# Please Recommend a Disk Wipe Utility **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979 "2020-02-15T16:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/1 "2020-02-15T16:02:01Z")
Please recommend a disk wipe utility if you know of a good one - thanks! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/2 "2020-02-15T16:18:43Z")
When my Dad died my Mom wanted to donate his computer. I figured it should be wiped first, and I used a program called Cybercide from Cyberscrub. It took a few days to run, and was pricey. This was 15 years ago. The problem is that I have no way of knowing how thorough a job it did. Short of having someone actually try to recover data, I had to just kind of trust that it worked. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/3 "2020-02-15T16:21:30Z")
[Eraser](https://eraser.heidi.ie/) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/4 "2020-02-15T16:24:55Z")
[Download SystemRescueCD](http://www.system-rescue-cd.org/Download/) and install it to a disk or flash drive, then use [any of the methods here (my preference would be dd)](http://www.system-rescue-cd.org/manual/Secure_Deletion_of_Data/). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/5 "2020-02-15T16:46:25Z")
SSDs and similar are tricky to erase reliably, but for most purposes a reasonable thing to do is to overwrite every storage block (LBA) with random data-- twice (overwriting the drive only once is not enough). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/6 "2020-02-15T16:50:28Z")
[DBAN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darik%27s_Boot_and_Nuke) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/7 "2020-02-15T17:18:45Z")
We actually need more information to give a good recommendation. First off, is this your boot drive, or some other drive? Second, is this a solid state drive (SSD) or a hard drive? Eraser (mentioned above) is great for hard drives that aren’t your boot drive. The default settings are sufficient for modern hard drives, though you can easily pick more secure options–though it will take much longer if you do so. [DBAN](https://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/files/dban/) is the standard for hard drives that are your boot drive. But you may want to use the tool below. SSDs are trickier. The usual recommendation is to use the SSD software from your manufacturer. However, these usually only run from within Windows. If you can’t get it from your manufacturer or it doesn’t work, then the best tool is probably [Parted Magic](https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html). You’ll need to burn it to a CD or USB drive, but the main website fortunately [has instructions](https://partedmagic.com/creating-liveusb/) for the USB. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/8 "2020-02-15T17:24:05Z")
A 6mm drill. HDDs are too cheap to take any risk. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/9 "2020-02-15T17:45:43Z")
Thanks all - I’m trying to wipe an old laptop - I’ll take a closer look at it… ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/10 "2020-02-15T17:49:12Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > A 6mm drill. > > HDDs are too cheap to take any risk. Not sure the reason the OP wants to wipe but the 2nd poster mentions donating to charity. Your suggestion greatly reduces the value of the computer to the charity and is therefore not recommended in that and similar situations. For standard HDDs, it’s quite easy to wipe the drive for any realistic situation. Easier than taking the drive out, drilling it, cleaning up the mess, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/11 "2020-02-15T18:56:11Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > SSDs and similar are tricky to erase reliably, but for most purposes a reasonable thing to do is to overwrite every storage block (LBA) with random data-- twice (overwriting the drive only once is not enough). Has this ever been proven in the real world? My understanding is that theoretically it may just be possible, but I’ve never seen any real-world examples that it is possible if the entire drive has been overwritten with random bits. [This site claims once is enough.](https://www.howtogeek.com/115573/htg-explains-why-you-only-have-to-wipe-a-disk-once-to-erase-it/) (Though I understand with SSDs it might be a bit different.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/12 "2020-02-15T19:06:28Z")
ETA, actually, [Wikipedia has more info and citations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_erasure#Number_of_overwrites_needed) on this: > [@](#): > > According to the 2014 NIST Special Publication 800-88 Rev. 1, Section 2.4 (p. 7): “For storage devices containing magnetic media, a single overwrite pass with a fixed pattern such as binary zeros typically hinders recovery of data even if state of the art laboratory techniques are applied to attempt to retrieve the data.” > > […] > > The U.S. National Security Agency published an Information Assurance Approval of single-pass overwrite, after technical testing at CMRR showed that multiple on-track overwrite passes gave no additional erasure. > > […] > > Further analysis by Wright et al. seems to also indicate that one overwrite is all that is generally required Of course, I suppose you could always say, yeah, that’s what the NSA wants you to believe, but a normal-to-expert level user isn’t going to hack away at your overwritten data. (And if you could, wouldn’t that effectively double your drive capacity?) (Unless something has changed. If you have examples, I would be really interested in them.) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/13 "2020-02-15T19:22:42Z")
When I have a question like this I often go to Majorgeeks. Here is the software they discuss: > **[Download Shred, Format & Wipe Tools for Windows - MajorGeeks](https://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/sortname/wipers.html)** > > Wipe your hard drive securely You might just go for a free popular one. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/14 "2020-02-15T19:30:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Has this ever been proven in the real world? My understanding is that theoretically it may just be possible, but I’ve never seen any real-world examples that it is possible if the entire drive has been overwritten with random bits. [This site claims once is enough.](https://www.howtogeek.com/115573/htg-explains-why-you-only-have-to-wipe-a-disk-once-to-erase-it/) (Though I understand with SSDs it might be a bit different.) I was only talking about SSDs. [Here is one test](https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/fast11/tech/full_papers/Wei.pdf). Notable are the drive that reported a successful SECURE ERASE command but all of the data was still accessible, and the one drive that was still not clean after being overwritten 20 times. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/15 "2020-02-15T19:37:46Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I was only talking about SSDs. [Here is one test](https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/fast11/tech/full_papers/Wei.pdf). Notable are the drive that reported a successful SECURE ERASE command but all of the data was still accessible, and the one drive that was still not clean after being overwritten 20 times. Yes, that’s for SSDs. I did add the caveat that I understand it’s different with SSDs. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/16 "2020-02-15T19:43:07Z")
I was only talking about SSDs; sorry if that wasn’t clear. With disk drives (a technology that is becoming increasingly obsolete) there is a pretty good chance that when you write to a given block, that data will immediately be physically overwritten, but that is not how SSDs work. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/17 "2020-02-15T20:28:07Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I was only talking about SSDs; sorry if that wasn’t clear. With disk drives (a technology that is becoming increasingly obsolete) there is a pretty good chance that when you write to a given block, that data will immediately be physically overwritten, but that is not how SSDs work. Ah, sorry, my misunderstanding then. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/18 "2020-02-15T20:43:09Z")
The IT guys at my work used to use a Big Honkin’ Magnet™. I’m serious, though [this image might not be](https://www.instructables.com/id/Wooly-Willy-Table/)… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/19 "2020-02-15T20:57:01Z")
FWIW, I double-checked the appendix to the NIST’s [Guidelines for Media Sanitization](https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-88r1), and in order to “purge” flash memory they recommend an ATA block erase, optionally followed by writing binary 1’s to all blocks and a second block erase, or, assuming the drive supports it, a cryptographic erase optionally followed by a block erase. In all cases you should verify your data is no longer readable… ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/20 "2020-02-16T00:11:52Z")
+1 to destroying the drive if you’re passing on the computer. If there’s anything you absolutely don’t want anyone to get to, spend $5 on a torx screwdriver set, take the drive apart, smash the platters/NVRAM chips and throw all the parts away in different places on different days. Assuming you’re in the U.S. (drives are much more expensive overseas), a 120GB SSD is \<$25 and a 1TB HDD \<$40. Knock off $20-$30 your PC/laptop if you’re selling it. The only thing I use the drives in used PCs I buy are for backups as I always use new SSDs when possible for the OS. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979.md?page=2)