How to securely erase your old computer's hard drive

Find out how to wipe all the data from your old hard drive using the free software Darik's Boot and Nuke. You'll just need a spare USB drive to run it.
After erasing the drive, you can safely dispose of your old computer.
Download Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN):
sourceforge.ne...
Download Rufus to load DBAN onto your USB drive:
rufus.ie/
If you need a USB stick, I recommend these Kingston drives
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[@edm8380]

Thanks for this , Dave. I was looking everywhere for a secure wipe procedure for my old Dell laptop before I give it away. The procedure worked as you described, and now I can rest, knowing that my info is not going to travel with the laptop. Much appreciation for being direct and accurate with your presentation..

[@heyyo6122]

My mum is from England so I had to subscribe. I like the way you explain how to do various tasks in detail step by step ! Thats the real reason I subscribed.

[@williamstone1536]

NOTE: if pressing F10 doesn't work in starting the wipe, press it simultaneously with Fn. Any how, I had to disable the Secure Boot function in the BIOS first in order for the USB method to work (I'm wiping a Win10 laptop). Once that was done, everything in this video worked easily! Thanks Dave!!

[@ishaangautam5499]

I just wanted to sell off my 12 years old Dell inspiron 1564 and I have seen almost 5-6 videos and all of them were so confusing, finally I got to the right person , thank you very much for the help 🙏🏻❤ I really appreciate it

[@peterrobinson4424]

Really really helpful Dave! I have been looking for help on this subject all over the place... and this was the one really good and helpful spot. Thank you! Very much appreciated.

[@culturevulture3382]

Very helpful Dave. I couldn't have done it without you! It took some time for me to work out how to boot from usb... it was by no means straightforward (for me). Everything you covered worked as described. Note: It appears that the ASUS with AMD A8 is going to take nearly 12 hours to wipe the HDD using DoD Short!

[@DavesTechRescue]

Thanks for letting me know it worked for you! Do you know how many GB or TB your hard drive has, out of interest?

[@FredAndreas]

An awesome tutorial, clear and concise! It worked perfectly with each step! Thanks

[@mattelectro78]

Thank you for such a clear and easy to follow explanation. A friend has asked me to help him wipe his harddrive, as I'm supposed to know about these things. Except in this case I didn't. This video really helps!

[@OSussannah]

Worked like a charm. I was able to erase all the data on my 13yo Compaq laptop. I tried this a year ago using a CD and failed miserably and gave up. Now I can finally clean out my cupboard! Cheers

[@johnsimpson6159]

I found this tutorial very helpful (thank you) in erasing my old Samsung R730 laptop's hard-drive with Windows 7 installed. Just follow the instructions on a separate comp and take your time . . . Took nine hours on a 500gb drive, by the way

[@Shkunk1]

Thanks. You just saved my friend and coworker 100 dollars. BTW My brother works for the DOD. I asked him what to do. He said, "I don't know. We just call the IT department."

[@maverick_13_44]

This is excellent ! Your instructions are clear, straight to the point, easy to understand, and fast. Thanks so much. Hope you keep doing this! :) You're great at it.

[@ApexHotShot]

Thanks, Dave. A great tutorial. I want to share with future viewers a bit of a snag that I encountered. When I searched for the Rufus file after downloading both DBAN and Rufus, I got an error message that Windows (7 Pro) could not “open” the Rufus file. To solve that I used Control panel to link DBAN as the program to open: .iso extension files. Once done, finding the Rufus file and running DBAN to create the bootable wipe thumb drive proceeded as you describe. I hope this lesson helps others. Cheers. Bryan

[@davidprutkovas1333]

ALL I CAN SAY IA THANLS YPU SOOOOOOO MUCH I spent 2 hours watching another tutorial but u explained it so well

[@clark-n-anitakalens7599]

Thanks Dave... I had to fetch the dban download from a different source but otherwise all instructions worked perfectly.

[@11111653]

what will happened to the laptop if it is turned on after its storage gets deleted? does it become freedos or something different?

[@gwarlow]

5 years later, and thanks! Cheers.

[@freytube1]

quick, precise, clear , well down

[@drkdrive]

You made this process so easy and painless! Thanks for this wonderful and informative video, very well done! I am also going to subscribe and check your other videos.

[@MilkISasin]

Sir Dave, thank you for the instructions. After DBAN I will install new windows, with the product key. By the way, can I normally format my memory stick?

[@debdoty7573]

Thanks, this was exactly what I needed and appreciate the instructions on how to make the bootable usb drive. 🙏

[@chibson9123]

perfect tutorial wipe was complete and everything went smoothly. thanks!

