What is the best free program to permanently erase data from my hard drive?
371682
Won't say anything about "best", but the only one I can think of is Spybot Search & Destroy. It's an anti-malware program with a permanent delete function.\nhttp://www.spybot.com/
129784
Use ChaosShredder (free) or 12 Ghosts (shareware) to completely erase the hard drive with military grade security. (see link)\n\nThen bring it to any local thrift store, Goodwill, Salvation Army etc. \n\nOr check out the Cristina Foundation (see link)\n\nOr Freecycle! (see link)
861023
I don't know where the folders came from, but you could try formating the memory stick. This should erase all data on it. what you do is plug it in, then find it under my computer; they're normally named "removable disk *some  letter*". Right click on it, and go down to "format" it'll ask you some stuff; if you really want to erase everything, click yes. this should clean it off.
904270
you can remove any of them by formatin related local hard drive. must be C and D
1054728
First you want to backup any files on the C:&#92; drive that you want to keep. Once that is done you can open My Computer right click the C: Drive and click Format.  This will format that drive and erase any unwanted data.
150688
backup what you want to keep and then use this to wipe the disk clean: \nhttp://www.killdisk.com/
725857
Try this, its free.\nCCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!\nhttp://ccleaner.com
32860
Technically it can. Everything that you delete from your hard drive is still there until it is overwritten with new data. You can use track-erasing software found easily for free on the internet. Here is a website that hosts several of these applications. Some are free and some are shareware. I haven't used any of them so I can't tell you which one is best but you can check them out.
423774
easiest way to get rid of EVERYTHING including index.dat files is c-cleaner. http://www.ccleaner.com
610566
To format the hard drive before you dispose of it (ie get rid of all the data stored on it) get a magnet and rub it across the disk (silver part in the second image in the link below). This should erase all data on it.\n\nGOOGLE IMAGE RESULTS FOR HARD DRIVE:\nhttp://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=hard+drive&btnG=Search\n\nHope this Helps!
252874
"Eraser" is good... but can take a long time (depending on the size of the drive and amount of RAM).  "Window Washer" is good, too.  It's faster.  If you "add bleach" it makes more overwrites and takes longer.
483440
if you have norton system works you could use norton wipe info. try zdnet.com. they have a variety of programs to use for deleting files.
915231
You'll need to boot to something other than that hard drive - such as a windows CD, a Win98 boot floopy (google it) or a Linux CD.  You can then format the hard drive, which will erase the entire contents of it.\n\nYou can also put the hard drive in another computer and format it that way.
1034205
yess.. i know exactly how. and its super easy. and free. download this program:\n\nhttp://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/download.html\n\nafter you install it, do the highest level of cleanup. it says that its what you use when you want to erase all your personal files and temp files before handing over your computer to someone else.\n\ni use it all the time just to delete all my old files to make my computer run faster. it really works, and its easy to use. so just download it, and run. honestly, you dont need to reformat your computer. if you use this program, it gets rid of everything.\n\nif you dont know what youre doing, reformating your computer is super hard, and you might really mess up your computer. plus it takes like an hour to reformat. to do so, you must have your windows disk, and do a bunch of things in dos to erase your current version of windows. if youve never done it, i dont reccomend it. taking it to a computer shop costs like 60$. the link i included should do the work.\n\ngood luck :)
475553
There is nothing like removal/deletion of data from hard disk,it's always overwriting.For example if u delete a particular file the OS simply deletes the file entry in file allocation table,in other words the memory locations previously occupied by the data in the file are free and can now be occupied[overwritten] by another file.So in case u have just deleted the file or did not install or create any new files after deletion, u have a good chance of recovering the old one.There are lot of  utilities ,good thing is that some tools are free like pc inspector file recovery  \nu can download it here\nhttp://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
724079
You can't really just copy the os or certain programs to disks... you can either make a whole hard drive backup using a program like Norton Ghost, or reinstall everything. To erase all of you info permanently, (assuming you're on windows) click on the start menu and click run. Then type in cmd and press enter, and it should give you a black window with white writing. Type in "format c: /u" to completely and permanently erase everything. DO NOT try this until everything's backed up and you are completely sure you don't need anything on that computer.
1032759
That's going to be difficult! Most recovery programs can undelete files that were stores on the Hard Drive. I use TuneUp Utilities 2006 which is excellent to give proper maintenance to your computer, plus it has the "undelete" or recovery utility. Unfortunately it ios NOT free, but it comes with a 30 day full-working trial.