You might get a message like “Press any key to boot from external device,” pay attention so you do not miss it. Remember not to disconnect the pen drive. When you do not have a drive, the next choice down the list should appear.Īt this point your machine should start booting on its own. Beware that everytime you start your machine with a drive included, it will boot from it. You could statically configure the bootable drive to appear first. Highlight USB (Pen drive) and press Return.

The important part here is to press it and wait to continue to the next prompt. It might say “Press F2/F12/F10 to Choose Boot Device” This key might vary. Once you have restarted your computer, wait for the first screen to appear, usually with a manufacturer's logo.

If you have an older copy of Windows or if you like to get into the weeds with different file-deletion methods, a third-party tool like Dban is your best option.Seems like you are using the pen-drive to 'boot' from a different operating system (presumably Linux based or GParted Live) while the second hand HDD is 'plugged' to the machine. The following directions for wiping a computer will work with any system running Windows 10, as well as most Macs. The entry typically says “solid state” or “flash storage” for a solid-state drive (SSD), whereas for a mechanical hard drive it says “hard disk drive.” On a Mac, click the Apple logo and then About this Mac, and select the Storage tab. On Windows, this information is harder to find than it should be, but the easiest way is to open the Defragment and Optimize Drives tool (type “defragment” into the search menu in the taskbar). Next, figure out which type of storage your computer has. For Macs, Apple recommends logging out of any iCloud services, including iTunes and iMessages. How you do this depends on which operating system you have and what type of storage drive your device has.īefore you wipe a computer, make sure that you have a backup of any files you need and deactivate any software that requires doing so. On most devices, wiping your data securely is pretty straightforward, and doing so can prevent your data from being recovered by someone you would rather not have it. Your computer, phone, or tablet holds all kinds of personal information about you, and before you sell, return, recycle, or donate it, you should make sure to delete all of that information correctly.

Wipe drive 9