# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/21 "2020-02-17T23:06:40Z")
For spinning drives I have used Eraser, Parted Magic, and DBAN depending on what the drive was used for. For SSDs, I drill them. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/22 "2020-02-18T01:36:40Z")
> [@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. Yeah, SSDs are actually much more difficult to recover data from. With any modern SSD, and a OS with TRIM turned on, data that is marked for erasure is pretty much immediately cleared and [irrecoverable](https://www.stellarinfo.co.in/blog/is-trim-making-data-recovery-from-ssds-impossible/). ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/23 "2020-02-18T09:48:33Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > A 6mm drill. > > HDDs are too cheap to take any risk. The drill was my preferred method. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/24 "2020-02-18T18:17:17Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Yeah, SSDs are actually much more difficult to recover data from. > With any modern SSD, and a OS with TRIM turned on, data that is marked for erasure is pretty much immediately cleared and [irrecoverable](https://www.stellarinfo.co.in/blog/is-trim-making-data-recovery-from-ssds-impossible/). Assuming the commands are implemented correctly (one would hope so!), this is the case. The not-even-brand-new guide I linked to above does recommend relying on the drive’s block erase command (and verifying that the data looks gone) if you are not going to physically destroy the drive. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/25 "2020-02-18T21:25:14Z")
See [this nearby current thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=889695) for additional possible disk wiping options. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/26 "2020-02-19T17:27:08Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > +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. That’s total overkill. One pass overwrite gets you past the point where the drive itself can read it, and recovering past that point requires serious, expensive and time consuming clean-room type forensics analysis, if it can be done at all. The kind of thing that’s going to cost thousands of dollars at a minimum. And generally speaking, nobody’s going to go fishing on a random HD like that, just to see what’s on there. They usually have a GOOD reason to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979/27 "2020-02-19T21:58:33Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > +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. I do this with my old hard drives before disposing of them an an e-waste location. I also salvage the strong magnets and use them on our fridge. One of those will hold up 20+ pieces of paper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-disk-wipe-utility/847979.md?page=1)