Before selling an old computer, you might be eager to know how to erase private data so as to avoid privacy leakage. In this post, I will explain commonly used ways to remove sensitive information, and finally recommend the best one.
3 Commonly Used Ways to Erase Data Before You Sell Your Computer
Method 1: Delete all personal files one by one, and then empty Recycle Bin. Or delete data via Shift + Delete combination key.
Method 2: Format the drive which saves private information.
Method 3: delete the partition storing private files.
But we have to say, all these 3 ways can’t remove sensitive data information completely, and data recovery software or data recovery companies could recover them. Why?
Both deleting files and formatting partition just operate FAT (for FAT partition) or Master File Table (for NTFS partition), and real data are still saved in their original place until new data are saved to overwrite them. And data recovery software is able to remove deletion mark from FAT or MFT or locate data directly so as to recover them.
Deleting partition only operates partition table, and the real partition still exists until new partition is created to overwrite it. Currently, there is free partitioning software to recover deleted partition(s) via fixing partition table.
Therefore, you’d better not employ any of these 3 methods to erase the private data saved on your computer you want to sell, unless you are using an SSD.
Instead, we highly suggest wiping the partition or disk which saves sensitive information, because this would erase every sector rather than operate FAT, MFT, or partition table.
The Best Way to Erase Private Data: Wipe Disk or Drive
MiniTool Partition Wizard, which is free for Windows home users, is able to wipe single partition(s) as well as the entire hard disk. Please download and install it to your computer. Then, launch the program to get its main interface below:
Here, all disks and partitions are shown.
To wipe a partition, please select the partition and choose "
Wipe Partition" feature from the left side. To wipe a disk, please select the disk and choose "
Wipe Disk" feature.
Then, choose a wiping method and click "
OK".
At last, click "
Apply" to perform all changes.
Note: this may take some time, because it will overwrite every sector. Please wait patiently.
When Partition Wizard shows it applied all changes successfully, you can sell your computer without worrying about data leakage.
At last, hope this article is useful for those who are planning to sell or donate their computer.