Kill Disk Free version or Paid version

FirstTimer4Me

Is it worth paying for the upgrade with Kill Disk?

I've very little computer knowledge, so looking for something simple, with easy to follow instructions.

I've saved everything I need to a USB stick.

closed

no

something simple to do what

factory restore followed by ccleaner wipe free space leaves a working machine if you're selling it on.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=52361449&postcount=15


If you're not, just take the hard disk out, and maybe reuse it in a usb caddy for backup - far far safer than using usb flash drive for your only copy of data

FirstTimer4Me

closed wrote: »

just take the hard disk

Is that easy to do?

How do I destroy the hard disc?

closed

yes, a couple of screws usually

why do you want to destroy it

cootuk

First of all - will your computer boot from a USB as not all do?
You might need a DVD burning instead.

I've just used DBAN instead of KillDisk. Very simple to use.

paddyrg

Destroying a working drive seems unnecessary, you can always use it for backups etc

FirstTimer4Me

closed wrote: »

why do you want to destroy it

I no longer require it or have space.

FirstTimer4Me

cootuk wrote: »

will your computer boot from a USB as not all do?

Never tried it, when I switch it on, t starts up as usual.

cootuk

That's because it's booting from the hard drive.

If you want to wipe the hard drive then you need to enter the bios or boot order options that appear on screen when you first turn it on. (poss F2 or F10). See if you can set it to boot from USB. Then it will load the disk overwriter program you want to use from the USB stick.
If you can't boot from USB then you will have to burn a dvd/cd and boot from that.
The program loads, identifies your hard drives, then asks what you want to do with them and maybe gives you a choice of how to overwrite them.

If you def don't want the disk, then take it out and wallop it with a hammer to smash it. You should hear a satisfying tinkle of broken disk platter.

If you are really adventurous then you could use star drives to open the hdd and take out the neodynium magents - lovely strong things.

closed

if you mean space for a desktop tower (or laptop), that doesn't stop you taking the hard disk out and using it for backup in a usb caddy, if you want to make use of it, then you don't have to worry about wiping it securely. A caddy costs a few pounds. What type of machine and operating system is it?

FirstTimer4Me

It's a DELL tower, around 8 years old