Deleting information from our hard drives and folders is not completely safe. For this reason, it is possible to perform a data recovery that could affect confidential information. If you are wondering how to delete or erase data safely and permanently with Hardwipe this article is for you.
What is Hardwipe?
Hardwipe is an application created under free software that allows the permanent erasure of the information that is stored on the hard disk. This procedure prevents the recovery of deleted files and “purges” directories and files.
What is Hardwipe for?
Some users choose to format hard drives from Windows with CMD. However, Hardwipe fulfills this task since it not only serves to completely clean hard drives but also allows individual files to be permanently deleted. Also, Hardwipe makes it easy to clean the recycle folder whose information remains despite being erased.
How to safely and permanently delete or erase data with Hardwipe
To safely and permanently delete or erase data using the Hardwipe program, you need to follow a series of simple steps that we will explain below.
Download the Hardwipe app
First, you must download the Hardwipe program installation package that is available on the hardwipe official website. Press the “Download” button and wait while the file downloads to your computer. Then, proceed to install Hardwipe by running the installer you have downloaded on your PC.
Install Hardwipe on your computer
The installation process is very simple because Hardwipe has a wizard that will guide you to correctly follow each step. Press the “Next” button and accept the license agreements. Then, choose between the options presented by the program and press “Install” to start the installation.
Hardwipe installs in English by default. Therefore, if you want the Spanish version, you must download a package that corresponds to this language. Unzip it and copy the file with the .lang extension in the “Langs” directory found in “Program files / hardwipe”
Use Hardwipe
Once you have installed the Hardwipe tool, it is time to use it. Open Hardwipe so that you can access the functions that the application presents from its interface. In the left part of the window, you will see four options: clean disk, clean files, clean space and recyclers.
Check out Hardwipe features
The option “Clean disk” allows you to permanently delete all the information that is stored on a disk. You can choose between a hard drive or a removable drive. Thus, you can do a real cleaning of your drive to avoid the recovery of confidential data.
For its part, “Clean files” is used to erase folders and files from any location on the disk and “Recyclers” performs a permanent erasure of all the information that has remained in the recycle bin.
Delete any data permanently and safely
If you want to permanently erase data either from a file or a folder, you must select the “clean files” option. Subsequently, you choose the directory or file you want to delete according to its location on the hard drive. It is important to note that you can also format an external hard drive that your PC does not recognize, but the procedure does not include the use of the Hardwipe tool in this case.
Afterwards, you must choose the cleaning algorithm, indicate the speed, mark “Shut down” or “start session” (optional), mark “Verification” if you want to check the process and finally, press the “Start cleaning” button.
Choose the cleaning algorithm
Hardwipe has six cleaning algorithms to carry out the final deletion of the data. These methods are used to prevent third parties from recovering confidential information that has already been deleted from the hard drive.
The “Overwrite Zeros” algorithm performs a single pass but is inefficient, “Random Overwrite” performs one random pass, and “GOST R” performs two passes. On the other hand, “DOD 5220” makes three passes, “Schneier” performs seven passes, and “Gutmann” focuses on thirty-five passes, slowing down the process.
Indicates speed for secure erase
Hardwipe has the option to choose the speed to erase files and folders safely. The higher the speed you choose, the higher the priority of the application with respect to the system.
So you must take into account the priority of the other activities you carry out on your PC before choosing the speed for the secure erase. If you regret having deleted data because you still need it, don’t worry as you can recover deleted files after formatting your PC’s hard drive with tools such as Recuva or EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.