Best free software to wipe a hard drive?

Freeman · 15 Jul 2012 at 17:36

Hi,

I have an external hard drive I'd like to give to the charity shop. It's got some of my old backups on it. Do you know of any decent free software that will allow me to completely erase the drive?

Cheers.

(I did try the sticky and came across 'Clean Disk Security' but it didn't do the job.)

Belly · 15 Jul 2012 at 18:18

Killdisk?

http://how-to-erase-hard-drive.com/

I don't know if it's good or bad but I used it when I upgraded my computer and ditched the old one. I ran Killdisk, took the HDD drive out, smashed it with a hammer and disposed of it within my household waste!

UnworthyBean · 15 Jul 2012 at 18:19

DBAN will do the job nicely.

NealR · 15 Jul 2012 at 18:20

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18422294

I personally still use DBan, but with what is available, it often comes down to personal preference

jbloggs · 15 Jul 2012 at 22:39

Eraser

Azuse05 · 15 Jul 2012 at 22:52

Eraser is the go to deletion too for files on a running system, dban is to go to for wiping entire hard drive in the easiest way possible. I want to say idiot proof - but I know people will select to wrong drive if I do.

PapaLazaru · 15 Jul 2012 at 23:18

http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER

35 pass over write.

Raumarik · 15 Jul 2012 at 23:34

Azuse05 said:
Eraser is the go to deletion too for files on a running system, dban is to go to for wiping entire hard drive in the easiest way possible. I want to say idiot proof - but I know people will select to wrong drive if I do.

+1 Dban is excellent but personally if it were my PC I'd disconnect all drives I don't want to wipe - just in case

CaptainCrash · 16 Jul 2012 at 02:10

If you have Windows 7 or Vista (not XP or before though), simply issuing the command "format x: /fs:NTFS" (where x is your external drive letter) will put your data beyond any possibility of recovery.

If you'll feel happier using a third-party app to do multiple random overwrites, knock yourself out, but it's completely unnecessary and really just a waste of time.

hansp · 16 Jul 2012 at 10:56

diskpart and the command "clean all". Diskpart comes with Windows, so you have already paid for it.

SourChipmunk · 16 Jul 2012 at 12:22

Another vote for DBAN. Simple, lightweight, does the job well.

Link since not posted before: http://www.dban.org/

CaptainCrash · 16 Jul 2012 at 12:39

Lots of recommendations for DBAN, which will certainly do the job, but don't forget it has to be run from a boot disk, which obviously means rebooting your PC and taking it offline for the time it takes to complete the overwrite(s) (however many of those you choose to perform). It's probably a bit more aggravation than really necessary in the case of an external HDD as per the OP.

MarcLister · 16 Jul 2012 at 20:47

CaptainCrash said:
Lots of recommendations for DBAN, which will certainly do the job, but don't forget it has to be run from a boot disk, which obviously means rebooting your PC and taking it offline for the time it takes to complete the overwrite(s) (however many of those you choose to perform). It's probably a bit more aggravation than really necessary in the case of an external HDD as per the OP.

Would be OK if its a laptop to have its hard disk erased? Colleague of mine wants to donate some of her old laptops to charity but wants to wipe the disk first. Can't imagine there'd be any problems using DBAN on the boot disk in this instance?

CaptainCrash · 16 Jul 2012 at 21:45

MarcLister said:
Would be OK if its a laptop to have its hard disk erased? Colleague of mine wants to donate some of her old laptops to charity but wants to wipe the disk first. Can't imagine there'd be any problems using DBAN on the boot disk in this instance?

No, no problems at all, it was really just the convenience aspect from the OP's point of view I was thinking about, assuming he's using his own main PC to wipe his external HDD. It's not an issue if you're dealing with a single internal drive such as you'd find in a laptop, as you'd have to boot from a different medium to wipe it and/or reinstall an OS in any case.

MarcLister · 16 Jul 2012 at 21:53

CaptainCrash said:
No, no problems at all, it was really just the convenience aspect from the OP's point of view I was thinking about, assuming he's using his own main PC to wipe his external HDD. It's not an issue if you're dealing with a single internal drive such as you'd find in a laptop, as you'd have to boot from a different medium to wipe it and/or reinstall an OS in any case.

Nice one skipper!

Caged · 16 Jul 2012 at 22:04

Another DBAN vote.

theheyes · 16 Jul 2012 at 22:15

Caged said:
Another DBAN vote.

Same. It's worth making a disc just to keep in your "toolbox".

FatRakoon · 20 Jul 2012 at 00:11

MSDOS' FDISK

Philtor · 20 Jul 2012 at 00:32

FatRakoon said:
MSDOS' FDISK

Formatting is not enough to ensure data cannot be recovered. DBAN does more than just a basic format.

FatRakoon · 20 Jul 2012 at 08:11

philtor said:
Formatting is not enough to ensure data cannot be recovered. DBAN does more than just a basic format.

FDISK does not just format, it removes the actual partition data.

Plus, there is something here called Paranoia.

Once you format a disk, 99.9% of all people will simply NOT be able to get the old data back. The people that can recover this wont really give a stuff about what people like you or I have on their Drives.

Unless of course you have kiddie stuff on there and you want to hide your tracks?