" Don’t begin this process until you have backed up all of the documents on the hard drive (including pictures and videos) that you want to keep. Move this data to a new computer or external hard drive, or upload it to a cloud storage<\/a> service before destroying the old hard drive. If you don’t, the information will be lost and irretrievable.<\/p> "

" Use a precision screwdriver to remove the casing from the computer and locate the hard drive—it looks like a slim, rectangular metal box. Once located ...

" Once the hard drive has been removed from the computer, you will then need to open up the metal casing to access the platters and the circuit board. This ...

Before you wipe your computer’s hard drive or do a factory reset, make sure to back up all of your information to your new computer, an external hard drive, or a web service. Backing up your data regularly is a smart way to keep your data safe. Hard drives can crash, get lost, stolen, or encrypted by ransomware software. The best defense is to make sure all the data is backed up safely and frequently. You can back up your data on thumb drives or USB flash drives. But keep in mind these are small storage devices and may not accommodate all the data from your PC. External hard drives can ...

You might think moving your documents to the trash or recycle bin and emptying it will do the trick. Maybe not. This action appears to delete the files, but often leaves them where they were, hidden from view. Most data recovery programs can actually recover these hidden files. Here’s why. When you empty files from the trash or recycle bin, the file name or the reference to the deleted file is erased. The computer can no longer see the file. This means the space the file took up on the laptop or PC is no longer reserved for that file. But the file is still in the hard drive. It will stay ...

Special software programs can permanently erase your hard drive. There’s little chance you can get any data back. Similarly, no one else will be able to use data recovery software to recover your files. Most programs run a low-level format that overwrites all the deleted files with zeros and other incomprehensible data. This makes it impossible for data recovery software to recover the files. DBAN is a free data destruction program* that completely erases files on a hard drive. This includes all personal files, operating systems, and installed programs. It’s smart to use a program to wipe ...