How to Erase External USB Drives

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How to Erase External USB Drives – This is a place for the community to provide tips and advice on How to Erase External USB Drives. This topic was created by Monika Jaskiewicz and the tips are provided by the community. The tips you add here can be your own or referred from another site. The best tips are then ranked at the top when up-voted by members of the community.

Tip 1 - How to Wipe Clean an External Hard Drive

Published: 9 years, 2 month(s) ago | Submitted by Fred Deluca | permalink

External hard drives consist of a hard disk inside a durable housing, and usually connect to a computer through a USB or Firewire cable. These devices provide a great way to back up data on your computer, transfer files from one computer...
Tags: WikiHow, Wipe Clean an External Hard Drive, wiki, how to articles, how to instructions, DIY, tips, howto, learn, how do I

For further reading: http://www.wikihow.com/Wipe-Clean-an-External-Hard-Drive ^[1]

Tip 2 - How to Erase and Format a Hard Drive

Published: 9 years, 2 month(s) ago | Submitted by Thug Esquire | permalink

Whether you're selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a hard drive. Here are the basic steps involved. Try a New Operating System This Weekend Try a New Operating System This Weekend Try a New Operating System This Weekend We write about a variety of platforms here at Lifehacker, and even if you're perfectly happy… Read more Read more
Tags: emailable tech support, 101, format, hard drives, external drives, flash drives, Lifehacker

For further reading: http://lifehacker.com/how-to-erase-and-format-a-hard-drive-1525128357 ^[2]

Tip 3 - Completely Erase Storage Drives for Security

Published: 9 years, 2 month(s) ago | Submitted by Dale Wolford | permalink

No matter how you're getting rid of a computer or external drive, you want all your data removed from it, because identity thieves love laziness. MaximumPC details the best ways to wipe down a hard drive, SSD, or USB drive.
Tags: Security, Hard Drives, Theft, Privacy, Data, Data Recovery, Ssd, Thumb Drives, USB Drives, USB drive, Thumb drive, Lifehacker

For further reading: http://lifehacker.com/5490047/completely-erase-storage-drives-for-security ^[3]

Tip 4 - How to format a USB or external drive?

Published: 9 years, 2 month(s) ago | Submitted by deanspeed | permalink

Using Ubuntu 11.10, how do I format an external or USB drive? I don't find an option to 'format' when I right click. In the new version, the drives don't come up on the desktop but instead come on...

For further reading: http://askubuntu.com/questions/68809/how-to-format-a-usb-or-external-drive ^[4]

Tip 5 - How do I erase or wipe an old Flash Drive? - Ask Dave Taylor

Published: 9 years, 2 month(s) ago | Submitted by Angela Gregorek | permalink

Found an old USB thumb drive or flash drive and want to erase it on your Mac? Here's the fast way and the secure way, and an explanation of the difference.

For further reading: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/erase-wipe-old-flash-drive/ ^[5]