Filetonic / How do I delete all files on my hard drive?

How do I delete all files on my hard drive?

Celeste Stewart People delete all of the files on a hard drive for a variety of reasons, one of which is to ensure their privacy when donating or recycling their old computers. This has become essential as identity thieves can easily extract data off of hard drives - even hard drives that have been reformatted. Why is it so easy? Because data recovery tools, those same tools that enable us to recover accidentally deleted files, are readily available. These tools go beyond the drive’s index, which is what actually gets deleted, to the actual files - which don’t get deleted until a new file is written to that same space on the drive.

For example, did you know that when you format a hard drive, you’re not erasing the data residing on it? Essentially, formatting simply removes the drive’s master indexes and reference tables and replaces them with new, empty ones. The data remains but is considered to be “free space” by the operating system. In other words, the operating system considers the disk empty and will eventually place new data over the existing data as needed. With data recovery tools, you can go in and recover the underlying data until it has been overwritten. If the average computer user can do this easily enough, imagine how easy it is for identity thieves?

In order to completely delete the files on the hard drive, you need to use a tool designed for the task. Often called disk “shredders” or “erasers,” software programs have been developed that “shred” the contents of your hard drive. This isn’t in the literal sense; rather, the software goes in and overwrites the data with meaningless files several times over. You may see terms such as “secure deletion” and “government grade deletion” used to describe this process. So long as the software overwrites the drive multiple times, the contents are likely unrecoverable. The more times the drive is overwritten, the more secure the deletion.

Several products are on the market specifically for wiping the drive clean such as DataEraser. In addition, secure deletion is often an added feature to other software programs. For example, ParetoLogic’s Privacy Controls is a utility that offers several privacy protection features, one of which is a secure deletion option where you can specify specific files for deletion.

Depending on your needs, you have several options. If you’ll be donating the computer to a friend or relative, a complete reformatting followed by wiping the drive clean is an excellent choice. This way, your data has been removed and the new user will have a fresh operating system that is free of clutter and unwanted programs. The downside is that this involves a bit of work on your part and the computer’s operating system will need to be updated with the latest security patches, updates, and service packs.

Another option is to selectively delete your data files using a secure deletion utility. When selectively deleting, don’t overlook all those “hidden” files such as your temporary files, index.dat files, browser history files, data in folders you may have forgotten about, and so on.

Finally, if you are recycling the computer, you may want to wipe the drive clean, physically dismantle the drive, and then destroy the inner workings of the disc itself. While taking a sledgehammer to the drive seems extreme, it’s an added measure you can take to keep your data private.