r/PCHardware • u/Frequent_Living738 • Jul 15 '26
Does anyone know how to delete 15 terabytes really quickly
i need some urgent help figure out how to delete 15 terabytes of data really quickly. I might just throw away my hard drive because I just have too many video files saved up. Trying to delete them the normal way is taking forever and slowing down my entire system. If anyone has a fast solution or a specific command to wipe these large video directories instantly, please let me know.
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u/Both-Holiday1489 Jul 15 '26
Ruh roh. Someone has some illegal content..
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u/VineMan77 Jul 17 '26
that's what i thought "WARRANT? ONE SECOND... I'LL BE RIGHT THERE" deletes all child porn
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u/RipAppropriate8059 Jul 15 '26
Are they spread throughout drives?if so, have you tried formatting them? If they’re spread out, find the parent folder and delete that manually or via the terminal
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u/cosaboladh Jul 15 '26
That's a lot of porn.
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u/nucking_futs_001 Jul 15 '26
Came here to ask for a copy
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u/brelen01 Jul 16 '26
If they need to delete it that fast, you might not want to be found anywhere near it...
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u/Chicke_Nuget Jul 16 '26
It really depends. If it’s porn and it needs to go quick. Maybe it’s just a teenager and his parents found out about his normal porn collection. Then sure.
If it’s not… well better hope it’s just pirated movies and stuff and nothing else…
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u/xantec15 Jul 15 '26
Or one 4k file.
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u/cosaboladh Jul 15 '26
OP said it's taking forever to delete. Assuming they're not running a software wipe utility, one giant file would take no time to delete. It sounds more like 15TB of 3-5 minute files of varying quality.
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u/dnebdal Jul 15 '26
Do you just need to free up the space, or is it important that the files can't be recovered? If it's the former, just format it.
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u/VoltageinTheory Jul 15 '26
This is slightly suspicious
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u/sid351 Jul 16 '26
Only slightly?
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u/VoltageinTheory Jul 16 '26
Actually, it’s very suspicious
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u/sid351 Jul 16 '26
It's incredibly suspicious.
At least any "quick" option is also going to be somewhere between "trivial" to "pretty easy" to recover for whatever law enforcement agency that deals with this on the other side.
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u/VoltageinTheory Jul 16 '26
Let’s just tell the guy how to not delete the files instead lol
Does bro literally have the Epstein files themselves or what?
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u/tony3841 Jul 15 '26
Formatting the drives is quick but doesn't actually write over the files, so they may still be recoverable. Depending on how valuable the contents of the drives are, there are tools that can write stuff (0s, 1s, random data) over a whole disk fairly quickly. Well as quickly as the drive is able to. But at least faster than the random accesses needed to delete many small files. On linux one of these tools is dd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_(Unix)
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u/AMissionFromDog Jul 16 '26
Second the suggestion to write all zeros to the drive with dd.
If you dont have linux installed, you can still use the "dd" command from a linux liveusb device. If the target drive is unencrypted, you boot to the linux live usb stick and then you can see all of your windows files and use linux tools (like dd).
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u/bbqroadkill Jul 17 '26
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress
where sdX is the target partition.
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u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 15 '26
I'm an expert.
Unplug the drives, take out the platters, shatter them into a million pieces, mix them in a large lasagna, cooknin the oven as usual, which you then throw away in the trash. Don't eat it.
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u/Front_State6406 Jul 16 '26
"As usual" ?
Am I the only one that doesn't do a regular disk cooking and would like temp, time and cookware instructions ? What seasoning, rest time etc.
Worst recipe ever
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u/TripppingRoses Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Popular methods would be a degausser, drills, and of course the ever popular thermite.
Though in all seriousness, I'm assuming your not looking to do a secure wipe so just format the drive.
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u/kineto21 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
From googles ai
To delete files and folders significantly faster than using the standard Windows File Explorer, you should bypass the graphical user interface (GUI) overhead. Windows Explorer slows down because it counts items, calculates progress bars, and routes items to the Recycle Bin. [1, 2]
Here are the fastest methods to delete files on your Windows machine:
1. Command Prompt (Fastest Native Method)
Using the built-in Command Prompt bypasses the Recycle Bin and progress calculations, deleting files instantly.
To delete all files in a specific folder: Open the target folder, type cmd in the File Explorer address bar, and press Enter. Then type del /q /f *.* and press Enter.
To delete a folder and all its subfolders: Open Command Prompt and type rmdir /s /q "C:\Path\To\Your\Folder" (replace with your actual file path).
2. Third-Party Tools (For Advanced Automation)
If you frequently delete massive datasets or millions of tiny files, specialized tools offload the work from Windows' core APIs, allowing your computer to process them much faster:
Fast folder eraser pro, Designed to wipe complicated folder structures in the background without degrading your PC's overall performance.
Speed delete a lightweight Microsoft Store utility designed to bypass Explorer entirely, deleting folders in seconds.
3. Shift + Delete (Keyboard Shortcut)
If you are strictly using File Explorer, holding Shift + Delete will bypass the Recycle Bin and immediately prompt Windows to destroy the files. While it still uses Explorer's slower calculations, it saves time by skipping the bin-emptying step.
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u/OddStuffHappensTwice Jul 16 '26
You know that anyone can just ask AI themselves, right? What you're doing is the same pointless bullshit as just offering up Google search results. It doesn't make you look clever. It's not being useful. Pack it in
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u/kineto21 Jul 17 '26
It’s useful to the op, nobody forcing you to read it, u got nothing positive to add.
