want to damage the hardware.

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.

To wipe a hard drive means to completely erase the drive of all its information. Deleting everything does not wipe a hard drive and formatting does not usually wipe a hard drive. You'll need to take an extra step to wipe the hard drive so the data cannot be easily reconstructed later.

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. The cheapest way to tackle a pile of hard drives is to wipe them with a software eraser. I warn you though, it's not quick, and it won't work on defective disks. My tool of choice for wiping 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.