Filed under: Clean Up Computer
I want to donate an older desktop pc. How to delete hard drive to give clean computer?
March 30, 2011
7 thoughts on “I want to donate an older desktop pc. How to delete hard drive to give clean computer?”
Comments are closed.
Clean Registry and Optimize PC
To erase the hard drive, simply LOW LEVEL it.
Infact, did you know that low-leveling the will remove the entire file partition? Even Better, Low level it 5 times….
You can goto http://www.seagate.com and get their disc wizard tool that includes a lowlevel formatting program. I use the Hiren’s Boot CD as it has like 12 different low leveling programs.
BUT to be 100% sure that you can’t retrieve the data, find a neighborhood teen with a thumpin system in their car, to let you stick your hard drive to the back of their subwoofer’s coil (Magent). Let it sit over night. I promise you, in the morning, you ain’t getting jack off that thing.
Lastly, you could destroy the drive by simply placing it into the freezer for a few hours, then place it in direct sunlight (preferrably through glass) and repeat the process for a few days.
The constant constrictin and expanding of the harddrive casing will break the vaccum seal and allow air to come into contact with the platters inside, thus causing a chain reaction that renders the platters incapable of retaining information, much less letting anyone get to it.
Wanna be GREEN FRIENDLY?
Take the computer to a recycler, but not just any, take it to one that has "a cruncher" which grinds up the drive into 1/3 inch thick pieces. They recycle the metals from them.
for general meaning of deleting data, you can do low level format the HD (either from some of the BIOS or u download the utility program from the HD brand). then on top, u can reformat it using your Windows or DOS.
if u really want to do more cleaning without using 3rd party program, u can copy and paste large size video to the HD til it`s full. then delete them all.
There is a program called "Window Washer" made by Webroot software. It is a privacy program, so it’s mostly for deleting browser history, cookies, and other temporary files in a way that makes them unrecoverable.
Included with the software is a utility whereby you can make a bootable disk that will allow you to scrub a hard drive to military standards or beyond.
It is a commercial distribution, so you have to pay for it, but as a satisfied customer, I consider it well worth the cost.
If you choose to go this route, you would purchase and install Window Washer on your current computer, use the utility to make a bootable disk, then boot your old computer (the one you want to donate) with the disk.
I am not an employee of Webroot software, nor am I being compensated in any way. This recommendation is based purely on my personal experience.
It is POSSIBLE but extremely difficult to completely remove information from a hard drive. The ONLY method I trust completely is a sledge hammer. If the actual magnetic media is SHATTERED, it can’t be read.
you can format it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B-d5xoBeqg
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Format-Your-PC&id=1082519
you cant fully do it. people can still get info on it, unless you destroy it. (open it up so the inside gets air)
you can try a few free cleaners. look on http://www.downloads.com and look for ‘hard drive cleaner’
Go there: http://www1.umn.edu/oit/security/tools/OIT__12709_REGION1.html
You will find some tools to wipe the hard drive free space to make sure the data you have deleted is not recoverable.