How to erase data without the possibility of recovery. Delete data permanently Erase all data from the hard drive
Order in the computer is the key to user well-being - no glitches, maximum performance. Yes, and it is clear visually where which file lies, what programs are installed, what they are for.
But if, on the contrary, chaos reigns on PC disks ... - this is definitely a problem. But, fortunately, fixable. Any obscenity (files and folders, unnecessary programs) can be removed from the computer manually and using special utilities. For information on how to properly and quickly carry out "cleaning" on hard drive drives, read this article.
All in one fell swoop out of sight…
Before globally deleting everything that is on the computer, I clean it up, of course, you must first review all sections once again. Suddenly, after all, somewhere in the folder, something useful was lying around: photos, videos, text files with passwords and logins, reports, or some other valuable documents.
When you are 100% sure that you do not regret anything from the available data in the directories, start cleaning.
Option number 1: if the disk is not a system one
If you need to quickly “unload” a disk partition that does not have a system, that is, delete everything from it completely, do not bother painstakingly dragging files to the trash, but simply take it and format it.
1. Right-click on the drive you want to delete all files from.
2. In the system menu that appears, click the "Format" item.
3. In the formatting settings panel, in the option " File system”, set the value to “NTFS”, in “Cluster size” - 4096 bytes.
4. Click the "Start" button.
5. In the additional window "Attention! … "confirm the launch of the formatting function: click "ok".
That's all! Now the disk, as they say, from a "clean slate". No files, no folders - nothing.
You can also perform this procedure on the command line:
1. Open the console.
- Windows 7: open the start menu; type cmd in the line and press "Enter".
- Windows 8: right-click on the Windows icon (the very first icon in the taskbar).
2. At the command line, enter the command:
format:
(for example, to format drive D, you need to enter - format d:)
3. Press "Enter".
4. In the prompt line "Start formatting ...", type the letter Y (Yes) and press "Enter" again.
Option number 2: formatting drive C (system partition)
The partition on which Windows is stored cannot be deleted using the method described above. Disk C is formatted using a special utility from the installation disk operating system and then, respectively, the OS is installed.
1. Insert the installation DVD into the DVD drive Windows disk.
2. In the "Start" panel, in the "Shut down" menu, launch the "Restart" function.
3. While the computer is restarting, hold down the "F8" key.
4. Select the option to boot from DVD from the menu that opens.
Note. The boot setting on your PC can be activated by another key (for example, "F2" or "F11").
5. In the window " Windows installation» select the interface language "Russian". Click next.
6. Click the mouse in the list to select the drive on which the system is installed.
7. In the control panel, click "Disk Settings".
8. Select the "Format" command.
Upon completion of the operation, all files, programs and other elements from drive C will be deleted, and you can immediately start installing the OS clean.
How to remove everything unnecessary from the C drive?
Selective cleaning of the system partition should be carried out regularly. This requirement is primarily related to the specifics of Windows operation. (During its operation junk files in separate directories are accumulated arbitrarily, without user intervention). And then, you run less risk of losing useful content and valuable data (that is, deleting something very necessary from the C drive during the formatting process).
Method number 1: activating the regular function
1. Run the system computer cleanup utility.
- Windows 7: open "Start"; in the search bar, enter "disk cleanup"; select drive C from the drop-down menu; click "ok";
- Windows 8: right-click on the shortcut "Windows" (in the taskbar); click "Find"; in the panel that opens, type "disk cleanup"; in the menu, click "Free up disk space ...".
2. Wait for the directory analysis to complete (on average, the utility takes 2-3 minutes to complete this task).
3. In the settings window, on the "Disk Cleanup" tab, check the boxes by clicking the mouse next to the elements that need to be deleted or cleaned.
4. In the window that opens, click "Delete Files".
Advice! You can get rid of OS restore points (if you don't plan to use them!). Go to the "Advanced" tab and in the "Recovery ..." block, click the "Clear" button. Confirm the launch of the function in the additional window.
Method number 2: cleaning up the disk with cleaner utilities
There are a huge number of programs that free drive C from "digital trash" in automatic and semi-automatic mode. In this short tutorial, we will look at the most popular solutions.
(https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download)
1. In the vertical menu of the program, click the mouse to activate the "Cleaning" section.
2. On the Windows and Applications tabs, indicate which items to remove or clean up.
3. Click the "Analyze" button.
4. After the scan is completed, click on the "Clean" command.
(http://www.chemtable.com/ru/organizer.htm)
1. Select Disk Cleanup from the vertical menu.
2. In the adjacent panel, click the "Scan" button.
3. Wait a moment: the utility will analyze the directories of the partition.
4. When the procedure is completed, click "Perform cleaning".
We destroy useless media content
Remember Plyushkin from the book "Dead Souls" by N.V. Gogol? Well, mountains, or rather tens and hundreds of gigabytes of seemingly useful, but seemingly useless content on the disks of your PC unequivocally indicate that you are very similar to this literary hero ...
