If you're about to buy a new PC, you'll probably end up wondering what to do with the old one. You could pass it to a friend or family member, of course, or give it to a charity. Or just throw it away, or send it for recycling.

Unless you're handing it to someone you trust, you should wipe the hard disk first. This will ensure that no one can retrieve your files, web browsing history, stored passwords, and so on.

Deleting your files isn't good enough. Not even if you empty the recycle bin afterwards. Nor is formatting the drive. There are plenty of ways to recover data in such circumstances. Instead, you need a specialist program that can wipe the entire drive by storing random data onto every part of it, multiple times.

One of the best-known programs for doing this is DBAN, which stands for Darik's Boot And Nuke. It will wipe any hard drive, but note that it only works with traditional drives and doesn't support SSDs. Here's how it works:  Read More