[@cathmar9]

It did not work for me. I was not able to run the download to my usb per se but I was able to follow most of the steps. Upon inserting the usb in my old toshiba satellite XP laptop to erase the harddisk did not provide me the options you give in the video so I have no clue how I can wipe out my old harddisk on the old harddisk. Any suggestions?

[@kimberlymasso1725]

Followed exactly and worked perfectly. Thanks!!

[@ayyget]

Does it support for SSD storage? I thought DBAN is only for HDD and will deteriorate SSD lifespan. Thank you.

[@jdunst69]

Any idea why it won't boot from USB? I changed the boot priority to sandisk card with it installed but still just boots windows like normal

[@jwpgollygee]

Help "working out the drive I want to erase". This is to take the computer for recycling. I got all the way to the part where you choose which disk/partition to erase. Options are SCSI 3864MiB (4051MB) or ATA Disk Western Digital WDC 931GiB (1TB)

[@summerbee80]

i did a gutmann and for a month now ive tried putting back in AMD, Intel drivers but they wont load up? what am i doing wrong...i unchecked the box so all the drivers are available but all dont work and i cannot see any partition...

[@MBSGAMES_]

I am in the process of wiping right now. Dnb started without asking what drives to wipe. OK... My problem. But the thing is, the most important drive is already clean. But the second one is still running, because it's so big (1.5tb). Can I abort the process and wipe the second one with windows installation?

[@daleashman434]

Thank you, this video was useful. I am wiping all my data before giving my old laptop to my parents ;)) Also I tested with my usb and when it wipes your USB, does it put dban and rufus on the usb? I can assume they do that to let you know you wiped it successfully?

[@ACEk47]

If i wipe the drive will i be able to download an operating system on it?

[@mxkmxk7296]

Excellent video, I have subscribed to your channel. I have tried the sane procedure and I also see the SCSI disk like your screen. Just to be sure I have also wiped the SCSI disk as well. Do you know whether the SCSI disk can be removed from the laptop?

[@richardpalmanteer9798]

My old Dell OptiPlex GX150 doesn't recognize the USB Thumb drive, when I go into the BIO's it doesn't show a option to boot to the usb drive. Only Hard Drive CD-ROM drive and Floppy Drive. I'm at a loss. I know you use to be able to put DBAN on a floppy disk which I did years ago, but don't see anything on the website to do that now.

[@mkay6089]

Many thanks clear and concise. Got my USB done so off to wipe !! cheers again for your help.

[@jrmertes10948]

if I want to wipe multible old hard drives will this prpocess work I have external conectors

[@ElBoii90]

Not sure if you’re replying to anyone but I was doing the 35 out of 35 rounds and I was at 35 already at 92% and my power went out, do you think it still wipe some of my hard drive files? Or it had to be completed to really work?

[@romyjaravata238]

What is the best way to replace a Hard Drive. No OS(Windows installed yet)

[@renaeermel8770]

I can’t get to the blue screen I got all the way up to the part where I remove the usb and put it in the computer I want wiped but my computer boots up normally. I looked online and I still can’t figure it out, I have a HP laptop

[@AshleySef08]

Leaving a comment for the algorithm. Really good video, it helped me a lot, much respect

[@rampagescar8203]

At 4:11 after its being loaded from usb, my screen gets dark can you please help

[@inscribepress3484]

Extremely helpful. Best I have found online. Thank you!

[@JustinTheVlogger]

It is possible to use this method to get rid of my operating system because it prevents me to boot on Windows and the BSOD always popup every time I open my laptop, is this method of getting rid of my computer's hard drive will help or not?

[@_boaty_8260]

Rufus asks for a credit card to set up “account” to be able to download. No thanks. Any other options?

[@HXYZZZ]

Thank you for the detailed and easy to follow steps. It really saved hours of my time !!

[@bakinpeach]

Trying to use with windows XP. Prepped usb as instructed. The boot does not have an option for usb hdd. Jus usb zip and usb fdd. Those don’t work for booting from flash drive.

[@drsudz]

Great job! (Finally, a video that doesn't tell me to just delete the files and empty the recycle folder...)

[@ramnareshram7814]

hi my name is ram from india i having 500gb laptop hard disk efi partition unable to delete can u having any software for delete efi partition

[@gravediggerfan99]

Great tutorial. I have done this method with other machines to recycle using a USB drive, but now i'm trying this with an old machine with XP on it, and it will not boot to any other drive than the hard drive that the OS is on. I've tried disabling drives and there is no secure boot or UEFI options in the BIOS. If anyone has any information that will help, that would be greatly appreciated.

[@aqche5566]

I want to wipe my thumb drive which is write protected, i tried to boot dban from another fully working thumb drive and i unplugged the hard disk from motherboard, inserted both the thumb drive but dban couldn't detect the write protected thumb drive. It shows unrecognised device

[@shahiqbal]

Thank you so much Dave, it works really well 🙂

[@alexander-kirk]

My laptop will not boot from the USB drive :-( I have a Dell Inspiron running Windows 10. Any tips?

