Yes, every one of us are aware of this fact and so, we delete the contents of the hard disk either by using the DELETE key on our keyboard or by Formatting the hard disk.
Deleting and Formatting – Just Not Secure Enough
But the fact is, the data will still be
on the hard disk even after deleting it or formatting the hard disk.
Using the delete key on your keyboard will only remove the shortcuts to
the files making them invisible to users. Deleted files still reside on
the hard drive and a quick Google search will show many options for
system recovery software will allow anyone to reinstate that data.
Formatting the hard
drive is a bit more secure way to erase the hard disk. Formatting a
disk will not erase the actual data on the disk but only the address
tables pointing to the data are dropped. It makes it much more difficult
to recover the files. However, a computer specialist would be able to
recover most or all the data that was on the disk before the reformat.
For those who accidentally reformat a hard disk, being able to recover
most or all the data that was on the disk is a good thing. However, if
you’re preparing a system for retirement to charity or any other
organization, this obviously makes you more vulnerable to data theft.
Erasing the Hard Disk through DISK WIPING:
So it is necessary for us to use a 100 percent secure way to erase the data from the hard disk drive. This way of securely erasing the data is called Disk Wiping.
Disk wiping is a secure method of ensuring that data, including company
and individually licensed software on your computer and storage devices
is irrecoverably deleted before recycling or donating the equipment.
Because previously stored data can be brought back with the right
software and applications, the disk wiping process will actually
overwrite your entire hard drive with data, several times. Once you
format you’ll find it all but impossible to retrieve the data which was
on the drive before the overwrite. The more times the disk is
overwritten and formatted the more secure the disk wipe is.
There are a variety of disk wiping
products available that you can purchase, or freely downloaded online to
perform more secure disk wipes. One of my favorite disk wiping software
is:
You have to use this tool by burning the iso image
file onto a CD or by using a floppy disk. After burning this tool you
have to boot your PC and follow the screen instructions to completely
wipe out the data from your hard disk drive.