Books, movies, TV shows, huge software distributions, games that are not really needed take up precious free disk space. And they also burden the user with the need to constantly increase it when you need to download something else.
1. Right-click on the file or folder you want to destroy. And then in context menu click Remove.
2. Don't forget to empty the Trash when cleaning is complete. Also, hover over it, right-click and select "Empty Trash".
Get rid of unnecessary programs
Standard uninstall
1. Open the system Start menu. Go to "Control Panel".
2. Click on the "Uninstall a program" section.
3. In the list of software available in the system, right-click the unwanted program.
4. Click the Delete option that appears.
5. Follow the instructions of the uninstaller.
Removing software with special utilities
(instruction for using Soft Organizer)
If for some reason a useless application cannot be removed from the PC in the standard way, or if you want to perform a more thorough cleaning of the disk directories, it is more advisable to use uninstaller programs (for example, Revo Uninstaller, Uninstall Tool). They not only remove software elements, but also neutralize their remnants in other folders, in the system registry.
Consider the option of uninstallation using the Soft Organizer utility:
1. Click in the software catalog to select the application that you want to remove.
2. Click the Uninstall a program button.
3. Perform a standard uninstallation, and then remove the remnants of the application (follow the prompts of Soft Organizer).
Happy cleaning! Do not be lazy, your diligence and efforts will pay off handsomely. The computer will work faster, you will spend a minimum of time searching for useful data in the directories of disk partitions.
It's no secret that the most valuable thing today is information. Yes, with its help you can both earn a fortune in a matter of hours and lose everything to the last penny. Despite the fact that we do not have such data, unfortunately, everyone has important information.
It can be anything from documents to personal correspondence. Therefore, it is very important to be able to transfer, hide, copy and delete information.
This is the main reason why we decided to consider deleting files without the possibility of recovery.
In this article, we will reveal in detail the most popular methods that will help destroy information. You know that completely destroying information by a simple method of deleting and formatting a disk is unrealistic. As a result, these files and folders can be easily restored using special utilities and also using special applications.
Destruction of data on the hard drive using the Eraser HDD program.
You don't have to be a computer science monster to learn how to permanently delete files from your computer, especially if you have a tool like Eraser HDD. The main advantage of this program is that it does not require installation on the machine. Moreover, this program is absolutely free.
2. Next, click the "Start" button. You will instantly see a list of available hard drives. Please note that the number is written in the first column hard drive. You need to select the disk where you want to permanently destroy the information, and remember the number assigned to it.
3. After that, enter the number of the physical disk and confirm your desire to destroy the data by clicking the "Apply" button.
4. Eraser HDD will ask you to confirm the action. And pay attention again! This is the last moment you have the opportunity to change your mind. If you confirm the deletion, wait for the following message to appear:
Congratulations Destruction of information on the hard drive was successful.
Auslogics BoostSpeed or how to permanently delete files from a computer
If you need to delete individual files without formatting HDD, use the Auslogics BoostSpeed program. Deleting information with its help will be as quick as possible, see for yourself.
1. The first thing to do is download the program and install it on your computer. We launch and in the main menu select the item “View”, where we click on “Tools”.
2. After that, in the “Privacy” group on the “Tools” tab, select the “Destroy files” link.
3. A new window opens in front of you, where in the “Auslogics File Shredder” menu, follow “Settings->Program Settings”.
4. The program will prompt you to specify “Options”. To do this, in the “Erasing settings” tab, if necessary: – set the “Perform additional erasing” marker. This guarantees you a more reliable level of data deletion. In the drop-down list, which is called “Erase method”, specify the appropriate method for destroying information (at the bottom of the list you will find all the necessary information about each method separately). Confirm your actions by clicking "OK".
5. Click “Add” and from the drop-down list select what you want to add for later deletion: files (specify “Add files…”) or folders (“Add folder…”). We chose to delete the entire folder. Note that you can also choose to delete files .
6. In the "Browse for folders" window, specify the drive and folder you want to delete. Confirm your decision by clicking "OK".
7. The selected folder is already in the list of folders to be deleted. If you wish to add more files or folders, repeat steps 5 and 6. When the list is ready, press the “Delete” button.
