How to Get Rid of the Data on that Old Computer

February 28, 2010 Computer Tips And Tricks

It has been brought to our attention that people in today’s society can have up to 3 old computers in their homes. These computers may be regarded as throw away appliances.
It is imperative to understand that although most people through these old computers away it is within your best interest to know that there is still date on the hard drive.

What type of data am I referring to? Well, the list is long, but here are some examples of what you may be giving away when you are finished with that PC:

Passwords and access to online accounts (like your bank, credit card, social sites, web mail, etc.)
Email Accounts, Email Addresses and Personal Emails
Personal (and sometimes) sensitive photographs
Personal Documents (such as tax forms, letters, finances, documents from work, etc.)
Software Licenses (that you purchased and own)
Music or Movie Collection (that you legally own)

Data theft in today’s world is huge and there are many other options available for you as opposed to simply throwing your computer away with all the data on it.

Have the hard drive removed and the data professionally eradicated (destroyed), professionally degaussed (demagnetized) or professionally shredded (like shrapnel). All of these options are at cost; however, you will (or should) be provided with certification that your data is now non-existent.
Remove the hard drive and destroy the hard drive yourself. Drill holes in it, use it for target practice, flatten it with a sledge hammer, etc… There is no certification with this process and yes there is the possibility that James Bond 007 could extract data from the drive (but this is highly unlikely, unless you are a person of interest).
Use data eradication software. This option is a good option for the home based user; AND, the good news is that there are several FREE software products (see below) that are available.

Hard Drive Eraser

Hard Drive Eraser is a free application from Windows which allows you to effectively erase all of your data.
PC Disk Eraser
You can now delete all of your data and know that it gets erased on a standard which is very very high.

Active@ Kill Disk

Active@ KillDisk – Hard Drive Eraser is powerful and compact software that allows you to destroy all data on hard and floppy drives completely, excluding any possibility of future recovery of deleted files and folders. It’s a hard drive and partition eraser utility.
Eraser

This is an advanced security tool for Windows which helps erase everything effectively.