Stop! Don't sell that old hard drive. You wouldn't believe how much personal information may still be on it! Passwords, bank account information, love letters, they may still be recoverable even after you "erase" and reformat the disk.
Follow the jump for more information...and a solution.
The BBC reports that eBay vendors are taking risks when selling used data storage devices.
Many people are taking risks with data on hard drives and memory cards which they are selling via eBay, say experts. Letters, resumes, spreadsheets, phone numbers and e-mail addresses were all found on storage hardware bought and analysed by forensics firm Disklabs.
Also recoverable were temporary files from net browsers which contained login details and passwords for websites and even online bank accounts.
The problems arose because sellers were only taking basic steps to delete data.
The solution? A disk eraser program.
Download a free copy of Eraser and erase your hard drive before you eBay it. Eraser will securely remove all data from a selected drive, allowing you to sell it with a clear conscience. Make sure you follow the instructions on the site FAQ closely, particularly if you're trying to erase a boot disk or when you need to wipe out a Windows swap file.
Eraser is a tiny program. You can fit it onto a floppy—which helps when you want to create what they call a "Boot Nuke Disk". This allows you to boot from the floppy and erase all the information on a given computer. You can also use Eraser to schedule regular clean-ups of the unused space on your disk. Recommended. Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000 and XP (all versions, with or without service packs), Free