Erasing a hard drive

[RizzoTheRat]

A friend of my Mrs wants to donate a laptop. Years ago I remember there used to be utilities that would overwrite everything in the drive to ensure it couldn't be recovered. Are they still a thing or is dusting off and nuking it from orbit removing the drive the only way to be sure? Or am I just being paranoid and her original plan of just reinstalling windows would be fine?

[Alex Z]

Definitely don’t just reinstall windows. Use something like CCleaner on it afterwards, or take the hard drive out and smash it to be sure.

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/article/using-cclea...

[dundarach]

I think you're worrying too much to be honest.

If they're giving you the the laptop, unless the police coming looking and if they do, and do recover anything, it'll still be linked to someone you can point them towards, this ain't going to happen!

However, if YOU'RE giving your mums friends YOUR laptop and it's mucky....yes sort it

I wouldn't worry at all!

[Paddymcc]

ShredOS

Or check the bios for a wipe utility if its a relatively new model

[bangerhoarder]

A lot of more modern stuff (still going back a fair way) will have a Secure Wipe function in the BIOS.

[RizzoTheRat]

Not worried about police, concerned about someone potentially being able to access her personal data

Jasey_ said:

Search this and follow advice.

clear windows pc to donate

The usual advice seems to be use Windows Reset and tell it wipe files, however [plenty of people online saying stuff is pretty easy to recover from that.
I have seen one saying encrypt the drive with Bitlocker first, then wipe and then uninstall bitlocker which sounds like it ought to work better.

[LuS1fer]

Is it not cheap enough to buy a new virgin HDD/SSD?

[Magic919]

I use Boot and Nuke (DBAN).

[AnotherHamster]

As mentioned above, encrypt the drive, use a wipe utility then delete the encryption keys through the BIOS. Plenty of videos online or ask AI how to do it.

[captain_cynic]

LuS1fer said:

Is it not cheap enough to buy a new virgin HDD/SSD?

Have you not seen the current prices?

Let's be honest, a normal reformat will suffice making it hard enough to recover data. Reformat, new OS... Job jobbed.

No one is buying 2nd hand laptops and spending huge amounts of money to get at some randoms facebook.

DBAN as mentioned above, uses the DoD 5220-22-M standard so if you really want jus turn a few passws or DBAN.

[ARH]

I have bought second hand drives and PC's for years, never once thinking I could get the previous users personal info if I really tried hard. I really can't see anyone trying. I know how to recover stuff off drives that has been deleted and done it for people in the past, but have no desire to waste my time trying to find deleted stuff. It would be far easier to buy a list of credit card numbers from the dark web surely.

[CHLEMCBC]

As above, proprietary wipe program and worry not.

Thieves are lazy.

[wiggy001]

Quite surprised at some of the comments to this. I am by no means paranoid about my data but there is no way I would give away or sell a laptop and just assume the person I am giving it to will be too lazy/uninterested to try to recover my data.

Which is probably why I have a box of old laptops in my loft..

[thebraketester]

[Bluevanman]

You can overwrite the HD with zeros and then reformat and then it's good to go.
https://www.google.com/m?q=overwrite+hdd+with+zero...

[Brother D]

Just encrypt drive with windows bitlocker if not already.
Delete partitions and format drive as part of Reinstalling windows.

Don't over think it.

[wombleh]

My method is download a Linux usb, boot it, run shred, leave it a few hours. Probably over kill, but the effort involved is trivial so no point taking any risk.

If you use whole disk encryption then don’t need to worry about it in future and all systems support that today.

[WelshChris]

Here at the railway we just run over old hdd's with a locomotive

[mmm-five]

My method is to strip the drive, remove the magnets for 'fun projects' and use the platters as target practice for shotgun/airsoft/slingshot.

[judas]

I have about fifteen old hard drives sat in a box, going back 35 years, mostly IDE but even one ISA bus drive on an expansion card. Moving house so I'll have to deal with them. Hoping a tungsten steel drill bit will do the job.