How do I delete everything off my old hard drive on Windows PC?

While using DiskPart's clean all command can definitely do the job of deleting everything from old hard drive, there are some downsides to consider. Let me break it down and share some personal experiences so you can make the best decision

1. Honestly, this can take forever, especially if you’re dealing with a large drive. I remember once I hit clean all on a 2TB drive, and it took a good chunk of my afternoon. If you’re in a rush, this might not be the best option.

2. While clean all writes zeros across the whole drive, for super tech-savvy folks or forensic recovery specialists, it might still be possible to recover some data. If you’re worried about sensitive information (like banking details or personal data), you might want to consider a more advanced wiping tool, like DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke), which can overwrite data multiple times. I learned this the hard way when I had to explain to a friend why her data wasn't "totally gone" after a simple wipe.