Is there software for wiping an external HDD for resale?

Topic says it all.

 

Yes. Microsoft Windows 7 and 8 already have the tools to do this built into the operating system.

In Windows 7, go to Start, type "disk management" into the search bar, and press enter.

 

If you're the "ANY DRIVE CAN BE RECOVERED" type you can throw DBAN at it (google it). DBAN is good for that type of person.

 

try disk redactor, I think it can help you

 

Yes there are software out there to do it one I use is killdisk that is a paid version that can wipe and Zero the drive out from any kinda recovery unless the NSA wants it they will get it.

 

as mentioned windows has a built in wiper which will do the job for an average home use hard drive but i always use dban.
it has various wipe sequences from the standard 1 wipe to the 10 wipe approved by the government agencys and the over the top gutmann method which has 35 passes.

 

I would go with DBAN, as I'd imagine it's much more secure than whatever Windows does when wiping a disk.

Or, if your data is truly sensitive, there's really only one way:

 

It can't get any more secure than re-writing the entire drive. And no, the NSA can't do anything about it either.

 

Open an administrator cmd prompt. Type the following, pressing enter after each one:

Diskpart

List disk

Select disk # (where # is your external HDD from the previous step, make sure you select the correct drive)

Clean all

Wait a few hours for Windows to zero-fill the drive.

Oh yeah you should probably also create a partition on the drive for the sake of whomever you're selling it to.

While still in DiskPart:

Creat partition primary

Format fs=ntfs quick

Exit

Exit

OK now you're done.

 

I doubt you and the rest of us will ever know but remember most it not many are online presence so they don't really need your HDD for that anyway....right all those servers you surf to will give them a wealth of information already.....