The PCs of many of us contain very valuable personal data which if it gets into wrong hands can bring trouble to us. I am talking about information like credit card numbers, passwords, banking information, personal emails etc.

If you think that by hitting 'delete' button, all your data has vanished from the computer, then your thinking is naive. Most of the data you delete and think that its gone forever, can actually be retrieved by using special programs. There are many softwares available online which get back lost data. Such programs are called as data recovery softwares.

If you want, just do a search on Google for 'data recovery software' and see how many results you get. And you thought your private data was deleted forever without a chance for other people to get it from your PC!

Such programs can be useful if we accidently delete our data, or we deleted some data previously and want it back now.  But they can also be a menace if used in a wrong manner.

So how to delete hard drive data permanently? what to do if you want to destroy your private data so that it is not retrievable?

There are a few softwares available which do just that. They can completely wipe out your data so that there is no chance of getting it back. Such programs are called as file shredder softwares. A few free file shredders are listed below:

1. File Shredder

2. Evidence Nuker

3. Data Shredder

 Also make sure you keep your computer free from viruses and spyware. Spywares are programs that install secretly on user's computers and collect private information and can even interfere with the user's control over their computer - Detect and remove spywares now

Learn more about spyware here - What is spyware