Format or Dban?

[DotoreN]

I'm currently running 1 SSD and 2 HDD's, but everything is full, so i'm planning to format everything and install windows 10 (currently running windows 7 on my ssd)

Should I format all my drives or should i use Dban to clean my drives?

 

I guess formatting is easier, but as I will still be able to recover some files, does this mean the drive will keep leftover data on it that occupies space? or is the amount of left-over occupied space neglible.

 

Some advice is appreciated.

 

 

[BobVonBob]

There is no "left over" space when you format a drive. Sure the bits are still there, but they can be overwritten with no loss in drive space, just like you could write over a VHS. The OS doesn't even know that they are there since the file system doesn't have a record of the data.

 

Now if you want to destroy all the data on a drive, dban is the way to go.

[SethKraota]

Don't use Dban on an SSD. If you're simply re-installing Windows format the drives.