How to Securely Wipe Currently Unused Free Space
If you’re planning to sell or donate your computer and don’t want your old data to be recoverable, follow the steps below to wipe the free space on your hard drive.
Before using the cipher command to securely overwrite the free space on your hard drive, be sure you quit all programs. That ensures the maximum amount of free space is securely wiped.
1. Open the Command Prompt by typing cmd.exe into Start Menu, right-click on Cmd.exe, and open it as an administrator.
2. Type the following command at the prompt and press Enter.
So, essentially, cipher wrote over the free space (old files) on your hard drive three times to make sure no one could ever scan your hard drive and recover the data you deleted from it.
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Before using the cipher command to securely overwrite the free space on your hard drive, be sure you quit all programs. That ensures the maximum amount of free space is securely wiped.
1. Open the Command Prompt by typing cmd.exe into Start Menu, right-click on Cmd.exe, and open it as an administrator.
2. Type the following command at the prompt and press Enter.
Code:
cipher /w:CSo, essentially, cipher wrote over the free space (old files) on your hard drive three times to make sure no one could ever scan your hard drive and recover the data you deleted from it.
Did you find this tutorial helpful? Don’t forget to share your views with us.