Hardwipe is a privacy software for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Its main purpose is to erase hard drive data permanently so that it can’t be recovered anymore with recovery software.
You may remember my guide on making files unrecoverable on hard drives. I used the encryption software VeraCrypt for that, as it runs a full format on the drive by default.
While that is still recommended, full formatting a drive may take a long time to complete. Depending on the drive in question, it may take days to complete.
Hardwipe offers an alternative. Instead of using full format to make data unrecoverable, you’d use the program instead to overwrite all data with random characters. It offers a much faster process.
Note: Hardwipe appears to have been abandoned in 2017. The last version of the program is available on software download sites such as Major Geeks. It is compatible with all recent versions of Windows, including Windows 11.
Hardwipe installation and use
Installation of Hardwipe is straightforward. Just double-click on the downloaded setup file and follow the setup screens. The only choices that you have to make is whether to place the application’s icon on the desktop and whether you want to add its installation folder to the path variable. The latter is only advised if you plan to run it from the command line.
Once you run it, you are greeted with a simple interface. The left side displays the list of supported sources. You may use the application to wipe an entire hard drive, a volume, free space or specific data.
Select “devices” from the list and check the hard drive or hard drives that you want to erase all data from. Once back in the main menu, activate the “random data” menu to select one of the available options. This defines the characters used to overwrite the data on the selected drive(s).
Hardwipe supports several algorithms next to random. These include Gutman, Schneier, DOD (Department of Defense) and several others. Some overwrite multiple times, which extends the process considerably. You may set the default algorithm in the options.
Select the Start button to begin the process. You will notice that it takes less time than a full drive format. The length of the operation still depends on certain characteristics, such as the speed of the drive or the load of the system.
Apart from wiping entire hard drives, you may use the program to wipe individual files or folders, or the entire free disk space.
Closing Words
Hardwipe is an excellent program if you want to protect data on hard drives against recovery. It is much quicker than full formatting hard drives, which makes it a viable option when it comes to that.
One downside is that the tool is abandoned. Still, it is an excellent program that works reliable and quite fast.