From the title I thought this post was going in a different direction. I was going to suggest getting a Japanese Toilet.

I hear professionals use bleach bit. On the hard drive that is, they use bleach bit. The whole toilet question is a different topic.

If you are interested in a quick, secure, and easy way to wipe a hard drive, try Darik's Boot and Nuke (dban). It is a free way to wipe a hard drive with DOD level approval. I have used it for years professionally and it has worked very well.

All you need to do is to use the built in reset command in Windows and select the deep clean option after telling it to remove all users and files. This overwrites all areas of the drive and destroys any file info or structures.

This is how we handled the wiping of old systems at Coca Cola prior to returning them to the vendor after their 3 years of use were up.

Using a hammer or any type of physical destruction is just stupid. You can easily wipe the drive and resell the old computer.

Make sure you take the drive apart and get the magnets out they are very strong and great for when you need a magnet. Take the silver platters and destroy them.

Obviously, that makes sense, if you want to sell the computer. But, if you want to trash the computer, I'll bet you a dollar that some people would not successfully remove all files by using your instructions. But, they do know how to use a hammer.

If it worked for her it should work for you too.
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=4f1fa...1haWxzLw&ntb=1

This is a good suggestion for traditional, spinning media disk drives. For SSD's, the drive vendor typically has an erase app that you should use.

What in the world do y’all have on your PC’s that you’re so worried about someone else seeing 😂

Banking information? Taxes?

Those that suggested physical destruction have not answered the question.

DBAN, Data Removal: Darik's Boot and Nuke - DBAN, will wipe your drive very well for free.

Did you read what it says on the link?

"While DBAN is free to use, there’s no guarantee your data is completely sanitized across the entire drive."

Also, some people have computers where they don't even know the Windows password, or the operating system will not start. That is why physical destruction is the only sure way to render the hard drive unusable.

BBQ the Hard Drive case at 400 degrees for 4 minutes; that will melt and destroy the disk that holds the information inside the hard drive..
For those that are thinking of asking how it tastes, no need to, it's Wonderfull and very filling! :icon_wink:

Go on Google and search for "DoD wipe". Look for one with a seven wipe selection.

30+ year of experience IT guy here. Put it in the oven on a cookie sheet on top of foil or parchment paper for 15 minutes at 400F. Zero chance it will be readable after that.