Wipe Hard Disk
The Benefits of Wiping your Hard Disk
How Do Hard Drives Work?
Published August 13, 2011 | 
How Do Hard Disks Work In A Computer?
The location where a computer stores all its programs and data is known as hard disk drive. The hard disks are able to retain the data even when the computers are turned off. Hence, everybody is able to see everything in place, when they turn on the computer next time. With the advanced and complex technology that a computer uses nowadays, it made the hard drive work more and in different ways. It is very important to know the role of hard disk drive in making the computer runs. We need to know how a hard drive is able to store as well as retrieve data.
Facts about Hard Drive
2 to 5 magnetic disks measuring around 2.5 inches in diameter is the main component of hard disk drive. It also has spindles, motor, controllers, heads and an actuator. All the components are made up of different kinds of metals.
The most important function of hard disks is to store data, which can be used later. Whatever, you do on the computer starting from installing & running a software, saving Excel spreadsheets & Word documents to sending & receiving emails, everything require data or information from the hard drive. You must know the functions of the components of hard disk drive. These are as follows:
* The magnetic platters hold the stored data.
* The heads, controller and actuator arm work all together to store as well as retrieve data.
*The actuator and heads receive all the instructions from controller whenever any reading or writing is done on the magnetic platters.
How The Hard Drive Works
The function of hard disks can be described briefly with an example of how things work when the computers request for data. Whenever, the computer needs any data it would send message to the controller. The controller would go ahead to check the registry in order to find out the location of the data. Once it finds the data, it would involve the appropriate heads to the location where they need to be at that time. The controller would not make use of the actuator arm and read the data from the magnetic platters, which are attached to the heads.
Whenever data is read or stored, the motor in the hard disk would speed up. The basic functionality of the motor is to make the spindle work, which spins the magnetic platters at the required speed. After that, the actuator starts to read data when the magnetic platters reach their highest operational speed. The functionality of hard disks can be compared with the old record player, where the needle can be said the actuator and the record to be magnetic disk.
After the data is read, it is sent to the controller card’s buffer as per the functionality. The buffer has a reliable and faster source of memory, hence known to have solid-state memory. The performance of buffer depends on the size of the buffer, which is generally 2 to 8 MB of space. The function of the buffer is to send the data through a cable to the motherboard. It is now the function of the motherboard to process and handle the data appropriately so that it is delivered to the right place i.e. to the place from where the command came.
How to Securely Erase Your Hard Drive Files
Published April 13, 2011 | Permanently Erase files in your hard drives or hard disk is easy nowadays because of many software that are capable to wipe data from your hard drives, however, you should be wary lest what you have permanently deleted is your Operating System or the hard drives itself, if you are only deleting permanently the old files.
Reformatting the hard drives of your computer, some says, could not permanently erase files in your hard drive or wipe hard drive files that you should already need permanent hard drive eraser software if you want to wipe data or files in your hard drive completely. Secure wipe of all the data or files in your hard disk is necessary if you wanted to donate your old computer to other people or into charity lest important and confidential files in your disk can be recovered. Thus, it is said that reformatting alone your old computer in order you could donate it to charity is not an assurance that all the data or files has been deleted or erased, in case you are just an ordinary people who does have secret files, but if you are a Business Company it will not work to permanently erase files or data in your hard drive.
Reformatting does not secure wipe or securely wipe data or wipe disk from your hard drive because reformatting is just erasing the address tables of your former files in your hard disk to make or create a space for saving, creating or writing new data or file. Actually, your former files are still there in your hard drive, their address location has just only erased or deleted to open and edit them.
So therefore, if reformatting alone could not secure wipe of your data or files in your hard drive or could not wipe hard drives, so how can you permanently erase files?
However, deleting your hard drive permanently will leave your computer unusable and useless for your delete then the Operating system of it if you wanted to wipe permanently the hard drive. But of course rather the files on the hard drive or hard disk is the one you should erase or delete permanently if you either wanted to resell or donate your old computer, thus you should need hard drive cleaner or hard drive eraser to do this task.
The first thing first before you purchase a software for cleaning hard drives is your definite intention of doing so to avoid regrets in the future. Take for example: Are you really sure you want to sell it or donate it? Are you really sure you wanted to erase your former files? And so forth.
After, you have surely decided for it, you can download or purchase credible and trustworthy Permanent File Eraser and Hard drive cleanser software. Then run it in your computer. When your computer shows your boot menu, choose the CD drive to boot from and a mini-operating system will load off your CD and will give you an option to wipe your hard drive. Then choose to wipe your hard drive. For some hard disk cleanser there are other commands and dialogue you will go through before you finally click the “wipe” button, but to some it comes in an instant. Thus, choose which hard disk cleanser is best.
Be wary, only choose to wipes files or permanently erase files on your hard drive or hard disk and not your hard drive itself, for if you do you will permanently delete your Operating System and that would be painful how to recover.