absolute newcomer question

[Anonymous]

I'm turning in a business computer in a couple of months for a replacement.
The computer going back has 4 years of family info on it: financial records, letters, family photos, etc.

By downloading Eraser, can I start eliminating specific files and folders while still being able to work on the computer?

Would guying a large, powerful magnet and placing it near the hard drive before turning it it make the drive completely unreadable?

Thanks,
Jonesie

 

[Anonymous]

By downloading Eraser, can I start eliminating specific files and folders while still being able to work on the computer?

Yes.

Would guying a large, powerful magnet and placing it near the hard drive before turning it it make the drive completely unreadable?

I doubt it, you would probably need a real degausser for that. If you wish to erase everything from your hard drive (including the operating system), you may want to try DBAN, which comes with current versions of Eraser.