You can have many reasons for disposing of your hard drive or SSD. Whatever your reasons, it is crucial to ensure that your data remains secure. Sometimes, you may need to delete all your data from the storage device. Will formatting do the trick?
In truth, there are many tools that can recover data even after deletion. You may wonder how to wipe hard drives. In the next 7 minutes, we’ll consider various ways you can delete data from hard drives or SSDs, and which is the best method of deletion.
Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ll cover:
- Deleting Data
- Formatting Your Drive
- Destroying Your Device
- Degaussing Your Device
- Securely Wipe Your Hard Drive
- Weighing Your Options
Let’s begin our discussion.
Deleting Data
The easiest way to wipe SSDs or hard drives is using the delete key. You bare no expense and it isn’t time-consuming. However, deleting data is a safe option only if you’re trying to save up space. If your plan is to give away or sell your storage device, deleting is a bad option to wipe SSDs.
Deleting data does not remove data from your system, it removes the link between your data and your OS. That means, by using the right data recovery tools, anyone can recover your data, even if you empty recycle bin.
Hence, to answer our question about how to wipe hard drives – deleting only works if you’re trying to save up space.
Formatting Your Drive
Many users wipe hard drives through formatting. Formatting wipes hard drives by unlinking your data and erasing the storage partition. However, like deleting, the data is only invisible. Formatting does not remove the data from the system. Anyone with data recovery software can access the data on your hard drive.
Another alternative to formatting that people use is ‘factory reset’. While a factory reset may seem like a complete solution, data recovery solutions can still track your data and recover it.
Hence, to answer our question about how to wipe hard drives – formatting/ factory reset will help you make space.
Destroying Your Device
Destroying your storage device will do the job. However, if someone really wants your data, and you do not properly destroy your hard drive, they can recover data through forensic means.
Another drawback of destroying your hard drive is the unnecessary expense. You should consider this method as a last step.
Hence, to answer our question about how to wipe hard drives – destroying your device is not the best option.
Degaussing Your Device
Degaussing involves demagnetizing your storage device. Degaussers disrupt the magnetic field of your device. This process makes it impossible to retrieve data, rendering it useless.
While this approach may seem perfect, it will only work on mechanical hard drive devices. New hard drives and SSDs are better resistant to magnetism, making degaussing an ineffective way of erasing data.
Hence, to answer our question about how to wipe hard drives – degaussing will work only if your device is an older model.
Securely Wipe Your Hard Drive
Wiping or erasing your hard drive involves erasing data by overwriting it with pseudo-random characters or 0s and 1s. The goal is to make data inconceivable and this process does a great job with it.
Using this method you can re-use your hard drive and SSD. People trying to recover data erased through this method will be unsuccessful in their efforts. By using BitRaser Drive Eraser you can erase your data on premise or off, get verification of data erasure, and generate data eraser certificate.no e-waste.
Hence, to answer our question about how to wipe hard drives – Securely wiping your hard drive is a great way to wipe data.
Weighing Your Options
We have seen various ways how to wipe hard drives, however, which method do you select? When considering how to wipe SSDs, how to wipe PC, or how to wipe laptops, you will need to consider your need.
If you simply want to make space, then you can choose to delete or format your hard drive. When considering how to wipe SSDs, if the requirement is to completely delete data and dispose of the storage device, then you can consider destroying the hard drive.
Regarding how to wipe PC, or how to wipe laptops, is the requirement erasure of entire data? Do you wish to preserve your storage device? In such a case, securely wiping your hard drive is your best option.
We recommend taking professional help to wipe your hard drive. Professionals developing data wiping software understand how to wipe hard drives effectively. With their help, you can meet the requirements you have set.
