Permanently delete personal data from the hard disk(Windows XP, Vista, 7)

            The old computer is on its way out. Obviously, you do not wish to provide your personal data along with it to its new buyer. Does it suffice to simply format the hard disk?
            The deleted data can be restored with help of popular, in some cases even cost-free, tools. Unfortunately, till now Microsoft has never configured any Windows version with a tool to permanently destroy the data. It must overwrite the areas on the data storage medium, in which the data is stored, with inconsequential data. However, there are various standards available for this. The ‘VSITR’ standard specifi ed by the Federal Office for Information Security requires, for instance, seven times overwriting of the data, whereby, in the first six steps, the bit pattern of the earlier data is reversed. In the last deletion step, the complete data storage medium is overwritten with the ‘01010101’ pattern. On the other hand, even single overwriting works just as effectively and is much quicker. Eraser, the open source tool, bridges this security loophole in Windows. In fact, it offers an eff ective function for timedelayed destruction of data.

DEFINING TASKS: After the launch, create a new task with ‘New Task’. In the following window, specify the parameters for the delete operation. For example, define whether the delete operation must be executed manually immediately on boot-up or regularly. It also gives you an option to name the task. Thereby, you can maintain an overview if you define numerous tasks. A new window is opened by simply clicking on ‘Add Data’, in which the tasks can be configured to much fi ner details. With help of the ‘Eraser method’, select the deletion procedure, for example the VSITR standard. Subsequently, select the folder to be deleted or the drive to be formatted, and confirm it with ‘OK’. In another task, specify that the tool must also delete the free memory space. Hereby, even the fi les that were earlier deleted temporarily can now be overwritten permanently.
SPECIFYING SCHEDULE: Specifications for the regular recurring deletion request are to be entered in the ‘Schedule’ tab. Depending on the settings, Eraser deletes the selected directories either daily, weekly or monthly. You can return to the main menu by simply clicking ‘OK’.
EXECUTING ACTION: To start a task manually, right-click on it and select ‘Run now’. A status message as well as a progress bar informs you about the status and duration of the deletion operation.
BACKGROUND: The normal formatting simply deletes the file allocation table on the hard disk (FAT). With help of this table, Windows saves the files stored on these locations and protects the occupied areas against overwriting. Once this information is deleted, Windows once again makes these allocated memory locations available for write operation. However, the actual data remains on the data storage medium. After formatting, the system checks the hard disk for erroneous sectors, which takes a while. The quick formatting skips this check. You can always perform this check with help of ‘chkdsk/r’ prompt command.