So you have finally decided to get a larger and faster hard disk drive so you can store more files and have a speedier system. When you take out your old hard drive, do not throw it away! You can donate it to charity institutions and the like, but make sure that you remove all of your old data first. There are three things that you can do to wipe out data from your old hard drive.
* Reformat Your Drive
A simple reformat of your hard drive usually does the trick. Depending on your operating system, there are many different ways to reformat an old hard drive.
Reformatting a hard drive does not actually delete all your files and data, however. It simply prepares your hard drive to accept new files and overwrite the “deleted” files. Your old files can readily be retrieved by anyone who is of a mind to do it, such as criminals and data thieves, through the use of data recovery software.
If you have stored sensitive and personal information in your hard drive, you will want to get rid of your data completely. To do this, get a disk wipe utility.
* Run a Disk Wipe Utility
Unlike reformatting, data removed via disk wiping cannot be recovered by data recovery software. With a disk wipe utility, you can prevent identity theft and ensure that your uncompromising secrets remain as secrets. You can download a number of disk wipe utilities for free on the Internet.
* Destroy Your Drive
Destroying your hard drive can effectively deter unscrupulous individuals from mining your personal information, but it will render your drive useless and unfit for any type of charity work. There is only one reason why anyone would want to destroy their drives — lack of time. Reformatting a hard drive and running disk wipes, done the right way, will take hours to finish. If you are in a hurry, you can smash your hard drive to bits and be done with it in mere moments!
When wiping out data from old hard drives, it is always best to reformat them and run disk wipe utilities, instead of destroying them. While you no longer have any use for these drives, many other people can still benefit from them. You will also reduce the amount of global electronic waste.
