Permanantly Delete Hard Drive Files

[jkov420]

I plan on donating my laptop, but I read in PC World that even if I reformat, that people can still retreive deleted files. They suggested using software that overwrites the hard drive. My question is, what is the best software out there that I can use to insure that no one can retrieve my information?

Thanks

[Mada_Milty]

Chances are that nobody will recover your information anyway! Its is an expensive and time-consuming procedure to perform autopsy on a disk.

Also, a format WILL overwrite data. (A non-quick format, that is. A quick format only deletes file indexes, leaving your files awaiting to be overwritten - ie. still recoverable).

However, if you're still worried, you can use a drive cleaning utility like Active KillDisk to securely wipe your hard drive.