Jetico BCWipe Total WipeOut (paid) – (requires burning to CD or a USB stick).

Blancco File Eraser Home (paid) – Windows only.

DBAN (free) – all platforms (requires burning to CD or a USB stick).

To wipe a HDD, there are various programs available which will physically overwrite your entire disk.

Step 3: use the following instructions based on your drive type.

These technologies require different wiping procedures.

Step 2: type the drive model into a search engine to find out whether your drive is a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD).

Alternatively, you can find the information in “Device Manager” (Windows) or “System Information” (known as “System Profiler” in earlier versions) in iOS. This should be available on the manufacturer’s website. Step 1: check the make and model of the disk drive(s) in your PC or laptop.Please note that some knowledge of computer systems is required. Information on which software to use and how to use it is listed below.

Software designed to securely wipe all data from your computer is available. Specialised software exists which can recover data from seemingly blank drives. Once dropped off your products and any data on them cannot be retrieved as they are dismantled and broken down for recycling.ĭeleting files from your computer’s disk drive or reformatting it does not “physically” overwrite your data. Further information on how to wipe data from your PC or laptop can be found below. The recycling process does not include the deletion of data and TechCollect cannot provide any guarantee on the safety of any data not wiped from any devices dropped off for recycling. Before you drop off your computer hard drive or external storage unit such as a USB drive to TechCollect, it is your responsibility to protect your personal information by securely and permanently wiping the data on your device first.

Wipe computer clean