Served up by the US Department of Defense, by default this method overwrites your data three times with different characters to fully wipe your drive. If you're wiping a mechanical hard drive, you'll want a drive eraser utility that offers a data destruction method known as DoD 5220.22-M. An expert offers tips for K-12 administrators and their IT teams on how to make the most out of their investment in Chromebooks with security and sustainability in mind, and recommends schools revise their IT equipment policies to address used and end-of-life devices, including Chromebooks. However, SSDs are trickier to wipe and few hard drive erasers support them. SSDs are faster and more reliable than their mechanical counterparts. Most laptops and many desktops now use or offer solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of mechanical hard drives.

But what if you're running an older version of Windows, or you want a stronger method of wiping your hard drive than the Reset feature provides? That's when you need a good hard drive eraser utility.įirst, a little background information.

Using the Reset feature in Windows 8.1 or 10 to return your PC to factory conditions does erase the drive as it reinstalls the OS. And even if you empty the Bin, your deleted files can often be recovered with the right undelete utility. Simply deleting your files doesn't do the trick since they can be restored from the Recycle Bin.

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