How to wipe a hard drive on a dead computer

There is always an insecurity of your data on a dead computer and there is always a question whether you can wipe hard drive or not from a dead computer. The answer is YES! You can erase the hard drive even if your computer is not getting start or dead.

To wipe a hard drive on a dead computer all you need is either another computer where you can switch the hard drive from the dead computer or a standalone application for erasing dash drive data. If you are looking for an economical way then definitely remove the hard drive from dead computer and install it on another PC and then erase the data permanently.

Purchasing a standalone device is a bit pricey and mostly recommended for mid and large scale companies while scrapping their computers. There is a risk of data leakage from the hard drive for the companies. Many important details like password, financial information, healthcare reports, banking details may be there. So definitely you must not risk your privacy either personally or for industry level.

How to wipe a hard drive on a dead computer

Method 1: Eject hard drive and use on different computer

This is a free way to remove everything from your PC. All you need is to eject hard drive from computer, put the hard drive on other computer and delete every stuff.

Now if you delete the files, data manually from a computer, there is a full chance to recover all the data. So we recommend you to use free software/ applications available. We recommend you to go for Eraser, this is one of the most trusted and highly advanced hard drive cleaning app.

This is for Windows users only and for Mac users we recommend you to go for CleanMyDrive.

Eraser is powerful yet easy to use application. Let us check some of its features here.

Extremely lightweight application
Clean hidden storage and junk
Copy important data to another drive
Multiple language support
Compatible with other data storage devices

All you need is to install it on your PC and check out which hard drive acquires how much data. You can delete data completely or in a partition.

Similarly if you are Mac user, go for CleanMyDrive.

Method 2: Using Standalone application/ software

Here we are recommending you to use a standalone device known as Drive eRazer Ultra which works even if your computer is dead. The only thing is its cost. It is expensive if you are looking for one or two hard drive cleaning. If you are using if for commercial purpose or for large scale industry then go for it. It is the best solution that you can use.

Along with this, you can get a users guide, manual guide for its operation and complete detail of using Drive eRazer Ultra.

So this is all about how to wipe a hard drive on a dead computer.

Somehow if you are able to turn on your PC or Mac then you can follow the same ways as provided in method 1. Or alternatively, both Windows and Mac offers an in-built feature to wipe out hard drive storage. Let us also check them.

For Windows: Reset the PC

Windows 10 offers a feature that has an in-built option to clean your hard drive. Once you reset your PC, it looks like completely a new hard drive. You can also reset your PC if it is corrupted, not functioning well or any other reason. Follow some simple steps here.

Go to Settings> Update & Security > Recovery.
Go to Reset this PC, under this tap on Get Started.
Under Choose an option, click on Remove everything.

You may get a warning of losing all the data, proceed with accepting it. Wait for some time till the complete data gets removed.

For macOS: Disk Utility

Similarly, for macOS, Disk Utility is a feature that clears all your hard drive data without using extra applications. Disk Utility primarily used for knowing how much exactly your Mac has storage capacity. But you can completely remove anything even external storage devices connected with your Mac. Follow some simple steps here.

Open Spotlight search and type Disk Utility.
Go to the hard drive section and click on Erase button.

All your hard drive data wiped with a single click.

I hope you find the information useful and successfully deleted all the content from your PC. For the latest tech tutorial, software deals, subscribe to our newsletter for all the updates.