It is almost impossible to remove all the information stored on your hard drive. In fact Format, fdisk and delete commands do NOT remove all the information stored on your PC. These basic commands only alter the structure of the drive, leaving most of your data intact and recoverable with easily available software tools.
Even professional recognize that hard drives on less than 10% of discarded personal and business computers are wiped out thoroughly enough to prevent someone from accessing personal information.
Don't even think of disposing of an old PC with a hard drive that still might contain confidential information, such as credit card and national insurance numbers, legal, financial or medical records, or any other data that you would prefer to keep private.
So what will you do when you finally buy a new computer.
If you plan to sell your old PC and have any personal information stored on the hard drive don't think that a simple fdisk and format of the C Drive will remove all your personal data. It won't.
The only way to securely wipe your drive so that no trace of your ownership exists, is to use specialist software that can erase the data thoroughly and leave your drive completely clean! This is a security wipe that even exceeds stringent Government and Military standards (certified DOD 5220.22-M standard).
At QBS PC Help we regularly perform this Security Wiping service as many people seem to dump their old PC's whenever they buy a new one.
To securely wipe all the data on your drive, getting it back to how it shipped from the manufacturer, costs just £20.00. A worthwhile investment considering the ever increasing number of cases of identity theft from discarded hard drives.
For further information on this service please contact QBS PC Help.