How to Totally Wipe a Windows Hard Drive
A hard disk can be erased in one of two methods. What you need to know to complete it fast and easily is provided here.
Your hard drive contains data that you want to delete. You may wish to make sure the data on the disk has been entirely deleted before using the computer, sell it, or give it to a good cause.
In any case, you can erase the drive in Windows using either built-in or external programs.
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Why Do You Need to Erase Your Hard Drive?
You might want to completely delete your hard drive for a number of reasons.
You could be worried about someone reading the data on the drive if you want to share it.
- Get rid of the hard disk.
- Donate it.
- Give the computer to a good cause, a church, or a school.
You might not be intending to sell the item, though. It could be necessary to clean the disk.
- Remove any malware or viruses.
- erase any delicate personal information.
- Start utilizing a used disk drive that has not been erased by the previous owner.
You might want to wipe the hard drive of your computer for personal reasons. Windows users have two choices, regardless of the situation:
- native Windows 10 tools
- Tools from the outside, such as Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)
Let's examine each choice one at a time.
The Easy Way to Wipe a Hard Disk Drive in Windows 10
Even if there are several excellent third-party tools accessible, you could be in a hurry. Therefore, discovering, downloading, and installing software is work that you don't want to perform.
Fortunately, there's no reason for concern. A specific command for erasing your hard drive is available in Windows 10.
Make sure you have the correct drive letter assigned to the disk you want to delete, though, before you start. Make a note of the drive letter because Windows Explorer is where you'll locate this. Keep in mind that you cannot erase the Windows C disk from within Windows (see the next section for a solution to that problem).
Use the Windows PowerShell environment, a command-line tool that allows you to enter text-based commands, to accomplish this. The syntax of the command you're going to use is as follows:
In this case, the drive letter is volume, and the format command is /P. The number of times you wish to overwrite each disk sector is referred to as passes.
As a result, if your cover letter was X and you desired five formatting iterations, you would:
- Right-click Start
- the Windows PowerShell option (Admin)
3. Enter Format X: /P:5
That's all there is to it. After the device has been cleaned, use it as necessary.
Wiping a Hard Drive in Windows 7 and Windows 8
When using Windows 7 or Windows 8, do you need to wipe a hard drive?
You're fortunate! With earlier versions of Windows, up to and including Vista, the identical steps for Windows 10 will apply.
How to Totally Wipe a Hard Drive With DBAN
What happens if you wish to delete everything on your C: drive? Typically, Windows is installed on this disk drive, which means it cannot be erased using Windows' built-in formatting program.
There are other third-party programs available, but Darik's Boot and Nuke may be the finest (DBAN). DBAN will operate in your computer's memory, much like a recovery disk or a Linux live disk, and was created expressly for the job of erasing data in bulk.
There are two versions of DBAN: the Blancco Drive Eraser, which costs money, and the free, personal-use disk erasing tool. If you're not a business or organization, you can disregard the expensive version because the free DBAN will successfully destroy your HDD.
The free DBAN supports ATA, SATA, and SCSI interfaces and offers permanent data erasure with six erasing standards. This should apply to all hard disk devices. But what does this mean? DBAN, on the other hand, has the ability to erase the hard drive in your laptop or PC tower.
Prepared to retract? To completely wipe your hard drive, adhere to these five instructions.
1. Identify Your Hard Drive
Make sure you can identify your HDD first in order to prevent unintentional erasure.
To quickly accomplish this, launch Windows Explorer and look in the C: drive. You are in the correct location if the device has a label like OS C: or Windows C:.
However, if more than one drive is partitioned on the same physical disk, and the C: drive is one of them, issues may occur. Inadvertent data overwriting on all partitions, not just the C: drive, could happen as a result of this.
To discover the device's hardware name, right-click the drive letter and choose Properties > Hardware. You can locate the drive in DBAN using this.
2. Download and Burn DBAN to Disc
DBAN must be downloaded to your computer and then burned on an optical disc. It is available in ISO format.
- Get DBAN by visiting Sourceforge.
- A blank disc should be inserted into your optical read/write drive.
- Navigate to the ISO file you downloaded.
- Right-clicking dban-2.3.0 i586.iso brings you a context menu where you can choose Burn disc image.
- Follow the picture burning wizard's instructions, then watch as the disc is generated.
Don't forget to label the disk once it's finished. You might want to use it again, but you wouldn't want to unintentionally load it.
3. Back Up Valuable Data
Make sure all of the data on the drive is completely useless before wiping your Windows machine. If there is anything you want to save, make a backup of it right away. If you unintentionally remove data that you want to save, recovery tools won't help. After using DBAN, your data will no longer be retrievable.
4. Boot Into DBAN
Using DBAN
- The disc should be put into the drive.
- Reboot your computer.
- Select the CD or DVD drive as the boot device.
This may be easier said than done, though.
Your computer will typically start up from the hard drive as usual. Rearrange the boot devices in the computer's BIOS if it doesn't. Alternately, press a key (usually DEL or F12; see your computer's manual for specifics) as soon as the computer turns on to bring up the boot selection screen.
DBAN will launch once the proper boot device has been chosen, ready for you to start erasing hard drives.
5. Wipe Your Hard Drive With Darik's Boot and Nuke
The DBAN screen offers a number of options, including:
- F2 to discover DBAN
- For a list of commands, press F3.
- To troubleshoot, press F4.
- To use DBAN in interactive mode, press Enter.
- To have DBAN automatically wipe every drive on your computer, type "autonuke."
The final choice is usually not what you want to do. Instead, clean your disk drive using the guided mode:
- To activate guided mode, press Enter.
- Choose the device you want to wipe using the arrow keys.
- To flag the drive with the [wipe] flag, press Space.
- When ready, press F10 to start the wiping procedure.
There are also some other alternatives. You can alter the wipe procedure by using the shortcut keys indicated at the bottom of the screen.
- Change the random number generator being used to obliterate your data using P.
- R modifies the number of disk sector passes. The default passes for every accessible wipe method are multiplied by this. For instance, utilizing R allows you to change the default DoD Short's three passes to nine passes by specifying a value of 3.
- M, on the other hand, gives you a choice of six erasure techniques, including Gutmann Wipe, DoD 5220.22-M, and DoD Short.
- It is also possible to activate the verification mode (V), however doing so makes the wipe procedure take longer.
The DBAN tool's top-right window has a timer that shows how long the wipe took. Eventually, a new screen with the word "pass" under the name of the disk drive should show up. The drive may be used once more.
Use DBAN once more if the term "fail" appears in its place. If this keeps happening, think about doing bodily damage (see below).
What Can You Do With a Wiped Hard Drive?
Your hard drive can be sold or reused after being cleaned.
For instance, you may use it to build a PC for a cousin or sell it on eBay to generate some quick cash.
The fact that the data is practically difficult to retrieve is the most crucial factor to keep in mind. With the disk, everything is possible without revealing the data. Do you want to double check? Use physical force to damage the gadget, maybe by drilling through the drive holes.
Alternately, open the magnetic disks that contain your data and pound the platters with a hammer.
Safely Wipe a Windows Computer With DBAN
The safest method is to wipe your Windows hard disk with DBAN or another similar utility, even though other tools (including some built-in choices) can remove the data there.
DBAN is easy to use, perhaps even too easy. Without taking proper care and attention, you could unintentionally erase the incorrect disk drive. You must: to successfully use DBAN.
- Create a DVD from the ISO file.
- your hard drive's location.
- Launch DBAN
- Windows hard drive deletion
The drive can then be safely recycled or discarded after that is finished. You could want to recycle your old hard disk if it isn't performing well before you wipe it.
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