Active@ KillDisk vs east-tec DisposeSecure

Active@ KillDisk permanently erases data from HDDs, SSDs, NVMe disks, USB drives and other storage media. It is available for Windows, Linux and macOS, with bootable media for Windows PE, Linux and console environments. The product lists more than 25 sanitization standards, including NIST 800-88 and DoD 5220.22-M. The freeware edition uses only the One Pass Zeros method, allows two parallel erases and lacks batch scripting and post-erase verification. Paid editions list erase verification, resuming interrupted erases, PDF certificates and XML reports; professional editions also list batch scripting that can run without user interaction. Some editions include low-level ATA Secure Erase for SSDs. The comparison also lists remote monitoring and HTTP process control through a Web Service, plus export of operation journals to external databases. Personal Professional costs $64.95, paid once; Personal Suite costs $79.95, paid once. Commercial and site licenses have separate listed prices. The maker describes the tool for home users, businesses, IT departments, recyclers, refurbishers, government and healthcare organizations, among others.

east-tec DisposeSecure erases hard drives, selected partitions and connected external drives before computers are resold, donated or retired. The maker says its wiping methods meet and exceed the U.S. Department of Defense 5220.22-M disk-sanitizing standard, as well as other military, government and industrial standards. It can start from USB, CD, DVD, floppy or a local network, so erasure can run independently of the computer’s operating system. A Windows module handles detected non-system drives and partitions, including USB drives, memory cards and optical media. Over a local network, it can wipe multiple computers and send reports to a server; reports can also be saved locally for auditing or recordkeeping. The DisposeSecure Plan covers up to 10 PCs and includes one year of free updates and support. A fully functional 15-day trial is offered at no cost or obligation. Listed plan prices are $29.50 a month and $29.50 a year. For bootable disk use, the download page lists support for hard drives up to 1 TB.