Best way to clear a Hard drive

[linkspast]

I have a Few 40GB Hard Drives I want completely wiped. Is there some software I can use, or can I just delete everything manually.

[Katsurugi]

I have a Few 40GB Hard Drives I want completely wiped. Is there some software I can use, or can I just delete everything manually.

Don't delete things manually. It will not be completely wiped then. Just format the hard drive using Windows tools (assuming you are using Windows).

I think you will need to have to remove any partitions on the drive before formatting it. I can't recall the exact steps, but I'm sure you can use Google. It might be as easy as simply right-clicking the drive in My Computer or Windows Explorer and going to the "Format..." option. If you can't find it there, then go under Computer Management.

I'm not on my own computer right now, so I can't verify anything.

[Cecilff2]

If you want it completely wiped, try using GWSCAN. It writes 0's to the entire drive.

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=GWSCAN511

To run it from floppy, run the GWSCAN.exe file that you download. In the C:\cabs\gwscan folder it creates, copy everything except the .iso file to a blank floppy. Start the computer with this floppy and run gwscan. You can now wipe your drive in the manner you see fit(I think theres an option to just do the first and last however many sectors too).

You can also create a boot cd if you copy all of the files and the iso file to a blank cd.

[Pyrion]

Darik's Boot and Nuke. Burn the ISO to a CD and boot off of that with only the drive(s) you want wiped connected to the system.

Takes about 1-2 hours depending on the speed/reliability of the drive and the method you use to wipe it.