WipeDrive...Reformatting your Hard Drive

Mom and Dad's computer has been getting very slowing over the past couple of years, and Mom was getting to the point where she just wanted to throw it out the window! Mine too was getting pretty slow and buggy, so I looked into reformatting the hard drives.

I had always been really timid about taking on such a task, however, after reading up about it...it really isn't that hard to do.

I found a program called WipeDrive. For $39.95, you get a disk that you place into your computer and then turn it on. It will take you to a screen where you can choose to completely wipe your hard drive clean...it's recommended you wipe it a couple of times, especially if you've had some viruses.

You first need to insure that any information, such as pictures and documents, are backed up to a disk...once you wipe the disk, they're gone and unless you have a "clean room" and special hard drive mirroring equipment, your not going to get any of it back. (The program claims that it wipes a disk to Pentagon standards, however, Craig tells me short of taking a blow torch to your drive, there is still a possibility of extracting what was written on it, however for our purposes, this will suffice to get all the information off the drive)

After the "wipe" is complete, you insert your computers back up disk(s) (They came with your computer) and once again turn on your computer. Your computer will now be restored to it original settings and program list, just like it was when you first bought it.

We were amazed at how fast our computers are now, and they are completely bug free...This was well worth the time and money spent...just like getting a new computer!

Here is the link to the website for WipeDrive:

http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php