Software to Erase Hard Drives and SSDs in PCs Laptops Mac Devices
Today, data is everywhere – and forgetting to properly erase your laptop’s hard drives can be devastating for you professionally or personally! Knowing how to erase hard drives securely will ensure that the information on your computer’s hard drive is completely gone and unrecoverable. In addition, securely erasing your hard drive will remove all traces of sensitive information that could compromise your privacy. It also makes it harder for someone else to access your personal files. For added security, you may also want to consider hard drive shredding in Atlanta to
Using this guide, you can better understand the importance of securely erasing your desktop, laptop, or SSD’s data no matter what operating system it has. It will also help you in choosing a solution that suits your requirements.
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What is Data Erasure & its Importance?
Data erasure is often confused with data deletion and drive formatting. When you delete or format a drive, all it removes are the data pointers. The deleted or formatted data can be recovered using a free DIY data recovery software. In contrast, data erasure is an irreversible process. It can be defined as “The process of logically removing data from a storage medium so that it can no longer be read.” Data erasure utilizes a software-based approach for overwriting all the data stored with binary 1’s or 0s or a random character, making data recovery impossible even in a laboratory setting. Therefore, you need to know how to perform data erasure on a hard drive or SSD if upgrading, selling your electronic device, or simply transporting or transferring it.
The importance of securely erasing data is manifold, and knowing them will help you decide your approach towards data erasure:
- Regulatory & Compliance: Data privacy and protection laws mandate safeguarding your business and customers’ sensitive data. These laws also require secure data erasure once they have reached the end of their usefulness and when customers request the removal of their data. Hence data erasure helps in achieving compliance with regulations and laws.
- Promotes Reusability: End-of-life IT assets may be unsuitable for businesses, but they can generate immense value if resold in the second-hand market or refurbishers. Data erasure is a secure method to ensure that these devices don’t contain any residual data that can lead to a data breach or data leakage.
- Reduction of E-waste: Most old IT assets end up in landfills or are destroyed. This puts a significant burden on the environment that can be reduced significantly by reusing old devices. Data erasure ensures that these devices are entirely wiped off any sensitive information and can be reused or resold with complete peace of mind.
- Erasure Certificates: Proof of erasure is required to meet compliance with regulations and audit purposes. These certificates are essential for fulfilling the burden of proof required by regulatory and auditory bodies.
Popular Tools for Performing Data Erasure
Both paid and free tools can help you perform data erasure for whatever your reasons. Although all of them have their benefits and drawbacks, this list will help you decide on the best tool as per your requirements:
Paid Software
- BitRaser is one of the most advanced software tested and approved by NIST for securely erasing data from hard drives, SSDs, desktops, laptops & servers. It provides 100% tamper-proof certificates of erasure that are accessible through a cloud repository. It also offers free 24/5 technical support and software updates.
Benefits
- Supports 24 erasure standards, including NIST 800-88
- Cloud integration for easy management
- Erasure for facilities both with and without internet
- Capable of wiping up to 65,000 drives over a network
- Quick and secure data wiping
- M.A.R.T diagnostics for gauging drive health
- Single license type for wiping SSD and hard drives
Disadvantages
- No free trial for individual users
- No SSO/SAM Authentication
- Subscription-based plan not available
Blancco is a popular brand in the data erasure segment. They provide secure data erasure solutions supporting multiple erasure standards.
Benefits
- Automation of erasure tasks
- Erasure of multiple drives
- RAID dismantling & false positive identification
Disadvantages
- No single license type for hard drive and SSD
- Free technical support is not available
- Free cloud console not available
- Free product updates are not supported
Free Software
- DBAN is popular free software that is more suited for individuals than businesses. It can erase data from HDDs, PCs, laptops, desktops, or servers.
Benefits
- Free to use
- Permanent Erasure
- Supports 6 erasure standards
Disadvantages
- No reports or certificates of erasure
- No technical support
- No Guarantee of complete erasure
- Cannot erase SSDs
MHDD is another popular freeware that works in MS-DOS bootable through floppy or CD. This software is well suited for low-level HDD diagnostics and formats.
Benefits
- Supports IDE, Serial ATA, and SCSI drives
- Can repair bad sectors
- Performs S.M.A.R.T. diagnosis
- Helps in managing HPA (Host Protected Area)
Disadvantages
- Hard to use
- Only low-level erasure of HDD
- No Erasure certificates
I hope this analysis has made it easier for you to decide how to approach your data wiping needs; free software might be more suited for individual and home users. However, we recommend using certified and tested software for business requirements. Paid software’s also suited for individuals who want complete peace of mind that their data has been erased beyond the scope of recovery; free software cannot guarantee that.
Points to Ponder
Protecting your data is of immense importance. For example, personal computers have private images, banking details, social security numbers, text messages, emails, contacts, addresses, chat history, browsing history, etc., that can be misused if they fall into the wrong hands. On the other hand, professional computers have lots of sensitive information like crucial business data, strategic reports, and marketing campaigns that can be detrimental to businesses.
Before choosing an erasure software, you must clearly understand your personal and business requirements. We recommend using data erasure as a part of your overall data management strategy for enhanced data protection and safeguarding against data breaches, data leakage, and reducing the impact of a cyberattack.