Problems Solved

PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT

How do I securely wipe old drives?

Q I had a good clear out during lockdown, and now I have a number of old PCs I want to get rid of. I’ve saved all the files I want to keep, but I understand that this data remains on the hard drives of the old PCs and could be recovered. Is there a reliable way to wipe it? The same goes for my old USB sticks.

I’ve been a Computeractive subscriber for many years and look forward to my copy arriving, especially during these difficult times.

David Ritchie

A Thanks for the compliment, David. It’s a pleasure to be able to help our loyal readers, who have helped to keep us going during lockdown.

Your problem is a perennial one, and is something everyone should consider before discarding or passing on an old PC or storage device. The ‘Format’ option built into Windows is a quick way to wipe any drive: just right-click the drive, choose Format and then click Start. However, as you’re aware, this isn’t a secure way to erase a drive, because it can leave data intact, simply designating it free space. While it’s not exactly easy for the average person to recover data from a drive formatted in this way, it’s no problem for someone who knows what they’re doing.

A better method is to use a free secure-erasure tool such as Eraser (https://eraser.heidi.ie). This tool repeatedly writes random data over any free space on your hard drives or memory sticks, in effect rendering the original contents irrecoverable.

Note that while Eraser is both legitimate and safe to use, the developer’s website hosts adverts, some of which masquerade as download buttons. Don’t be fooled into clicking one of these fakes. Instead, click the Download tab at the top of the page, then scroll down to the real download links, under the Build Name heading. Click).