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Obviously, you can choose to physically smash the hard drive, but there are alternatives that enable you to keep the system intact so you can donate a complete system. There are many ways to go about making sure your data can never be retrieved. When you donate a computer, you really don’t know where it may end up or if it will go through the hands of a malicious person with the capability to restore previously recorded and deleted data. The last thing you want is to pass on a PC when sensitive business information, or even personal information such as stored passwords, personal documents and credit card numbers that could be retrieved. In the “no good deed ever goes unpunished” department, you need to ensure that you don’t donate more than you planned. If you’ve decided to donate your old computer to a charity, local group or school, it’s extremely important to make sure your computer’s hard drive is completely free of data. Perhaps you have decided to forgo system upgrades and get rid of your computer system and purchase a new one. We look at both approaches and discuss security issues and techniques.
The two most common ways to erase a hard drive are by formatting or wiping the drive.
