The free version of HDShredder is quite limited in functions compared to the paid versions, but can still perform a 1 pass erase on whole hard drives (not partitions). DBAN is a powerful tool but could also be dangerous in inexperienced hands, use with care. There are 6 to choose from ranging from a basic zero fill, to the default 3 pass DOD Short, DOD standard (7 pass), RCMP (8 pass), Gutmann (35 pass) and the recommended PRNG random data fill which the number of passes is determined by the rounds set. In interactive mode you can change the PRNG (Pseudo Random Number Generator) type, the number of rounds to perform each method and the type of wiping method used. If you type autonuke at the prompt, IT WILL ERASE ALL DRIVES WITHOUT CONFIRMATION, so is something you should be very careful with. Press Enter at the prompt to be taken to interactive mode where you choose your settings.

Burn the ISO to CD or create a bootable USB stick and boot to DBAN.

Here’s a selection of tools that can perform this task and wipe a hard drive clean making it more secure before it leaves your possession.ĭBAN is a very well known and respected data wiping tool that runs from a bootable disc and is great for when you want to sanitize more than a single drive or system drive because it can automatically erase all found partitions. Another way is to completely wipe the drive or partition clean so no data at all is left on it and nothing at all can be recovered. One way is to wipe the free space on the drive meaning only those files currently visible can be viewed. What you can do is make sure that before a hard drive, SSD or USB stick goes to somebody else, temporarily or permanently, any data that you don’t ever want to be read by others or recovered from these devices gets wiped clean and cannot be retrieved. The same thing applies to external storage media like USB sticks or memory cards, and these are perhaps more important as they are far more likely to change hands than internal devices. This fact is especially important if you are giving away or selling an old computer system / hard drive, or just letting someone borrow an external hard drive or even USB stick because the other user could easily recover data you thought was gone, posing a major security risk.Įven a format and reinstall of the operating system in that situation still doesn’t mean all the old data is completely safe from being recovered by others. A lot of computer users will know that when you delete a file, it isn’t actually completely gone from the system and can often be recovered with a simple piece of data recovery software.

Wipe disk cleaner for mac