After that, the deletion of the specified folders and files starts. The time for this procedure depends on the amount of information to be deleted and on the speed of the computer.
As soon as the data from the computer is completely deleted, a dialog box will appear in front of you, where it will be written - “Erasing completed”. Here you can see information about how many files or folders have been deleted. Here you can also find a link to a detailed report on the process. To close the window you need to click on the cross.
As a result of simple steps, you were able to easily delete files from your computer using a simple and affordable tool - Auslogics BoostSpeed.
As you can see, deleting data is a simple process if you have the necessary software packages on hand. With their help, it is possible to delete not only individual folders and files, but also format the entire disk. Finally, we note that today there are a lot of such programs, and their principle of operation is practically no different from those described.
Take care of the information and you will always "be on top".
Many people believe that if it is impossible to use the hard disk due to its inoperability, then it means that the data from it cannot be read. But this is not the case, and even a broken hard drive is still a loophole for information security breaches.
A hard drive consists of a set of magnetic platters that contain sectors that are not directly readable by the operating system. When a file is deleted, only the pointer to it in memory is actually deleted by the operating system. The area containing the deleted data is marked as free space, and therefore, until a new file is written to this place, the data can be read. To recover and read deleted data, a special software. It searches for sectors containing any data of deleted files, and then they are restored. This is not too difficult to do, and what's more, you can find free data recovery software. It should be noted here that the software for recovering data on physically damaged sectors of disks does not work and that we cannot use this software without an operating system.
When we consider that the disk is broken, we must remember that in fact only one of the microcircuits or mechanical parts inside the disk becomes faulty. And the platters, where all the files are stored, are still functional, because the disk is in a hard case and the platters do not have any mechanical or electrical parts. Forensic experts only use platters to recover deleted files on broken drives. But if desired, even a not very experienced specialist in this case will be able to recover files, because descriptions of procedures for manually recovering deleted files are common on the Internet.
What to do?
Users and companies wishing to sell or donate a used hard drive separately or together with a computer, or discard damaged drives, should first completely clean the drive. Deleting data from disks is the process of permanently deleting the data on them. There are two types of hard drive cleaning - physical data erasure and data destruction.
Physical cleaning
The fastest option is to demagnetize the disk. To do this, you can use special devices designed to guarantee the destruction of data on magnetic media at the end of their service life in order to ensure the security of storage and prevent information leakage. As an example, I can mention the Lavina device manufactured by the Ukrainian company Epos.
This device uses a physical method of data destruction, based on the impact on the drive of a powerful electromagnetic pulse. As a result, all magnetic domains of the carrier are uniformly magnetized to saturation. This leads to the disappearance of magnetic transitions, in which the information recorded on the carrier is encoded. Thus, the complete destruction of the original magnetic structure of the carrier leads to the guaranteed destruction of all data ever stored on it.
The stand-alone multifunctional device EPOS DiskMaster Portable allows you to work with all hard drives with PATA, SATA, eSATA interfaces, regardless of manufacturer, model and capacity. All operations are performed at the highest possible speed that the drive supports (data transfer rate up to 8 GB / min). Unlike software tools with similar functionality, the device provides copying and destruction of data in the hidden area of HPA (Host Protected Area) hard drives, as well as on hard drives with defects on the surfaces.
Information destroyers of this kind are also produced by Detector systems, Infosecure and others.
Physical destruction of a disk is a method of securely erasing data. This is the preferred method of data destruction when other methods fail or if the hard drive is severely damaged. Physically destroying hard drives is the quickest and most effective method of securely deleting data, but the hard drive itself will naturally no longer be used.
Programmatic data cleaning
Programmatic data wiping is the process of permanently deleting data stored in an area that is logically considered free space, using specific data deletion techniques. The process occurs while the computer is booting, but after the operating system is loaded. This is the recommended method if you intend to sell, donate or reuse the disc.
Here are the top three hard drive cleaning software:
- DBAN - cleaning program at system boot, multi-platform, free;
- DiskWipe - does not require installation, supports Windows (XP, Vista, 7), free;
- CCleaner, supports Windows (XP, Vista, 7), free.
Data cleanup software works great on drives that don't have bad sectors. It cannot erase information on damaged disks. To effectively destroy data, it is necessary to repeat the process of erasing data at least three times. A complete erase cycle may take several hours or days depending on the capacity of the drive.
Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)
Darik's Software boot and Nuke (DBAN) can be downloaded here. Here you will get a downloadable ISO image, which you can then burn to a CD and, after booting from it, select a hard drive to delete the data. Next, turn on the computer whose hard drives you want to clean, making sure it will boot from the CD drive, and then insert the DBAN CD.
