Destroying data on drive

People ask all the time about the safety of personal data on a hard drive when they are donating or selling a computer they have used. They want to know the best way to get rid of their personal data.

There are different methods you can do to protect yourself from someone accessing your data on a system you donated. Below are the pros and cons of each

1. Formatting

   1. Pros

      1. Gets rid of the data on the drive so people cannot access the files

   2. Cons

      1. Formatting doesn't completely get rid of the data. Someone with data recovery software or good at computer programming might be able to recover the data.

2. Using Killdisk

   1. Pros

      1. Destroys data and the partition. It is a more secure way of destroying your data.

      2. If you need the utility, you can download it here.

      3. Does a better job of deleting your files than formatting or reinstalling the OS

      4. Run the utility 99 times (You might have to buy the paid version to set the utility to repeat)

   2. Cons

      1. They say this is software eliminates the possibility of someone accessing the files. However it is my opinion that it is still possible.

3. Destroying the hard drive

   1. Pros

      1. Definitely destroys the data on the drive

      2. Drill numerous holes in the drive and burn it.

   2. Cons

      1. If you are donating or selling the computer, you will have to put another hard drive in or the person getting the computer will have to put a hard drive in.

4. Keep the hard drive

   1. Pros

      1. You can put the hard drive in an external drive.

      2. Have access to the data on that drive at any time.

      3. The drive will be portable and can take it with you.

      4. Can use this drive to back up your data from other computers.

   2. Cons

      1. If you are donating or selling the computer, you will have to put another hard drive in or the person getting the computer will have to put a hard drive in.