MOOC : Computer Science Formatting vs Wiping a Hard Drive

Formatting hard drive

To format an external drive in Windows:

1. Plug your drive into the computer and, if necessary, into a wall outlet.
2. Open Windows Explorer, click the "Computer" section in the sidebar, and find your drive.
3. Right-click on the drive and choose "Format."
4. Under "File System," choose the file system you want to use. See the above section for more details on which one to pick.
5. Give your drive a name under "Volume Label," and check the "Quick Format" box.
6. Click "Start" to format the drive. You'll get a notification when it's done (it should only take a few seconds).

When you're done, open up the drive in Windows Explorer and you can begin dragging files to it, or backing up your computer.

Remember that when you format a drive, it won't show the exact same amount of free space as it does on the box. This is because computers measure space differently than they are marketed, so you'll never get that exact same number, at least on Windows.

Wiping your hard drive

To wipe a hard drive means tocompletely erase the drive of all information. Deleting everything does not wipe a hard drive and formatting doesnot [always] wipe a hard drive. You'll need to take an extra step to wipe the hard drive completely.

When you format a hard driveor delete a partition, you're usually only deleting the file system, making the data invisible but not gone. A file recovery program or special hardwarecan easily recover the information.

If you want to make sure that your private information is gone forever, you'll need to wipe the hard drive using special software.

How to Wipe a Computer Hard Drive

1. Backup anything you want to keep. When the hard drive wipe is complete, there will be no way to get anything on the drive back.
2. Important: Sometimes multiple drives exist on a single hard drive. You can view the drives (volumes) that sit on a hard drive from the Disk Management tool in Windows.Download a free data destruction program. Any of the first nine programs I recommend in that list will work great because they can be used to wipe a hard drive from outside of Windows, a necessary feature if you want to wipe the hard drive that Windows is installed on.
3. Tip: I'm a big fan of DBAN, my first pick in that list. It's probably the most widely used hard drive wiping tool. See my How to Wipe a Hard Drive with DBAN tutorial if you're nervous about hard drive wiping or prefer a more detailed walkthrough (yes, with screenshots).

Note: There are actually several ways to completely erase a hard drive but using data destruction software is the easiest and still allows the hard drive to be used again.

click the link below to know which is better formatting or wiping your hard drive :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnLS3kqGb9o

After watching the videos don't forget to like and subscribe :D