How to Permanently Delete All Data from an Old Hard Disk Drive before Disposing It?
updated on 2017-11-06 to Data Erasure
How to permanently erase private data before selling or donating an old hard disk drive? You may not realize how dangerous is when you disposing old hard disk drive without permanently erasing private data. Your private information may be stolen by other people. It is strongly recommended to permanently delete all your private data before you dispose an old hard disk drive.
But how to permanently delete data from an old hard disk drive? We know that the deleted or formatted data can be recovered by data recovery software. Is there any way to "permanently" destroy the data on old hard disk drive? Yes, some data erasure tools can help you permanently delete data on hard drive and storage media device. AweEraser is outstanding one which can permanently delete data on hard disk drive and overwrite the disk space with zeros.
AweEraser is award-winning data erasure software. This powerful tool is equipped with certified data erasure algorithms including DOD 5220.22-M, U.S. Army AR380-19, etc. It can make sure the data on the old hard disk drive will be permanently erased. It supports to erase data from HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, memory card, digital camera, etc. Before you dispose an old hard disk drive, you can run it to permanently delete all your data, no chance for data recovery.
Three ways to permanently delete data on old hard disk drive
AweEraser provide flexible data erasure solutions. Here are three ways to help permanently delete data on old hard disk drive. You can choose one of them to destroy data depending on the situation.
1. Permanently delete files and folders.
This solution allows you to selectively erase files/folders from old hard disk drive. AweEraser will permanently delete/erase the selected files and folders.
2. Erase old hard disk drive to destroy all data.
This secure tool will erase the entire old hard disk drive and help you permanently erase all the data on the hard disk drive. It will not affect the service life of the hard disk drive. Once your old hard disk drive is erased, all data information is lost forever.
3. Permanently erase already deleted/lost data.
If you only want to permanently deleted/lost data or prevent the deleted/formatted data on the old hard disk drive from being recovered, you can try this mode. It will erase the free disk space and permanently erase already deleted, formatted and lost data on the old hard disk drive. It will not erase the existing data on the old hard disk drive.
All of the three data erasure solutions are safe. You can run AweEraser to permanently delete the targeted data on your old hard disk drive before you dispose it. For example, before you sell your old hard disk drive, follow these steps:
Step 1: back up your data to another hard drive.
Step 2: run AweEraser to permanently erase all data on the old hard disk drive.
Step 3: sell your old hard disk drive.
Here, download AweEraser (Windows & Mac):
