How to make sure all data is erased on a computer hard drive.

How to make sure all data is erased on a computer hard drive.


If your concerned with data being read or recovered from your hard drive after it has sold or given away, we recommend trying the following utilities. These utilities will remove all your existing data and make it impossible to be recovered or read. After your data has been erased or overwritten, you can then reinstall Windows or another operating system on the computer.

Warning: If you have an OEM computer (e.g., Acer, Dell, Hewlett Packard, etc.), the hard drive may have a hidden system recovery partition. Using the utilities below may erase this partition, making it impossible to restore your computer without a disc.

Product                           Web Page                                        Info
DBAN(Darik's Boot
and Nuke)                      https://dban.org/                                 Free
Blancco                  https://www.blancco.com/                     Free and             
                                                                                  commercial version
Disk Wiper             https://www.paragon-software.
                             com/home/dw-professional/                         Cost
Eraser                   http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/              Free to all
ArcticSoft 
FileAssurity            http://www.articsoftpgp.com
                             /pgp_encryption_software.htm                     Cost
Harddisk Eraser    http://www.linux-kurser.dk/
                             secure_harddisk_eraser.html                    Free to all
No Trace                http://www.comtechnologies.com/
                                     notracemain.html                                Cost
Permanent Erasure    http://www.winhex.com/
                                security/index-m.html                              Free to all
SDelete              https://technet.microsoft.com/
                             en-us/sysinternals/sdelete                         Free to all
 
Additional information

How to erase my hard drive and start over.
How can I securely delete computer file?
See our erase and zero fill definitions for further information and related links.
Hard drive help and support.