Do you want to get rid of your old PC? The first thing you should do when you want to sell off your old PC is to wipe off all the hard drive data that you have stored. Your hard disk may contain plenty of programs and private files and folders. Even though you have created backup of these files, it is necessary to completely erase all the data from the hard disk so that nobody misuses it.
You need to ensure that once you delete data from your hard drive, nobody should be able to recover your data again by any means. Hence, to get rid of highly sensitive data, you should securely delete all the data. To do this, you need to delete and then overwrite the data on your hard drive numerous times. Here are 5 programs that can be used to completely erase the data from hard drive:
5 Apps To Completely Delete Data From Hard Disk Drive
DBan
Undoubtedly, DBan is the most widely used software. When you go to DBan website and navigate to the download page, you can see the latest release of the program. You can then burn that file onto a blank disc to create a bootable disk. Once a bootable DBan disc is created, you can boot your system with it. It contains different methods for wiping off data from the hard drive.
KillDisk
The KillDisk program is available in two versions namely, Free and Professional. The Free version is on par with DBan program. However, the Professional version is better than DBan as it brings to you many useful options. The Professional version is available in three types DOS+Windows Suite (priced below $60), Windows version (priced below $50) and DOS version (priced below $40). The free version will delete the data off from the hard disk by writing zero’s only once. If you purchase the Professional version, you can use over 15 types of options to delete data. The app can be used directly in Windows or by launching Command Prompt (DOS). You can also create a bootable media and wipe off all that you have stored on your hard drive.
Disk Wipe
Disk Wipeis a free Windows based software (that means it is not available in DOS version). You can launch it inside your Windows OS only to get rid of data stored in hard drive, USB drives, external hard drives, and memory cards that support FAT, FAT32, NTFS file systems. After downloading it, you can directly use the program without any installation. The size of the app is very small which makes it possible for you to store it in your USB drive or send it to your friends through email.
Eraser
The app is just like Disk Wipe. It is also a freeware that can be used only inside Windows. Good thing is that the app is updated regularly. It can erase data from all kinds of storage drives that support Windows. This app does not provide you with advanced options as compared to the apps mentioned above. Hence, it is not the best option that you can rely on.
HDD Low Level Format (LLF) Tool
Yet another free tool that is only based for Windows OS. It comes with a speed limitation that lets you erase only 180GB of data in an hour. You need to spend $3 to remove the speed limit.