Erase All Data Windows 10

[Rita Seliba]

Fororganizations that have multiple computers that are being replaced you can skip to the section below that describes how to efficiently manage this process without having to complete it one device at a time.

Again, set aside time for this activity. Not only will you have to wait around for the data erasure standpoint (especially the Remove Files and Clean the Drive task), but it will also require several user-inputted steps. Multiply that time if you have copious devices that need wiping.

The "Just remove my files" option will quickly reformat your drive, deleting the files on your PC as well as the data tables with the pointers associated with your files. This means that it is only getting rid of the reference of your files, and your files are still dormant in the hard drive, waiting to be erased with new information.

This is why we recommend "Remove files and clean the drive". Much like a NIST 800-88 Clear pattern pass, your data is written over by 0's. And then it's passed over with 1's...again and again. This is the reason the whole process will take several hours. Worth the wait, this will ensure that your computer comes out like it did from the factory and significantly decrease the chances that anyone can recover data from the laptop.

For organizations with multiple devices, managing your serial numbers is an important financial and legal responsibility. Failing to track these numbers can result in additional fees or loss of the ability to install software in a new device.

If you have more than one drive on your laptop, we suggest removing your files from all drives for the most security. Your laptop will continue to reset for the next couple hours to make sure there are no recoverable files from the hard drive disk, and will download a clean version of Windows 10.

Once the restoration process is complete, double-check to see if your laptop has been restored back to factory settings. If it has, the data removal process has been done correctly, and your laptop is ready to sell or dispose of safely and securely.

Unless you are going to reuse the drives in your organization so that the data is not only deleted but also being constantly overwritten (which completely makes it untraceable), the safest means of deleting your data permanently is to also destroy your media. Greentec easily has the means to wipe in bulk and then certify on our end that the media has been destroyed.

If you need to wipe PCs in bulk, or want extra security measures to make your data not only inaccessible but completely destroyed, consider going to a fully certified provider like Greentec. We follow the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) IT Media Sanitization standards, the Canadian standard for disposal of media and data erasure.

With multiple devices that have data to erase, the time required for staff to properly complete the erasure process in companies with many devices can become a huge burden. The erasure and documentation process can add to already heavy workloads, and can lead to missed steps or data exposure.

In settings where many devices are being disposed at the same time, it is a mistake for staff or those who have the devices to erase data themselves. This can result in incomplete erasure, or failure to comply with regulations that apply to the company, school or nonprofit that owns the device.

Professional IT recycling and disposal companies like Greentec use sophisticated software and equipment to ensure complete destruction of data. Following erasure they also provide reports that offer documentation and certification of this process.

A variety of services are available to help your organization collect and store, recycle or dispose of electronic devices at end-of-life, like your Microsoft laptop PCs. With bulk disposal professional recycling services provide a number of important benefits that ensure data security and offer other documentation or return of value.

Doing multiple passes is excessive and mostly useless, let alone filling the drive with random data. The only way you can try to restore anything, after such an operation took place, is with an atomic-force microscope - this is, obviously, an extreme procedure, that will take months for even the smallest JPG file and the error rate (false-positives) is going to be immense (in other words - you won't get anything meaningful out of it). This is even more true for higher capacity models (higher density platters).

However, there is something called secure erase. This is an established ATA standard. This functionality is integrated into the drive itself. Not only is it even faster than a run of dd (as it's already hardware based and hardware > software, speed wise), it is also more secure, due to the ability of purging original bad sectors that have been reallocated! There are 2 versions: the vanilla (2001 and onwards) and the enhanced one (post 2004). So, if your drive was manufactured roughly 10 years ago - it is already very likely to support this feature.

