PC Data Wipe
The simplest and the most secure way to protect your personal confidential data to avoid winding up in the wrong hands are to physically remove the hard drive. After that, you can install the old drive which is taken down by you into your new computer. An alternative way to deal with the old drive is to put it in a USB hard drive enclosure, and use it as a backup or portable storage.
Professional Software Data Erasure
Flexcycle relies on a data sanitization program known as the “US Department of Defense (DoD) 5220.22-M Standard” . This approach works by “Overwriting all addressable locations with a character, its complement, then a random character and verify”. Erasing a hard drive using the DoD 5220.22-M data sanitization method will prevent all software based file recovery methods from lifting information from the drive and should also prevent most if not all hardware based recovery methods. This by far the most effective and secure way of erasing your data and wiping a hard drive. Flexcycle will provide customers with a certificate of data wipe to guarantee its compliance with DoD 5220.22-M Standard.
Unprofessional Data Wipe Ways
The following are some other's commonplace ways to wipe data; these methods however cannot guarantee to completely clean hard drive.
File Deletion
Placing files into and then emptying the Recycling Bin is one way to delete files but not the process of erasing hard drive. The area these files previously occupied is marked as unused but the files can still be recovered.
Reformat and Reinstall
Another option is to reformat the hard disk. This will delete all the information on the computer; this includes all files, folders and applications that have been installed. It is worth noting however that some of the data deleted can still be retrieved because this is not the way to complete hard drive erasing.
