With the above in mid, we must make use of specialist software for securely wiping our disk when applicable to do so (software which will be looked at a little later on in this guide).

Whilst reformatting a hard drive might make it appear that any data once stored upon it has been removed (if the drive is, for example, re-attached to a Windows PC and browsed it will appear empty), specialist data recovery software could be used in such cases to potentially recovery any files which used to formally resided on the disk. With this in mind, DO NOT RELY UPON REFORMATTING OF A HARD DRIVE AS A METHOD FOR SECURELY DELETING DATA – THE DATA IS POTENTIALLY STILL RECOVERABLE IN SUCH CASES! Whilst this reformatting process might be useful in certain circumstances (such as reinstalling an operating system) the reformatting process itself does not securely wipe the drive’s contents and any files previously stored upon this drive might be still recoverable! This guide will look some of the key factors to take into account when aiming to securely wipe a hard drive clean, I will then move on to list some of the best tools for performing a secure wipe further down in the guide.īefore getting started, one of the first and most important factors to take into account (and something many people might consider when wanting to clear or reuse a hard drive) will be simply reformatting the drive in question. For this reason, whilst these specialist recovery tools exist, we must make use of specialist software tools and deletion methods to ensure any disks are securely wiped in such a way that recovery of any of the data which formally resided on them cannot be recovered!

Unfortunately, simply deleting any important files which reside upon any given disk will rarely be enough to ensue they are securely removed and unrecoverable, in many cases when a file (or files) are deleted from a disk they remain recoverable thanks to the use of specialist data recovery software. Whilst the main focus of this website is to help our readers to backup and secure their valuable data, there are times when such data must be securely deleted or destroyed from a hard drive in order for the device itself to be sold, repurposed, recycled or otherwise disposed of without the risk of any personal data finding its way into the wrong hands!

Clearing a hard drive