1. If you boot correctly, you will see a welcome screen and a boot: _ prompt (screen 1).
Screenshot 1. Darik's Boot and Nuke window
2. Press Enter and go to DBAN Interactive mode, see Figure 2. If your drive contains confidential information or business sensitive data, skip to step 3, otherwise skip it and go to step 4.
Screen 2. Disks and Partition
3. Press the "M" key to manually select the cleaning method and select Gutmann Wipe, then press Enter. This method is recommended for deleting sensitive data. With the Gutmann Wipe method, 35 passes are made along hard drive(screen 3).
Figure 3: Choosing a Gutmann Wipe Removal Method
4. Make sure that the image on the screen matches that shown on screen 4.
Screen 4. Selecting a drive to delete data using Gutmann Wipe
5. Press the Space key to move to the screen to start the data deletion process (Screen 5).
Screenshot 5: Starting the data deletion process screen
6. Make sure you have selected the correct disk (partition) to delete data. If everything is OK, press the F10 key to start the uninstall process (Screen 6).
Figure 6: Data deletion process
The entire data deletion process can take up to 12 hours.
DiskWipe
Disk Wipe is a free Windows application for guaranteed data destruction without installation. The Disk Wipe utility can be downloaded from http://www.diskwipe.org/ . With Disk Wipe you can erase all contents of a disk and make it impossible to . Disk Wipe allows you to delete data both from a partition and from the entire hard disk using Dod 5220-22.M, US Army, Peter Guttman algorithms. S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, FIREWIRE interfaces are supported (screen 7).
Figure 7: Disk Wipe window
CCleaner
CCleaner is free program for optimizing your computer, combining a system cleaning module that removes all unnecessary and temporary files, and a full-featured registry cleaning module. CCleaner cleans the following system components:
- Internet Explorer - temporary cache files, browsing history, cookies, hidden Index.dat files, download history.
- Recycle Bin.
- Clipboard.
- Windows temporary files.
- Windows logs.
- List of recent documents (in the start menu).
- History of executed commands (in the "Start" menu).
- History of the Search Assistant in Windows XP.
- Deprecated Prefetch data in Windows XP.
- Memory dumps after Windows crashes.
- File fragments left after running the Chkdsk command.
Additional features allow you to clean:
- menu order cache;
- systray message cache;
- Windows size and address cache;
- user assistance history;
- IIS log files;
- additional folders.
CCleaner not only removes old files and other standard data Windows components, but also allows you to clean up temporary files and lists of recent documents in many other programs: Opera, Safari, Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Microsoft, Nero, Adobe Acrobat Reader, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and others.
CCleaner uses the registry cleaner module to detect various problems and inconsistencies in the system. It checks for file extensions, ActiveX controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, uninstaller, common DLLs, fonts, help file links, application paths, icons, bad shortcuts.
In addition, the function of permanently deleting files with multiple overwrites is provided, which does not allow them to be restored in any way (Figure 8).
As Figure 8 shows, the following algorithms can be used to securely wipe free disk space:
- simple erase (1 pass);
- DOD 5220.22-M (3 cycles);
- NSA (7 cycles);
- Gutmann (35 cycles).
Figure 8: Unrecoverable Erase with CCleaner
You can choose for yourself the optimal algorithm for overwriting free space, based on speed / security requirements.
We should not forget about the built-in means of unrecoverable erasure from the operating system. Team
Cipher/W: directory
provides a non-recoverable erasure of free space in the selected directory; it has existed in the Windows family since Windows versions 2000. However, it should be noted that in this case, fast erasure is performed.
In fact, deleting data without the possibility of recovery is not difficult at all. It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen uninstallation approach (software or hardware). Software Erase allows you to reuse discs, but is time consuming and can only be used on working hard drives. Hardware is much faster, allows you to process non-working (unreadable) disks. However, when used on working disks, there is always a chance, due to too strong a magnetic impulse, to cause the disks to fail forever.
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Good afternoon. Today I will continue the article "". Many users quite often face a situation where they need to remove everything from their computer.
This can happen for various reasons. Home, protecting your sensitive data. For example, many people often need to sell a computer. For the most part, in order to obtain a new more powerful model. You can, of course, sell a PC by nodes, but we will consider the option when a person wants to sell the entire system unit.
I think it is clear to you that before selling a computer, you need to remove all confidential information from it. It is desirable to do this, because valuable information can be stored on the hard disk. confidential information. For example, video materials, photos and other data that you do not want to leave to strangers.
