shindo_hikaru's BLOG

So you got a new computer with the latest technology, but before you discard the old one, make sure you completely eliminate information from the hard drives.

   Before you trade in or dispose of your old computer, the hard drives should be wiped of sensitive, private information. Data contained on non-functioning computers could fall into the wrong hands much to the embarrassment of the previous user.

   “Even though data can be lost due to physical damage or human error, it’s not irretrievable,” says Bill Margeson, president and CEO of CBL Data Recovery Technologies Inc. “That’s why it’s especially important that computers changing hands, either for reuse or disposal, are properly cleansed of all personal information.”

   Repeatedly deleting data, repartitioning or reformatting the hard drive will not erase data completely. Until data is actually overwritten by new information or a signal, programs that read disk sectors directly can still recover lost data. The guaranteed ways to destroy data or make it completely inaccessible are to degauss, wipe the drive, overwrite files or to simply destroy the storage media itself. 

   There are software programs that can destroy data completely like CBL Data Shredder that offers a free application for Windows that eliminates the possibility of resurrecting computer data. To download CBL Data Shredder for Windows, go to www.cbltech.com.sg.