The second option is to completely wipe your drive of all data, including the operating system, then reinstall Windows. Completely Wipe the Drive, then Reinstall Windows When the warning appears, select Reset and let the process complete.Ģ. The Windows 10 reset function can take a while to complete, but it will make sure there is no chance for anyone to recover data from your drive. Next, select Remove everything, then Remove files and clean the drive. Press Windows Key + I, type recovery in the search bar, and select Reset this PC. Make sure to back up any important data to a separate location. Please note: This process will wipe your data. Wiping an SSD will reduce the lifespan of the drive due to the additional wear and tear. Using a drive-wiping tool on an SSD isn't a great idea. TRIM manages your SSD, making sure files delete properly, ensuring the flash memory wears in an efficient and consistent manner.
If you use a solid-state drive, Windows will turn on the TRIM feature automatically.
That is because of the difference in how a magnetic hard drive and a solid-state drive store data. However, if you have an SSD, you need to read our short guide on how to erase an SSD securely. If you have a magnetic spinning disk hard drive, you can proceed to the secure wipe methods below. The process removes any data waiting for deletion, including that which third-party software could recover.īefore you start obliterating your hard drive, consider what type of drive you have. The process of "wiping" refers to overwriting all sectors on your hard drive, replacing the content of the drive with zeroes or gibberish data. If you're getting rid of a PC and don't want people to access your sensitive data, you must securely wipe your drive. In turn, this means files you delete using regular methods may remain accessible even if they don't appear in the File Explorer or otherwise. The computer marks the area the file occupied as usable, meaning it is available for another file to overwrite it in the future. You see, when you delete a file, it doesn't disappear into the ether. The difficulty is that even if you delete your personal data, it still lingers on the hard drive because of how file deletion works in Windows. If you don't wipe your drives, you're handing personal data to the person purchasing your computer. You should always wipe your drives before giving away hardware, too. So, how do you wipe a hard drive clean while leaving the operating system intact?Īlways Securely Wipe Your Drives Before Selling You need to securely wipe the hard drive to make sure no personal data traces remain. With the right tools, someone could recover your data. Simply deleting your personal files isn't enough, unfortunately. Picture this scenario: you're selling your computer, so you want to wipe all your personal data-but you also want to leave Windows intact.
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