Wiping your PC

[gal-m]

Hello,

 

I would like to know what the best way would be to COMPLETELY WIPE my Windows 10 PC. I want to start out from scratch, including a new Windows install, plus I don't need any of my previous data (I've already backed it up).

The reason: I just simply wish to start over + I'm going to be selling/giving away some of my SSD's and HDD's, so I want to make sure that absolutely NO DATA is LEFT behind.

 

Thank you all in advance for the help, appreciate it!

[AndreiArgeanu]

You can use Windows if you want to. All you have to do is have the drive you want to wipe as a secondary, right click on it, deselect quick format and the hard disk will be fully  wiped, Windows will write 0 to the whole drive and leave it with no data behind, it will take some time since it's not a quick format, but all options that wipe your data do this. If you want to use a separate program there are plenty out there like KillDisk, DBan, Eraser and Disk Wipe

[AndreiArgeanu]

If you plan to use Windows, remember not to use quick format, otherwise the data will be left untouched and the hard drive will appear wiped.

[Moonzy]

11 minutes ago, gal-m said:

I want to make sure that absolutely NO DATA is LEFT behind.

you'll need a special software to erase data, but even then it might still be recoverable

if you have sensitive data, best way to avoid it leaking is just hammering the drive and burn it

[gal-m]

6 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

If you want to use a separate program there are plenty out there like KillDisk, DBan, Eraser and Disk Wipe

Hey @AndreiArgeanu thanks for the reply!

Yeah I am hearing a lot of good things about DBan especially. Might give that one a shot!

 

I know HDD's are a bit trickier to truly wipe, but SSD's (from what I understand) should be more straight forward and really shouldn't leave too much behind.. is that correct?

 

Thanks again!

[Kilrah]

Yes, SSDs nearly all have a built in secure erase function.

[gal-m]

2 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

you'll need a special software to erase data, but even then it might still be recoverable

 

You're right @Moonzy! On a couple of drives I have some more sensitive things that are work related and cannot be passed town to someone.. might just phisicaly destroy those. What about SSD's though? Are they generally stable enough to not leave too much behind?

 

Thanks for the reply!

[AndreiArgeanu]

Just now, gal-m said:

You're right @Moonzy! On a couple of drives I have some more sensitive things that are work related and cannot be passed town to someone.. might just phisicaly destroy those. What about SSD's though? Are they generally stable enough to not leave too much behind?

 

Thanks for the reply!

That shouldn't be an issue though if you use something like DBan or even Windows, after all if you write 0's to all the sectors of a Hard Drive, there won't be anything to recover. I don't think it's worth really smashing a drive after all.