[@iansalta3005]

Hi Dave, thanks for sharing. Just got a few questions though, after starting the wiping of the hard drive, is it possible to stop or cancel by any means and if it is okay to resume or start all over again? here is my case, I started the wiping of the hard drive, apparently it took already 24hrs and I am at 20% only for a 2TB hard drive. Currently have power interruption and my device wont last for another 4 hours. What to do now...please advise

[@PIXELTRONIX]

mine installed in rar file . pls help . i extracted it but there is no iso file

[@juanmartinwendler3601]

Rufus 3.11 or portable version will not run when clicked on XP is there anything else to run dean on?

[@andrewj739]

When I press F10 to start the wipe, nothing happens. Please help!

[@cgme7076]

The last time I disposed of a hard drive I smashed it with a hammer until the disks were in pieces. This time I might run DBAN and then reduce the disks to pieces 😁

[@molrk]

yeah, sometimes governments throw their old drives into trash heaps. people find them and just rip out the infomation.

[@Shkunk1]

Hammer's good, too.

[@Mr.Tacoman999]

man, I was really expecting you to say instead of reduce the disks to pieces, but I guess that works too

[@kanish0084]

I have a computer from a company .I can't able to change password by CMD .how can I erase all data

[@thepilotgaming993]

I want to erase my main thosiba HDD of 1Tb which is arrive when in buy my Laptop but when i made BOOTABLE dban on usb and i tried to erase my hdd but when i started F10 doesn't work when i select my HDD to erase can u suggest what to do??

[@ebb3162]

Very useful. Thank you so much!

[@petea7323]

Thanks Dave. Maybe a silly question but can I use the hard disk after this process? I plan to sell my laptop with a fresh install of windows after

[@prince21official88]

Great tutorial. Thanks. but I'm confuse. But how can I do it in windows 7. Because apple boot menu is different like what you showed in the video compare to windows.

[@davegebbings7632]

Hello, I am currently waiting for my old PC to wipe. Thanks for your advice. However I had some problems as rufus would not give to run command only the option to save. So I had to experiment by saving to my desktop then going around about to get the job done. Seems to be working. 1 hour 30 for an 80gb Windows 7 hrd drive. DOD 3 passes. I hope that is about right. Thanks Dave.

[@dinkan79]

Hey I deleted a file from a folder...does I need to wipe that particular folder or the whole hard drive...kindly reply

[@AlyxWyld]

When booting dban I get the message- terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::length_error' and after it boots it says “Unrecognized Device /dev/sdb and /dev/sda. What do I do??? I’ve been trying this for 4 hours now and this is the furthest I’ve got

[@decggaming1196]

I have the Same problem

[@احبالصالحينولستمنهم-ف7ل]

I want to wipe just hard drive D and I want to keep C where windows is installed.. can I use the hard drive d again and if I use dban is this will delete windows also

[@akmalfaiz8708]

mine just went blank after i press enter any idea of what just happened?

[@DVPofficial]

So relaxed, educating and entertaining. Well detailed. Well done. Would I be able to load a new windows on the drive? I'm trying to get rid of smode

[@lukeabraham123]

Sir I installed prime os in my pc but now I am not able to to use any one of the os what can I do

[@RandomizedRambler]

Hmm.. I got "cat: can't open ' /proc/cmdline' : No such file or directory" after pressing enter and letting dban do it's thing

[@RandomizedRambler]

I downgraded to 2.2.8 and got further but only to be told "dban failed"

[@MRSZ5440]

Is the HDD drive you just wipe clean still useable? Can you now install another OS on this drive?

[@DDramKing]

Of course it is. Overwriting deletes all data, i.e. the hard drive is like buying it from a store.

[@akaclio4292]

It possible to use this to wipe a macbook harddrive that has been removed and plugged into another new macbook by usb? The old one won't boot, so I need to find a way to wipe the old drive.

[@mateussoares4731]

saved my life thanks from Brazil

[@maikoukun]

Am I the only person thats doing the gutmann wipe? Currently sitting at 54hours since i started it, and i have 6 hours left.

[@DrBillB]

can you still do this outside of the pc so i can use the hdd as backup in other pc

[@kevinlamarca2712]

Can DBAN be used to wipe an attached USB hard drive? How is it done?

[@DDramKing]

Yes you can. Connect the usb hard drive to the computer and boot the computer from the Dban usb stick (or GitHub DBAN versio (shredos.x86_64)

[@hackstarcool]

Estimated time 28 hours! Let me have a trip to Mars until then.

