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Hard Drives Exposed

We bought or salvaged ten used drives and found sensitive business and personal data on all but one.

Tom Spring

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Data Killing 101: Tools and Tips

The only sure way to destroy data on your hard disk is to overwrite it. Here are some programs and tips that will help you do the job right.

  • Access Data's $40 WipeDrive creates a floppy boot disk that you use to overwrite your hard drive--operating system included.

  • LSoft Technologies' Active@ KillDisk, a free DOS utility, also overwrites data but lacks extras such as a tool to verify that a disk has been wiped clean.

  • To purge individual files, Symantec's $70 Norton SystemWorks 2003 includes a utility called WipeInfo.

  • Two free options you can try are Sure Delete and Eraser.

  • Low-level formatting does destroy data on a drive. The procedure, designed to return a hard disk to its factory-issue condition, is typically performed in a DOS environment, and Microsoft does not make or provide tools for low-level formats. However, most hard disk manufacturers provide low-level formatting tools at their Web sites. To identify your hard disk vendor from within Windows, go to the Device Manager window and double-click Disk drives.

Note that performing a high-level format on a drive using the utility included with Windows obliterates practically none of the previous data.

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