How To Securely Erase Data From Your Laptop - 3 Pro Tips!

How do you erase data off a laptop so it’s secure and completely wiped clean? If you’re ever considering selling a laptop or even wiping hard drives or SSDs so you can resell them or destroy them, watch this first so you do it the right way the first time.

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The reason why erasing data off a laptop isn’t as easy as just deleting files and emptying your trash is because forensic programs and tools can be used to recover deleted data, not to mention temporary files and metadata might still exist, and those may not get deleted when you delete files in your operating system.

I do recommend before securely wiping data that you back up anything important onto a separate hard drive, USB flashdrive, or SD card. You’ll run less risk of accidentally deleting the backup drive, because you can simply unplug it after you’ve backed everything up and store it somewhere safe. This includes making sure you have a backup of any config files or settings for your various programs, and also your operating systems license key so you can use it to reinstall the OS after wiping the disk, if you want to.

You can use the built in tool to erase all of your data and settings off the operating system, and this is what I always do, but I take additional steps afterwards too - I dont just stop there.

So to use the built in tools - on newer Windows machines, you’ll find a reset to factory defaults option under Start, Settings, Windows Update or Update and Security, Advanced Options, Recovery, Under Reset this PC choose Get Started, and Remove Everything.

Now the classic way we’ve deleted data from older machines - think Windows 7, Vista, and old XP machines - is by using a tool called Darik’s Boot and Nuke. This tool has been around long before I started in this career but it still works for those legacy devices. DBAN for short is a tool that can securely wipe data off of your hard drives. It’s great for personal use, but not recommended for newer solid state drives. This is because SSDs are sometimes not detected by DBAN, but also because SSDs provision data in a different way than hard drives do, and data that is stored in these spaces on an SSD can’t be overwritten. For the tech nerds, this is called Wear Leveling, which removes certain sections of a disk from use for decommissioning - but those sections still retain data, and DBAN doesn’t overwrite data in those sections.

If you want to use DBAN, you just need to download the ISO file from the DBAN website, and burn it onto a flashdrive. You can use a tool like Rufus, UnetBootin, Universal USB Installer, etc to stick an ISO file onto a flashdrive, and it’s as simple as choosing the ISO file as the “boot selection”, choosing which flashdrive you want to format and stick it on, and hitting start. Just make sure you’re choosing the right drive when you do this.

White you’re backing up your data, go ahead and hit subscribe down below for more tech tutorial style videos like this one.

Extract the ISO download file to a USB flashdrive that you can boot off of. While your laptop is turned off, plug in the flashdrive, turn the laptop on, and if given the option, choose to boot off the flashdrive. If you aren’t given the option to boot off the drive, turn off the laptop again, and when you turn it back on press whichever button your laptop tells you to press to get into the boot options menu. That could be F2, F8, F12, F5… but your laptop will tell you on screen during the bootup process which button will get you into that menu.

From this boot option menu, you can change your booting sequence from the harddrive with the operating system to your flashdrive. If you see a Boot Mode option and it lets you choose between UEFI or Legacy / BIOS, switch to the Legacy BIOS option which can also effect the Boot Priority List. Some newer laptops will override your flashdrive booting option, even if you set it as priority first - if they are set up with a UEFI boot mode. UEFI is better for security and is newer, but when it comes to using DBAN this is just a little lifehack I learned long ago.

So, DBAN is relatively simple to use. I generally just set mine up to autonuke and just let it run the nuking process. Once it’s done, and this might take a long while, everything is wiped from the laptop, including the operating system. Windows makes reinstallation files that you can add to a separate USB flashdrive to then reinstall the OS clean.

Now, DBAN hasn’t been maintained in years, so if you’re worried about support and want a newer tool, let’s look at ShredOS. ShredOS is currently maintained, and you can support this open source project via their buymeacoffee link. ShredOS is like the older brother of DBAN - it looks and acts exactly the same but supports UEFI and BIOS booting and has support for newer systems, including SSDs and NVME drives.

While ShredOS will detect newer drives, it’s important to note that an SSD is still going to work the same way as I explained earlier - and neither DBAN or ShredOS will 100% securely wipe all data off an SSD. Since this is the case, the only real secure way to wipe data off a newer drive is to use full disk encryption on the drive, then erase the encryption key, thereby also securely wiping the data that was encrypted.

Another option is to use the SSDs manufacturer’s tool or utility to securely erase the drive which take advantage of a command called the ATA Secure Erase command, which applies a voltage spike to flash memory blocks all at the same time. The Drive Utility or Tool for your SSDs brand are generally found on that brands website under the download section.

The third option for securely erasing an SSD is using your UEFI BIOS menu. In this case, you’ll need to boot into that menu then search for a “Secure Erase” option.

Of course, if you really want to destroy all data on that drive, use one of these tools, then take it out, then hammer it to bits and drill some holes in it, stick a magnet on it (but that only works for HDDs not SSDs), then run it through a commercial shredder. You’ll never be able to use it again but your data won’t be easily recovered.

Any of these options will be better than nothing, especially if you’re selling your device to a stranger. How do you delete data off devices? Sound off in the comments. Thanks for watching, bye yall!