[@ceddyfn1176]

Buzz did everything go fine when you did this ? I’m doing it now mine is estimated around 13 hours lmfao but was your c drive empty or close to it ? I’m doing this because my c drive was full and I resented my computer but couldn’t download anything to it

[@hackstarcool]

@@ceddyfn1176 Dont worry everything will be just fine. But yeah everything on your hard drive will be erased. The data will never be recovered. I will recommend you to buy an SSD instead. Thank me later.

[@DevoutSoldierYT]

“Quick Erase” or “DoD Short” is all you really need. If you need to use “Gutmann Wipe”, what kind of stuff have you been doing?!?!??! XD!!!

[@j.lietka9406]

Will DBAN work on an SSD & allow reformatting for future use?🤔 Thanks 🤓

[@sketchybadger3944]

No

[@j.lietka9406]

@@sketchybadger3944 ok thanks

[@chengrenteo5749]

Hey Dave! Thanks so much for this tutorial! I would like to know if i can continue using the USB used to store DBAN as a normal USB after wiping my harddrive!

[@monkeh3612]

You just need to format it and it's ready

[@doodliememoodahh2544]

@@monkeh3612 If i put him in another pc it wont wipe it?

[@Scooopdog]

Super worked a treat thanks for the tech tip

[@genegaskins6834]

Great video Dave. After using Darik's Boot and Nuke, can the hard drive be hacked or read by a specialist? Thanks for your answer.

[@oiersarasola1780]

Yes, anything can be hacked, one of the best hackers of the world once said: "If you want to erase all your data and make unhackeable, take a bat and hit the device until you turn in to dust"

[@biggercupz]

How do you use dban on Mac using a windows keyboard?.

[@shinigamisecret]

Thank you. This is was a very concise and effective video.

[@sajujacob4350]

how to get.bzi file extension, i don't have and i can't use dban, can you help

[@erichessel5255]

This information worked great! Thanks for sharing.

[@AM-te8lk]

Thanks for the video. It has saved me a lot of time. Much appreciated!

[@twoshedsjackson6478]

If its a mechanical drive, just take it out of the computer and drill a hole through it where the platters are ( its obvious where they are). Dban DOD short takes HOURS.

[@reecehart4234]

I want to erase all my data on my sea gate 1tb internal hard drive so I can use it in a new pc, however I want it to have nothing on it at all I want to completely wipe it if I use this method can I re use the internal hard drive when it’s wiped ?

[@Ttownsboy]

Yes you can re-use the internal hard drive again.

[@sebastiendefigueiredo7768]

Thank you for your video , I am faced with the following problem: "The disks have not been wiped" after clicking on the "enter" key I used the last version of Dban just before using version 2.2.8 and I got another message: "cat: can't open '/proc/cmdline'" If you have a solution to this problem I'm interested. Thanks

[@DDramKing]

GitHub DBAN versio (shredos.x86_64) works better on modern computer hardware.

[@stretch757]

Once I'm done wiping my hard disks, am I able to delete the software from the usb and use it to store files as before?

[@adamhayward4777]

Yes

[@Im2F2F]

Perfect video, everything is clear

[@zanokota6080]

That want to say we can erase security harddrive like erase 4.0 ?

[@jonfudeman5360]

Fantastic. Really good, explains well.

[@sebastiansac8219]

Uh so I did what u did and it’s just showing a bunch of code that seems to be running

[@michaelcarosielli1515]

When I try to run to program I get this.......CAT: Can't Open" /prog/cmdline ' : no such file or directory

[@Crashmatter]

thanx for the vid, been helpful so far

[@TheTalisman515]

Will it keep windows on your pc?

[@HeeHee_173]

it says cat: can't open '/proc/cmdline' : No such file or directory

[@blachbird067]

Hey did u figure this out im having this problem too

[@HeeHee_173]

@@blachbird067 no

[@blachbird067]

@@HeeHee_173 well i did download dban 2.2.8 instead of 2.3.0

[@HeeHee_173]

@@blachbird067 that also didn't work

[@blachbird067]

Try using ShredOs 2020.02 instead to wipe ur drive

[@richardpalmanteer9798]

Oh, a update I put deban on a cd-rw disk 600mb and ran it with the cd-writer on the HP Pavilion XT-983 desktop computer. It's swiping the drive as I type this. Swiping a 40GB Western digital HD. If you are unable to run it with a USB Stick you can do as I did and copy it to a DVD/RW disk or a CD-R/CD-RW that way you can reuse the disk and swipe it clean afterwards. Thanks Later

[@DDramKing]

GitHub DBAN versio (shredos.x86_64) works better on modern computer hardware.

[@mateyx1305]

wait so after u use that usb drive / stick u cant use it again?

[@TravelWithJose]

Yes, you can use it again.

[@Cutie4Coins]

Very good video Dave!