KillDisk

I read that KillDisk will permanently remove anything on my computer that has been deleted. but I was wondering what will that leave the computer like? if I have files/programs on my computer that I want to keep, will they remain or would KillDisk wipe everything all together from my computer? this is Windows 7 home edition and I do have the CD. if it wipes everything completely do I then have to reinstall Windows 7? and if so how long does that take?

 

Don't use KillDisk if all you want to do is securely erase those files you have already deleted. KillDisk does this for entire drives and you would normally only want to do that when disposing of a disk or a computer. Using KillDisk will leave you with an unbootable, unusable computer, which is its raison d'etre.

Ccleaner has a Drive Wiper function which will do what you want, and many other useful functions too.

 

I have used CCleaner with wipe free or whatever it's called, but does that overwrite all of the 0's and 1's I've heard about? I don't want any of those files to ever be recoverable even by like computer experts.

 

I'm not into computer forensics but I think if you take the time to read this thread hopefully you will be reassured.

 

you might also look at Eraser
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/eraser.html

 

I don't delete files, I right click and erase them. I usually just do the DOD (department of defense) 3 pass. But you do have the option for 35 passes. Eraser will also wipe free space, like CCleaner, but if there is a lot of free space (hard drives are extremely large these days) and you select 35 passes it will take a long time to erase it.