subject: Should I Use Free Hard Drive Erase Software [print this page] For people who are a bit worried about the files that they are working on, they would often think about the methods for securely deleting their files. A few seconds with a search engine would usually point them to the use of free hard drive erase software to delete their files. The free software would often claim that they would be able to securely remove the files and combat any data retrieval operations that may be run on the computer.
Of course, there are still a lot of skeptics when it comes to using free hard drive erase software. They think that these are not as good as the ones that people would purchase to do the same job. Actually, there may be some validity to these reservations.
Here are some considerations when trying to decide if you should use free hard drive erase software:
Where you are downloading it:
You should ensure that the free hard drive erase software that you are getting is actually free from viruses and other malware which could harm your computer. There are some websites which would allow you to download files that are working but are actually carriers of various Trojan horses and other viruses.
To avoid this kind of trouble, you should ensure that you are downloading the file from a very reliable site. You should try to seek out the developer of the free hard drive erase software on the internet and learn if they have any history of bundling spyware or malware with their software.
The Features that you need:
More often than not, the free hard drive erase software that you can get or download are not as fully featured as those that you would have to spend some money on. There are also some instances wherein the software would have some features that are limited or locked, and you would have to purchase a code so that you can activate them.
Thus, it would be important to know how you would use the free hard drive erase software. If you would use it for simple tasks, then it may be enough. However, more advanced tasks may not be handled well by the free versions.
