How to Wipe hard drive on my Windows 7 computer?

Here is a simple and safe way to completely wipe the hard drive for Windows OS.

Steps: https://www.uuwinfox.com/safely-wipe-a-hard-drive

The most secure way to wipe your drive is to use a tool that runs outside of Windows itself, like DBAN. This is because you need to erase the entire drive, including the partition where Windows is installed, which you can't do from within a running Windows session.

DBAN is a free, industry-standard tool that boots from a USB drive and completely erases the hard drive by overwriting every sector with random data, making your old data unrecoverable.

Important Warning: This process is permanent and irreversible. Once you run DBAN, everything on the computer's hard drive will be gone forever, including Windows 7. The new owner will need to install their own operating system.

On Windows 7, the most common and reliable built-in method is to use the "Clean all" command in Diskpart. This completely overwrites the drive and makes data recovery practically impossible.

Here’s how:

1. Boot your PC with a Windows 7 installation DVD or recovery USB.
2. When the setup screen appears, press Shift + F10 to open Command Prompt.
3. Type the following commands step by step:

• diskpart

• list disk (note your hard drive number)

• select disk X (replace X with the number of your drive)

• clean all

This will overwrite every sector with zeros and securely wipe the drive. After it’s done, you can exit and reinstall Windows (or leave it blank for the buyer).

This method uses Windows built-in tool called Diskpart. It’ll completely wipe hard drive on Windows 7 PC without needing any additional software.

1. Backup Your Data:

• Before you start, make sure to back up any important files. Once wiped, everything will be gone!

2. Create Windows Installation Media (if needed):

• If you want to reinstall Windows afterward, you’ll need a Windows 7 installation DVD or a USB drive. If you don't have one, you can create it using the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool with the Windows ISO.

3. Boot from Installation Media:

• Insert your installation disc or USB, and restart your computer.
• Enter the boot menu (usually F12, F2, DEL, or ESC depending on your machine) and choose to boot from the installation media.

4. Access Command Prompt:

• Once it loads, choose your language and select “Repair your computer.”
• In the System Recovery Options, click on “Command Prompt.”

5. Use Diskpart:

• In the Command Prompt window, type the following commands: diskpart
• To see a list of drives, type: list disk
• Identify your hard drive (usually Disk 0) and select it. For example: select disk 0
• Now, wipe the drive by typing: clean all
• The clean all command will take more time as it overwrites the data, ensuring it’s gone for good.

6. Exit Diskpart: exit

7.Reboot Your System:

• If you don’t plan to reinstall Windows, you can shut down the computer after this step. If you are, continue with the installation process.

When wiping a hard drive on Windows 7 computer, there are definitely some common mistakes you want to dodge. First off, one of the biggest blunders is not backing up your important files. I can’t stress this enough! Windows has a built-in tool called “Disk Cleanup,” but for a more thorough wipe, you can use third-party programs like DBAN or even some tools available through Microsoft’s own Sysinternals Suite. Just be cautious.