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Hardwipe, Erase Hard Drives Securely

Martin Brinkmann — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:13:47 +0000

I usually give away old computer systems to friends or family when I build a new one. And since I’m building a new PC every one or two years, there seems to be always someone who could make good use of my old computer system.

I prepare the old systems before I give them away. This involves deleting all files and the operating system, and installing a new operating system once the hard drives have been formatted and I have made sure that the data on the drives is no longer recoverable.

Software like Hardwipe can be used to erase hard drives securely. Securely in this regard means that the data on the drive will be wiped so that it cannot be recovered anymore.

Hardwipe is only one of the programs for that specific task. Other suitable applications include Prevent Restore, Eraser or Blank and Secure to name a few. All have in common that they overwrite files, hard drives or unused disk space to render file recovery software useless.

When you first start Hardwipe, you are presented with the following interface.

Here you can select to wipe files or drives, clean free space or purge the Windows swapfile. The configuration options on the right side of the interface remain the same regardless of selection. You can change the method that is used to overwrite data. Available are quick wipes which overwrite the selected data once to the Gutmann algorithm which overwrites data 35 times. It is furthermore possible to change the speed control setting from automated to full speed or restricted.

A click on Wipe Files opens a file browser which can be used to select individual files or folders for secure deletion. It is possible to select multiple files or folders by holding down the Ctrl key during selection.

Wipe Drive on the other hand asks the user to select a drive or partition to erase all data on that hard drive permanently. Clean Space finally is used to delete all traces of previous files on a partition’s or hard drive’s free space. The Purge Swapfile option, even though listed, is not functional yet.

Hardwipe is a solid alternative for other tools that wipe hard disks and delete files securely under Windows. Tooltips would be handy to explain some options in the program interface that may not be clear immediately. The software integrates into the Windows Explorer context menu to securely delete files and folders directly from the default file manager.

Windows users can download the latest version of Hardwipe from the developer website. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

SSD Security: Erase Solid State Drives Data

Martin Brinkmann — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:03:57 +0000

While it is still not common sense to securely erase data on hard drives (read: Securely Erase Files) before computers or hard drives are sold or given away the matter becomes even more complicated where SSD – Solid State Drives – are concerned. The positive aspect of Solid State Drives is that data cannot be recovered if it is overwritten on the drive which means that only one pass would be needed to erase the data on the SSD. The bad news however is that not the operating system but the controller is specifying where the data is written on the SSD.

This in effect means that all methods of overwriting free space are not sufficient for erasing the data securely on those drives. This also means as well that it is not possible to erase specific files securely on the SSD. Users who want to delete data securely on SSDs have therefor the following options at hand:

Encryption
Format
Filling the Drive

Encryption is surely the best method of ensuring that the data on a SSD is secure as it cannot be accessed without decryption. Formatting the drive on the other hand is only reasonable if no data on that drive is needed anymore. It would otherwise require extensive backup and restoration procedures. Filling the drive with data might work as well as it would overwrite anything on the drive as well.

Erase Data On CD Or DVD Permanently

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:01:48 +0000

Data CDs and DVDs that are no longer needed pose a few problems. Throwing them away could be a privacy risk because everyone who finds them could simply read them and discover what data has been stored on the disks. Destroying them by cutting, scratching or breaking on the other hand might release chemicals to the environment.

Lite-On developed the Smart Erase technique to give users a reliable way of erasing the data on CDs and DVDs without damaging the disk. To make it clearer, the technique is compatible to all CD-R and DVD-R disks, not only their rewritable counterparts.

Smart Erase overwrites the data contained on the disk with random characters much like the tools that can erase files or the free space of a hard drive so that the data is not recoverable afterwards. Nero 7 Essentials which ships with the retail versions of each DVD writer will have that feature build in which can be used in combination with one of the announced Lite-On DVD writers.

The first DVD writers are expected to hit shelves in September and October:

iHAP322 is a 22X DVD writer with PATA connection
iHAP422 is a 22X DVD writer with PATA connection and LightScribe
iHAS322 is a 22X DVD writer with SATA connection
iHAS422 is a 22X DVD writer with SATA connection and LightScribe

The new technique supports two modes: Quick Erase will only erase data in the lead in track and the first track of the CD / DVD while Full Erase will erase the full disk.