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1. simple erase: the data is all there, still sitting on the disk drive but the segment has been marked as "available". Next time you try to write data to the computer it MAY select that segment to overwrite, or it may select somewhere else on the disk. Who knows what a file manager will do.

2. Destructive erase: The computer first overwrites all data in the file with random data then marks the segment as available. It still may be possible to find ghost images of what was on the disk surface before. It's an expensive process but if someone is dedicated and has the time/money, much of the data can often be recovered.

3. Guaranteed destructive erase: remove the disk drive from your computer, smash it a few times with a great big hammer, build a fire in your barbecue pit and get the coals really hot, throw the pieces in and stir them up while using a hair dryer to feed more air into the coals to make them even hotter, remove the pieces of the platters after the fire dies down, smash them some more, cut the pieces apart, take a trans-Atlantic cruise and drop pieces into the ocean... that should do it.

The point I'm making is, how important is it to keep the data from being seen again? For most of us it's easy enough to just put a few really large files on the computer, delete what you want wiped then defrag the disk, add some more big files, delete some OTHER files, defrag the disk... repeat that a few times and statistically, you'll have cleared the information from your disk. If that's not good enough, there are always the other options.

FYI, there are applications available that can perform the destructive erases (overwriting with random data) or you can always defrag the disk then run a disk verification program that writes data to the unused sectors.

There certainly are plenty of options, just decide what you need.

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Q: What are some hard disk wiping techniques?
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