If you have recently purchased a new computer and have an old one you want to get rid of to clear clutter in your house, you may be wondering how you can wipe the hard drive before properly recycling it.
Wiping the hard drive on your old computer is an essential process to ensure that none of your confidential information ends up in malicious hands. Before you wipe the hard drive, you will want to ensure your important files are all transferred to your new computer or backed up to an external hard drive, otherwise, they will be lost for good after being wiped.
If you purchase a new computer from Nuvera TechTrends, our knowledgeable technology experts will help transfer these files. They will also wipe your hard drive and recycle your computer for free as a part of our Good2Go package, ensuring you are good to go without any hassle after purchasing a new computer.
Bonus: Our knowledgeable and patient reps can also help you learn your new computer and answer any tech-related questions you may have with our $15 tech support.
How to Wipe the Hard Drive
Deleting your files and factory resetting your device is a flawed process and isn’t enough to keep your data from being recovered. You’re going to want to ensure the entire hard drive is wiped, so the file data isn’t available for a malicious hacker to use a data recovery program to retrieve it.
If your computer no longer turns on, you can still erase the hard drive by using a SATA to USB cable. You’ll have to remove the drive from the old computer and hook it up to another functioning computer, plug in the cable, copy files off of the drive and wipe it once finished. If you don’t have the confidence to do this yourself, our technology experts have all the tools necessary to complete these tasks for you.
These are resources can you use to wipe your hard drive:
1. Nuvera Technology Experts
As stated earlier in the article, if you purchase a new computer from Nuvera TechTrends or any of our Nuvera customer solutions centers across southern Minnesota, we will wipe and recycle free of charge as a part of our Good2Go package. If you purchased a computer elsewhere, we will still wipe and recycle any old computers you may have lying around for only $20. Contact us for more information.
2. Destruct Hard Drive Data Eraser
You can buy this permanent data destructor off of Amazon to help you completely and permanently erase documents and files. Destruct allows you to completely get rid of confidential files and data on your own time by simply plugging the device into your USB drive, turning on your computer and selecting the hard drive you want to wipe clean. Destruct guarantees no files can be recovered once the job is done.
3. Computer Wiping Software
Use the top 6 hard drive eraser software recommended by Fossbytes to completely wipe your sensitive data.
4. Smash the Hard Drive
A simple and satisfying way to ensure your hard drive can’t be recovered is by taking a tool and smashing it to smithereens. You’ll want to bend, break or damage the disk and ports into two or more pieces so no one can recover the data.
How to Properly Recycle a Computer
Simply throwing a computer away is bad for the environment because of the hazardous materials and toxins that contaminate the earth while sitting in a landfill. The best choices for you are to recycle, donate or sell your old computer after wiping it.
If your computer is still relatively new, you may want to consider selling it or trading it in for cash. There are many options to earn money or credits toward other purchases by allowing refurbishers to recondition and upgrade your old computer, just remember to wipe the hard drive first.
Find a Computer Recycling Center Near You
Nuvera TechTrends (New Ulm)
Nuvera Customer Solutions Centers (New Ulm, Glencoe, Goodhue, Hutchinson, Litchfield, Prior Lake, Redwood Falls, Sleepy Eye, Springfield)
Electronic retail chains participating in the EPA Sustainable Materials Management Electronics Challenge.