I have some old pcs that I’m going to donate. What’s the safest way to erase the hard drives so none of my data is on there?
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Are your dank memes and cat pics so valuable that no one else must have them?
So much couch engineers in this thread. Some is true, some are total BS.
Unless you’re hiding some very well classified top secret shit, or if you’re a millionaire, no one is going to care what you had in those drives.
Just do a full format which will write 0’s to the drive. No one is going to spend any effort or resources to dig up your onlyfans history.
Show it various clips of the Sally Struthers “Pennies a Day” sex tape.
To OP - this question has been asked and answered many many times, including in our wiki posts at the top of the subreddit (the bold highlighted post that says “Recommended wiki articles”) and as a front page post just a few days ago. The search feature and our wiki help you get answers quicker and without needing our volunteers to type the same answer on dozens of posts.
To those still replying - I swear, some Redditors just like the sound of their own voice (typing?) There are one hundred and fifteen replies to this post. DBAN has been mentioned 16 times. Use your upvotes to highlight posts with good answers instead of dogpiling on OP, filling their inbox, and wasting your time typing the same thing that a hundred people have already said. And then you have more time to help other people on the subreddit with no replies so that your input actually makes a difference.
Please, go help other posts. This one is answered.
Well my friend that’s a tough 1. If is really that critical part it and destroy, other than that.!!! Wake the fu, up nobody is waiting for you to donate your old computer so they can steal your identity!!!
Bullets
Encrypt the drive, destroy the key, erase tpm. You are done.
I have a ton of old hard drives but afraid to get rid of them for security concerns. I always thought just getting a 3/8” drill bit and drilling through each would suffice. Quick and easy, no? I can’t believe data can be pulled from platters with holes in them. Or heck, open them up and smash the platters.
Given all the comments earlier, I can confirm the safest option is Darik’s Boot and Nuke Dban for short
Originally, you would put it on a CD (USB now), boot it, and auto nuke the entire computer. This however works only if you have a Hard Disk Drive.
Alternatively, you can also use the software called “Eraser” by Heidi. You can download it for free.
If you have a solid state drive, and you’re worried about all your data, it is best to remove the drive, and keep it for yourself. If not, you do the following:
Option 1:
- Encrypt the hard drive, delete the partition. Create a new partition that’s encrypted, but the partition has to be a different format. (First you have Ntfs, and then go to xfs or xfat)
Option 2:
- Use the Eraser software, and overwrite the entire hard drive. Encrypt the drive. And then format it.
Option 3: make sure the SSD’s mapping system is corrupted, or changed, so that if someone tries looking into it, they’ll only see a block of code, but not the entire file.
Why are people suggesting you to destroy the hard drives? Assuming you will donate the computer, it will require the hard drives with it to be usable.
Check this tool. You will need a low level format. Problem solved without damaging anything. Hard drives will be usable and data on them will be unrecoverable.
Some people are so overly paranoid lol. Like anyone is going to put in the enormous effort to get the data off some random persons HDD.
It’s remarkably easy, you just hook the drive up to a PC with recovery software and let the software do its thing. I’ve done it for multiple drives when my tech illiterate friends erase their only copy of something.
For any PC I dispose of that once had credit card, banking, or other sensitive information, the hard drive is getting destroyed. For everything else a few low level formats will suffice.
If you have extra PC’s at home it’s quick to do a scan with free recovery software.
I do this as a hobby. I bug old HDDs off of eBay and find some weird shit. It’s kinda like modern day “metal detecting” or “sifting for goldl. I found some really sensitive info on a 16TB hdd not too long ago.
What software do you use and how do I do it on my pc safely?
Hard drives are cheap. I would never dream of reselling or giving away a computer with the hard drive in it.
DBAN used to be the way to go, but I haven’t used it for sometime.
It doesn’t work with SSDs :(
Nothing works with ssds. Data is permanently stored on ssds with no way to completely irradicate it all. That why ssds reccomended disposal is to shred to a specific particle size or to burn.
I get what you’re saying but OP said they wanted to donate the PC. If you’re got enough time will, time, and money, you’ll get the data off the drive. That’s why I don’t recommend including the drive at all.
Instead, I recommend that they simply remove the drive before donating it. That way, there is no possibility the person who gets the donated pc will get a hold of the drive or the data on it.
Whenever I get a pc from a thrift store or whatever, I always remove and destroy the hard disk if it has one before I even power it on.
When I donated my last computer to a PC shop they asked me to remove the drive first before they would take it. I could always use the drive after formatting for a backup drive. Presuming you have already moved the old data to your new hard drive.
What data are you worried about being recovered? Why would anyone care to recover it? What’s the absolute maximum damage said data could do?
I can say for me the answer would be.
- Maybe my passwords, but eh
- They wouldn’t I have nothing of value
- Some porn, so I guess they could call me a weirdo?
for SSDs i think its called ABAN or something?
:(
Yes it does, unless something has changed in the last few years? It definitely still lets you select it, and wipes the data. Are you saying it’s recoverable?
The only way to 100% ensure no one will ever see what’s on the drive is to remove it from the pc before donating it.
Once the drive is out you can do what want with it.
A very big/strong magnet
Dban in my opinion.
Something that works on any hard drive, and allows you to set up a hash to completely overwrite the hard drive where you will have to install a new OS is Acronis. It is a backup software that also allows you to fully scrub a hard drive!! It is almost impossible to recover every bit of data. If a person did run recovery, they would get gobbledygook.
As a reference: I am a retired IT. I have used this extensively.