How to remove everything from the computer Formatting during system installation
I will not describe to you the reinstallation of the system itself, especially since I have already done this in the article "?", I will just add. During the system reinstallation, when you are in the disk selection window, click on the line at the bottom of the "Disk Setup" window.
Then, select the disk to format and click "Format". In our case, because we want to delete all information from the computer, let's select each of the disks in turn.
We formatted all drives except the system one (if we used methods 1 and 2). To complete the deletion of all information, let's go to the system drive (usually, this is drive C), and delete all folders, except for the Windows folder (it cannot be deleted, our system is located in it). After that, do not forget to empty our basket.
How to permanently delete everything from your computer
Now you know how to remove everything from your computer. It remains to choose the method you like and carry out a complete formatting of the computer. Personally, I prefer formatting during a system reinstall. Good luck!
Friends, I recommend installing the system not on a regular HDD disk, but on an SSD, as I did. Buy it you can on aliexpress. Disks on the page from 120 to 960 GB, i.e., actually 1TB. Judging by the description, the disc is suitable for both Computers and (laptops).
From the screenshot you can see the volumes of the disks. If you need to install the system exactly, it is enough to purchase a disk with a capacity of 120 GB. If, however, as a full-fledged hard drive, then, at your discretion, from 480 to 960 GB. Why do I recommend installing Windows on a solid state hard drive? Your system will boot in seconds! If you purchase a 1TB disk, all your programs will fly!
Andrey Zimin 29.09.2015
You can use a laptop for a long time, but eventually the time will come when it needs to be upgraded. Or you can even choose to upgrade your hard drive to a larger capacity or install a faster one. SSD drive to make your existing laptop run faster. You can decide to sell your old hard drive or send it in for recycling. Among the many files that can be found on old hard drives are login tokens, browsing history, personal photos and videos, confidential employer documents, and personal bank and credit cards.
We should discuss how data can get in this way to another, and how to erase a laptop hard drive or any hard drive and clear it of any sensitive data.
What should you do before you erase your laptop hard drive?
Remember that after the tricks and methods mentioned in this article, you must go an extra step to ensure that all data on the hard drive is destroyed and cannot be recovered by anyone, including you! Back up any data you may need and keep it in a safe place. Also make sure to make a few calls to the customer service firm of the relevant software vendor to transfer any software licenses you may need later.
Part 1: How to securely erase a laptop hard drive using a program
One way to securely clean a laptop hard drive that is easily accessible to the average user is to use removal software. Stellar BitRaser for erasing files is one such program that provides a wide range of erasing options. It promises to wipe data past the point where it can be retrieved by any means. It is designed to provide a quick and easy way to wipe your laptop hard drive. It can also provide a file wipe task reference, which you can then save for your organization's record keeping. It offers 17 different standard and advanced erasing algorithms which are a good option for advanced users, while beginners can use it with just a few clicks.
Advice: If you need to have the extra peace of mind that your data is completely overwritten, you can run this process again. It will work again erasing data through a special algorithm. A couple of overwrite passes are enough to ensure that your data is completely erased before the restore point.
Part 2: clean laptop hard drive without software
If for some reason you are unable to install additional software, you can use the built-in functions in Windows to erase your hard drive. The process varies slightly for erasing the main boot drive.
Medium erase (non-bootable) drive
- Open Windows Explorer by pressing the Windows key + E or by double-clicking This PC on the desktop or Start menu. Then go to different drives and make sure it's exactly what you want to erase. Anything and everything will be erased.
- Open command line from the Start menu (Start menu and type "cmd").
- Type the following command and press Enter. This will overwrite the destination (assumed to be drive D: in this case), thereby erasing any original data - D: /fs:NTFS /p:1
Erasing the primary (boot) drive
- If you already have a recovery disk, then you can skip this step, if not, you need to create a recovery disk. To do this, insert a blank CD or DVD into your DVD drive, and then go to Control Panel for Backup and Restore. Click on the Create a System Recovery Disc button and follow the instructions.
- Insert the recovery disc into the drive and then boot from it. You can do this by going to your download settings. Please note during BIOS flashing, you need to press the DEL or F2 button so that you can get into the boot menu or boot options.
- Select and use recovery tools that can help fix Windows' startup issues.
- Open a command prompt go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt
- Enter the following command, which works in the same way as mentioned in the previous section. C: /fs:NTFS /p:2
Your laptop's hard drive can contain very important information, and therefore you shouldn't take it seriously once it's been deleted. Fortunately, there are various ways to ensure complete destruction of data without the possibility of recovery. Even for those who are not savvy, tools like Stellar BitRaser can provide simple ways to ensure secure data erasure.
