Zeniix Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 So learning that HDD's will most likely fail more because it's a moving part, I also then bought an SSD... With that, I will transfer my Operating System included with everything from my HDD to my new SSD then WIPE EVERYTHING on my HDD so I can only put my games on it. What is the best method to erase everything in my hard drive ? I heard that some can erase a hard drive but it's technically still there.. I want to know the best way to actually erase everything so I can reuse it again and take advantage of my 1TB HDD.. Will this method be good enough to COMPLETELY wipe everything and then reuse? CCLEANER Drive Wiper method --> http://prntscr.com/ccc2hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Andavari Posted August 31, 2016 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2016 With CCleaner only 1-pass. You could have it format+wipe in one go using the Drive Wiper (has to be on a non-system drive). Although I personally think wiping the drive in your case is a waste of your time being that you said you'll put games on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeniix Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Will picking "Wipe- Entire Drive" + "Simple overwrite (1 pass)" be enough to COMPLETELY erase all the files and stuff in the HDD? I just want to remove it because it's useless having unnecessary programs and the Operating system still being on the Hard Drive even though I'm just going to use it from my SDD instead when I transfer. With CCleaner only 1-pass. You could have it format+wipe in one go using the Drive Wiper (has to be on a non-system drive). Although I personally think wiping the drive in your case is a waste of your time being that you said you'll put games on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Augeas Posted August 31, 2016 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2016 You could run a low-level format (I'm not sure of the naming), this will overwrite all sectors on the disk with zeroes before the format. CC's Drive Wiper is perhaps an easier task, and as Andavari says runs a format followed by a wipe free space. Yes, one pass will be enough. If you can extract any data after a one-pass overwrite then please let the world know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators mta Posted August 31, 2016 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2016 unless you are giving the drive to someone else, why go through the hours of time for you and activity on the drive for no benefit. just do a Quick Format and the drive will be for all normal purposes, wiped. (yes, of course, not physically) you can then load whatever you want and Window treats it as 'new'. but your repeated use of COMPLETELY may imply other motives are at play. Backup now & backup often.It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeniix Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Oh okay cool thanks I just didn't know what the passes meant so I dont know what exactly it will do to the drive! I'll do what Andavari said then. You could run a low-level format (I'm not sure of the naming), this will overwrite all sectors on the disk with zeroes before the format. CC's Drive Wiper is perhaps an easier task, and as Andavari says runs a format followed by a wipe free space. Yes, one pass will be enough. If you can extract any data after a one-pass overwrite then please let the world know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeniix Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Yeah Augeas explained it pretty well so I'll do the ccleaner method 1 pass... and LOL it's because I watched this video on how Hard Drives work and cleaning, etc. he said programs can say they wipe it but really all it does is just have the memory of it being 0 but really it's still there.. I don't know how to explain it since i'm new but I just wanted to know If I can get my space back to a full 1TB because again, I will use this for gaming and heavy gaming downloads and I don't want to get annoyed with it saying some memory is still being used, etc. etc. Plus again as I said, I'm gonna use my SSD for my regular stuff anyways but the HDD for gaming. Thanks for everyone who replied though! Most of youtube videos were so outdated as well xD unless you are giving the drive to someone else, why go through the hours of time for you and activity on the drive for no benefit. just do a Quick Format and the drive will be for all normal purposes, wiped. (yes, of course, not physically) you can then load whatever you want and Window treats it as 'new'. but your repeated use of COMPLETELY may imply other motives are at play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now