Home PC third party file erasure apps

[flatbutt]

I want to do a deep cleaning on my home hard drive. I've come across these three options: Eraser, File Shredder and Freeraser.

Of course I'm looking to the collective for advice on these or other options.

TIA

edit: it also occurs to me that previously deleted files may still exist...how do I nuke those?

[flipper35]

You want the drive intact when done I assume?

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-wipe-your-hard-drive

[GH85Carrera]

Assuming you have just normal personal files and no secret plans on Area 51 projects, Win 10 makes it easy to do with nothing but the rest to factory defaults.

If indeed you have top secret plans to how to power cars on water and only have steam as an exhaust and the oil companies have paid you a trillion dollars to hide the discovery, just remove the drive, and drill holes in it, then submerge it in water until it is full of water, and freeze it solid, and run over it with your car, and then burn it in the outdoor grill and bury it in a hidden location.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Assuming you have just normal personal files and no secret plans on Area 51 projects, Win 10 makes it easy to do with nothing but the rest to factory defaults.

If indeed you have top secret plans to how to power cars on water and only have steam as an exhaust and the oil companies have paid you a trillion dollars to hide the discovery, just remove the drive, and drill holes in it, then submerge it in water until it is full of water, and freeze it solid, and run over it with your car, and then burn it in the outdoor grill and bury it in a hidden location.

salt water

[techman1]

and the run over part should be a truck.....

[flipper35]

Centerfire rifle is all we use. Might see about packing Tannerite in and punching a whole at 100 yards though.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by techman1

and the run over part should be a train.....

fify

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flipper35

Centerfire rifle is all we use. Might see about packing Tannerite in and punching a whole at 100 yards though.

I'm pretty sure that I've seen Abby in NCIS recover data in those circumstances.

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by masraum

I'm pretty sure that I've seen Abby in NCIS recover data in those circumstances.

Yes - partial photo data - but then she can zoom in and increase resolution about 100 fold to produce an in-focus complete image - which is then matched to the photo-database of known terrorists!

[sugarwood]

[red-beard]

Like with a cloth?

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by flipper35

You want the drive intact when done I assume?

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-wipe-your-hard-drive

Will I need to reinstall Windows and various drivers?

[red-beard]

Somebody had to say it....

[fanaudical]

Hard drives are cheap enough that it's worthwhile just pulling the previous and putting in a new one. Just reinstall the OS. Take a sledge hammer to the old one if you're concerned about data retrieval.

[WolfeMacleod]

It's built in to the command prompt in Windows 7 and 8. Not sure about others.

When the command prompt opens type:

cipher /w:F:\

Where F is the letter of the drive you want to securely overwrite the free space on.

https://www.howtogeek.com/137108/how-securely-overwrite-free-space-in-windows/?fbclid=IwAR2xaNftmGBjDsfSfZK-w-VUtHEK_es_q6PpV2fc_aYFIuWGrFQ-gf7_eRg

[RWebb]

wipe it, then remove from the computer

take the individual discs off of the platter assembly in the unit, then run a sander over each one on both sides

Optional:

next, melt them down in a furnace

take the slag and load it on a rocket

then "set the controls for the heart of the sun"

[pmax]

Sledgehammer.

Wear goggles.

Too crude ?

[RWebb]

the FBI might deploy a large team of robots to reassemble the pieces

do it my way and yer safe

[Bill Douglas]

When I worked for the Ministry of Death (Ministry of Defence) I got told if any data got retrieved from those old decommissioned PCs I would not just die...

So I brought in my big electric drill and put a hole through each one.