As a side note on scenarios when you cannot always format and wipe the disk and have to relinquish ownership of a computer with OS intact (like resigning a job and returning the laptop), Scott Hanselman has noted down a checklist on activities to carry out before giving it up forever.

format can also be used to wipe individual drives with the /P option. For example to format the D: drive as NTFS and wipe the drive with zero then overwrite it again twice with random values you can use format D: /fs:ntfs /P:2

Another suggestion, for Macs, is to use Apple's Disk Utility program. It's included on the OS X install disc, so if you boot from that, you can open Disk Utility, select your drive, and erase it (there are some options for how many times to write over data and such).

Also, if you happen to have lots of important data, the easiest and fastest way can be to physically destroy the medium. A sledgehammer blow is much simpler than overwriting 1TB disk 15 times with random binary patterns.

At the end, there is probably less than 1 Go free on the disk, and you can fill it by copy/pasting various files (smaller and smaller), and at a certain point you will see something like "0 bytes remaining on the disk / disk full".

I've got a set of computers that have had privileged information on that I want to be able to re-use. If I used a Windows boot drive to re-install Windows, how sufficient would that be towards keeping the old data safe?

I'm aware that the only sure way to secure the data is by grinding the hard drives (HDD for my purpose, but for the sake of a more useful reference, if there's any difference for an SSD I'd like to know that too) into a fine powder, but how 'good enough' is it? If it's not good enough, is there an alternative that leaves the hardware intact that is functionally good enough, assuming that incredibly powerful people don't want my data, who'd just break out the pliers and get it anyway.

I don't have any particular threat model - I'm talking about handing over the hardware and never looking at it again, and honestly don't know how to construct a threat model. There would be legal ramifications if the data could be recovered, if that helps address the "how worried are you" kind of question in the comments.

Extra points that I'm interested in, but are tangentially related to the question so aren't required for an answer is; what other issues am I likely to run into if I were to give/sell these computers on? (My organisation owns the computers and the licences for Windows, and would like to offer them to employees once we're done with them). I believe there's an issue with transferring the Windows licence, for example.

As for the Windows licenses, if the license came bundled with the computer, or were bought individually, they can be given to someone else. You can always call Microsoft to confirm the validity of selling a license.

Simply wiping the data (and overwriting it with random junk/zeroes) and installing a new windows is probably safe enough for you. At that point, any recovery of the old data will require the disk to be a HDD, physical access to the disk, really specialized forensic levels of knowledge, and important people caring a great deal about it.

If the data is truly sensitive, I have seen 2TB hard drives for $54-$65 online. You are likely to find cheaper 1tb hdd. If you want to sell them adding approx $60 for another hdd shouldn't be a barrier. Also the person purchasing it gets a new hard drive, possibly increasing it over all appeal.

Deleting files from a hard drive does not remove them, the operating system reassigns that space to allow new files to be added later. Properly wiping a drive ensures that the files are erased and prevents anyone from recovering the deleted data.

Deleting files using the Shift + Delete key combination or emptying the recycle bin does not permanently delete the files. If you are using Windows 11, Windows 10, or Windows 8.1, wiping your hard drive is easy.

If you are using Windows 8 or earlier versions of Windows, there are several third-party software available to wipe your hard drive (disk wipe tool). Such software is available as freeware, shareware, or commercially available for download. Some users may be required to use software that meets the US DoD 5220.22-M requirements for sanitizing a drive. For help with third-party software, go to the software manufacturers website.

Formatting an external drive (USB hard drive or flash drive) wipes any data on it and prepares it for use with your device. Follow these steps to reformat an external drive using the Format tool in Windows 11 or Windows 10.

As your radio host says the only way to be 100% is physical destruction, if your adversaries have unlimited time and money they can recover data and you'll need to physically destroy it. That said mounting the drives into a newer machine then running full disk wipe on it will thwart most data thieves. Sadly no 98 compatible ccleaner will wipe, and while you can run ccleaner on the xp machine (assuming it's service pack 3) it won't do what you want which is full wipe; for obvious reasons you can't full wipe a drive running the windows ccleaner is hosted in.

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