Does reformatting my hard drive protect my data?

[Guest Quafe24]

If I'm getting rid of a hard drive will reformatting it get rid of all my old data? I want to wipe the drive of information because I might recycle or resell the computer. Not sure which yet.

[Steve Krause]

Great question and yes, before you sell your computer you should wipe the drive if possible. CCLeaner which is an app we've talked about over the years is a great app that can help you with this.

 

http://www.groovypost.com/tags/ccleaner/

 

You can use the app to WIPE just the free space or the entire drive if you want to drop the drive into another computer to perform the WIPE. I'll have to write up an article on the specifics but if you download it and click on the TOOLS option, you should be able to figure it out.

 

If not, let me know.