Procedure of Data Wiping From Computer!

 

Procedure of Data Wiping From Computer!

 

Nowadays it is normal to take into consideration certain security guidelines that contemplate routines for the protection of our private data when browsing,  using email or performing another task that involves the manipulation of any type of sensitive information  that we may use in our daily work. Users of computer equipment spent many hours or divertimento front of the computer screen, leaving the way writings, letters, passwords, pictures, browsing history, financial data, videos, audio, emails and lots of other information that we quickly forget, because we think it has been completely erased from our hard drive.

While this erasure procedure is powerful enough while we are the owner of our computer to provide us with a safe way to delete data, it is not so powerful when we decide to sell the equipment. During the useful life of our PC's hard drive  , hundreds and thousands of personal data and private information are stored, which although deleted, will continue to be present on the disk, because the device removal procedure will only indicate to the operating system that space is available. 

However, it will not erase the data that was previously there. This technique is used by manufacturers to achieve better performance and performance, prioritizing the response speed of the equipment to the detriment of safety.

This is something simply verifiable by us.  For this we have to use software, of which there are several alternatives on the market, that allows us to recover deleted files, and thus we can check how easily that information that we thought was deleted forever is recovered. But the most important thing here is the reflection that arises from this whole affair : If we can, others will too. Therefore, if we have decided to sell our computer, the fact that our information is still kept is an extremely dangerous point, so we must carry out a series of steps that will allow us to permanently and permanently eliminate our passage through the PC.

Bear in mind that emptying the Windows Recycle Bin is not enough to keep us calm, since in the case of the sale of the computer,  the data that is still on the computer can be quickly recovered by its new owner,  through the use of simple tools that have been designed for this purpose. At this point, and to completely eliminate any trace of this valuable information, it is best to  clean the storage unit of our PC. This technique ensures that no user, regardless of their computer knowledge, can recover and view the files that we have removed it from the PC.

As we know, deleting personal folders and reinstalling the operating system from scratch or reinstalling it from the recovery partition  is not enough to ensure that our personal files cannot be recovered. 

For this reason, it is recommended that to sell a PC in which potentially sensitive data may still exist, we must make sure to carry out a Data Wiping or  “Wiping” process  of the storage unit in order to avoid future problems. But there is a problem with this technique,  in the event that for some reason we decide to leave the operating system intact,  it will not be possible, and having an operating system  with which to show the benefits of the PC to a potential buyer is absolutely necessary.

That is why in this article we will learn about the different ways to  clean a hard drive to make it completely safe,  and also a simple way to clean forever the personal data it may contain  while keeping the operating system intact , which will be helpful when let's sell the equipment.

Popular methods to permanently delete data from a hard drive

Safety should never be taken lightly; this is a maxim that must be taken into account in all scenarios of our life, from the moment we get up until we go to bed. Unfortunately, this is not seen like this by many users, who out of ignorance or simple negligence, leave doors open that will soon be exploited by all kinds of criminals.

In this sense, the safe use of a computer requires some knowledge, certain technical details that, if left to their own devices, can reveal a lot about us, very valuable information that will most likely end up in the wrong hands.

The best example we can provide is that of hard drives. When a drive has reached the end of its useful life,  we will most likely copy your data before we discard it and then format it to prevent our information from being exposed.

However, just formatting a disk does not mean that we are actually deleting the data it contains, we are basically hiding it from the operating system, but the files and documents are still there, ready for almost anyone with the appropriate software to reveal and use them. for your benefit.

This is really a problem and a major security breach ; Whether we discard the disk because it is faulty or because we are going to sell the computer, it  is important to find a way that the data on it cannot be retrieved and reused.

At this point, the question that many of us are asking ourselves is: How do I do this? The answer is simple and short: We can use one of the most effective and fastest ways to eliminate the content of the hard disk so that it cannot be recovered, which is called Data Wiping.

What is the Data Wiping method?

As we have already seen,  when we delete a file it is not completely removed from the disk,  instead the system marks its location as free, leaving it ready to be overwritten with another file later. This fact means that our deleted data and files can remain accessible to anyone who has the necessary knowledge to recover and view them. Obviously, this is especially dangerous, especially when we plan to sell that computer.

The first thing to clarify is that the English term "Wiping" is translated in this context as "Clean", and in general terms, this Data Wiping process basically overwrites all sectors in the storage unit, replacing its content with zeros when random, thus ensuring that original content in those locations marked as deleted can  no longer be recovered.

This type of Wiping ensures 100% security in the elimination of sensitive files,  and guarantees that more experienced users cannot  use tools like Recuva to try to recover this data. The Wiping method ensures the total and complete elimination of the files that we have deleted, leaving the hard disk free of any trace of them. To do this, it uses a special overwriting technique, which writes a series of random strings of ones and zeros on the surface of the disk where they were located.

Currently we can find on the market a vast range of applications that we can use for this task, most of them free to use. It should be noted that with these programs it is also possible to perform the procedure on any cell phone memory card or digital camera.