A hard drive is any type of drive that is used to store data in a laptop, desktop, Mac, server, etc. They are classified into different types depending on their interface, technology, and performance. Knowing how to wipe a hard drive is essential to ensure data confidentiality and safeguard data privacy in end-of-life assets. Let us explore the various types of hard drives you may need to wipe.
BitRaser Drive Eraser helps you wipe or erase the following types of hard drives:
- HDD: Hard Disk Drive
- SATA: Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
- PATA: Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment
- USB drives: Universal Serial Bus
- Hard drives using IDE, Fibre Channel, or FireWire interfaces and more.
BitRaser Drive Eraser is an easy-to-use tool that can be deployed with minimal effort and you can begin erasing or wiping a hard drive within a couple of minutes.
Note: You can also wipe SSD (Solid State Drive) with BitRaser Drive Eraser software. Refer to our KB article How to Wipe SSDs?
Requirements:
- Processor: x86 or x64 Processor
- RAM: 1 GB Minimum (4 GB Recommended)
- USB Drive: Minimum 2 GB to create a bootable USB (USB 3.0 Recommended)
- USB Port: 2.0/3.0
We have divided the guide into 3 stages for your ease of understanding:
Stage 1: Download the BitRaser Drive Eraser ISO file
Step 1: Log in to your BitRaser Cloud Account using the credentials sent to you by email after purchasing the BitRaser Drive Eraser software.
Step 2: Click on the 'Cloud Variant: BitRaser Drive Eraser' option in the 'Download BitRaser' section to download the BitRaser Drive Eraser software. (Refer to Image 1)
Image 1: Download BitRaser Drive Eraser ISO
Stage 2: Create a BitRaser Bootable USB
In this stage, you will create a bootable USB by burning the BitRaser Drive Eraser ISO image on an empty USB flash drive. Using the bootable media, you will be able to wipe the hard drives, including the OS, without installing BitRaser. Please follow these steps to create the bootable media:
Step 1: Visit https://rufus.ie to download Rufus – an open-source application for creating a bootable USB flash drive.
Step 2: Install Rufus on the system and then plug a USB drive into the system.
Step 3: Launch Rufus; it will detect your connected USB drive automatically. Click ‘Select', open the BitRaser ISO file you downloaded, and then click ‘START’.
(Refer to Image 2)
Image 2: Select BitRaser ISO File then Click START
Step 4: Click ‘OK’ in the new pop-up that informs you to write in ISO image mode. In the new alert window, click ‘Yes’.
You will see a new warning window saying that all the data on the selected USB will be wiped, click ‘OK’. (Refer to Images 3, 4 &5)
Image 3: Click OK to Write in ISO Image Mode
Image 4: Click Yes To Begin Operation
Image 5: Click OK
Once the operation is complete, your bootable BitRaser Drive Eraser USB is ready to wipe hard drives.
Note: If you are using a Mac (including a Mac with T1, T2, M1, and M2 Chip), you must use the 'BitRaser USB Creator' utility instead of Rufus. It is a proprietary utility developed for Mac devices to initiate the BitRaser Mac application for erasing Mac devices.
To learn how to use the BitRaser USB Creator tool you can refer to our deployment guide for Mac devices: How to Wipe Mac Devices
Stage 3: Start Wiping the Hard Drive with BitRaser Drive Eraser
Using BitRaser Drive Eraser you can wipe both internally and externally connected hard drives.
Step 1: Plug the bootable media into the machine (laptop, desktop, PC).
Step 2: Power ON the system and press the F12 key (For Dell machines) to enter the Boot Menu. (The button can vary according to your device manufacturer)
Note: On UEFI machines, Secure Boot should be disabled to boot from an external USB. Read our KB to learn how to Disable Secure Boot.
Step 3: Select your bootable flash drive from the Boot Menu and press ‘enter'. Now, you will see the BitRaser Boot Menu; here, the first option, ‘BitRaser’ is selected by default. Press ‘enter’ to proceed.
(Refer to Image 6&7)
Image 6: Select Bootable USB and Press Enter
Image 7: BitRaser Boot Menu
Step 4: Now, you can see all your connected drives listed on the BitRaser main interface. (Refer to Image 8)
Image 8: BitRaser Main Interface with Connected Drives
Step 5: Next, refer to the BitRaser deployment guide and follow the instructions in STAGE 3: STEP 5 onwards.
After wiping the hard drive, BitRaser Drive Eraser software will generate digitally signed tamper-proof erasure reports & certificates that are uploaded automatically to your BitRaser Cloud account.
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