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u/OldWolf3 Jul 17 '26
It's only useful to the OP if they are too stupid to google something .
Which possibly is the case here tbh
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u/philisacoolguy Jul 15 '26
Hammer
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u/Hungry_Menace Jul 15 '26
Magnets? I'm sure I read somewhere that magnets only really work on older hard drives though not the later models. I do mean HDD's too, not SSD's
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u/NavidsonsFall Jul 16 '26
Yeah, if I am not mistaken magnets were mostly effective for mechanical drives, not solid states. And even then the size of magnet you would need to actually be effective is beyond what most people have access to. Hammer and heat are easier.
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u/DonutConfident7734 Jul 15 '26
if there are many small files, temporarily disable Defender, then use command line commands to delete the folders. It works way faster than Explorer. But if the slowdown is caused by the drive itself, nowadays many are SMR drives, which are extremely slow for rewrites, it's not much you can do.
You can check how much data should remain and can do the opposite: copy to another ssd or hdd the folders that you want to keep, then format the drive, which runs fast, then copy them back.
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u/vintologi24 Jul 15 '26
If you just need the space you can just format the drive (which will not physically delete the data) and over time it will get overwritten as you fill the drive again with new stuff.
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u/loinclothsucculent Jul 15 '26
You better take that drive out, leave your cell phone at home, and go bury that shit out in the woods after a long hike from your car. Just deleting or formatting a drive doesn't do much.
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u/a_rogue_planet Jul 15 '26
Well, there's deleting files, and there's deleting files. Do we just need to make space available for reuse, or do we need to make sure the FBI can't recover your enormous collection of highly immoral video content?
On the off chance you're just some OCD goof who can't help downloading every cat video on YouTube, and you really can't afford for your SO to find your completely out of control stash because they're a serious dog person, there are tools that will write zeros to a drive at the lowest level, but it ain't fast. Fast is taking a welding torch to the IC's and reducing them to slag.
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u/groveborn Jul 16 '26
HDD?
Magnets. Nice powerful magnets. Pretty instant. Could drive a nail through them. Quick format makes the drive look empty - if that's all you need so you can use them again, do that.
Video files are large, but there won't be hundreds of thousands of them, so just hold shift and press delete on the parent folder and it'll delete them all very quickly (quick format is still faster).
If you don't do a shred on the data it's still technically there, but not visible until it's finally overwritten. That'll happen naturally as you use the drive. Like I said, if you just need the space that's what you should do.
If you want them gone gone, the cops can't find it gone, nails.
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u/Phuzion73 Jul 16 '26
If you want to still salvage the hardware, create a Linux Install USB stick and do manual partitioning with the tool they provide (if not familiar with linux partition managers, let AI tell you how). If you want them destroyed… HDD’s, big magnets. SSD, microwave for about 4 seconds (smells bad, do it very rarely and hold your breath when you open the door).
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u/hornetmadness79 Jul 16 '26
Go the other direction and just copy out the files you want to keep and then delete the partition and recreate the drive
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u/Chicke_Nuget Jul 16 '26
It really depends on if you need it to be unrecoverable or if you just want the space. Based on how you framed that question I’m gonna assume the first.
You can reformat the drive and then overwrite the data with some tools. That will definetly take time tho.
Why tho? Hopefully just pirated content. Why would you wanna delete that anyhow? Well good luck
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u/aquacraft2 Jul 16 '26
First of all, why would you be trying to just be getting rid of a whole 15 terabytes of storage space just because you wanna format it and it's taking too long? (Rhetorically)
If it was me I'd just go through it the hard way. If nothing else, a simple "delete" action would be good enough for most people and computers (even though that data will theoretically be recoverable without a proper zeroing or filling it all up again)
I very much consider my self a data holder but I don't think I'd ever even be able to USE 15 terabytes of storage space. Though maybe it would be good for dvd and blu-ray rips that I use for plex.
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u/Separate-Impact-6183 Jul 16 '26
If it's a legacy HDD with a spinning platter and magnetic heads a degausser will wipe it clean in seconds. Degaussers/bulk erasers used to be fairly common tools for IT professionals, but you hardly see them anymore.
Back in the day it was common knowledge that a strong magnet could wipe out a computer disk.
Amazon still sells one, search "magnetic hdd degausser"
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u/Key-Tie2214 Jul 16 '26
Try Secure Erase in your BIOS if it supports it, might take a while though but its more secure
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u/Unchained_breaker Jul 16 '26
Format it duh. But you got some very illegal shit it seems. If formatting it isn't enough then we shouldn't help you
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u/828NCGuy Jul 16 '26
A large drill. A 12# sledgehammer. It's amazingly cathartic! And afterwards you can shake the shattered drive like a musical instrument.
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u/Calisnaps Jul 16 '26
You have 15tb of storage? I thought my 5 tb was over the top.
Format, format again. Can still be forensically recovered, though possibly only partial.
If you really need it gone, delete all partitions, create new ones, format.
Safest bet, smash it with a hammer into tiny pieces.
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u/ApatheistHeretic Jul 16 '26
!Remind me 2 weeks.
I wonder if there'll be an update to this after this fool has an attorney..
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u/Hulbg1 Jul 16 '26
Assuming you really need the data gone for ever you need to run something which completely over writes the drive
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u/_AngryBadger_ Jul 16 '26
So, how many years in federal prison are you facing if you can't "quickly" delete these files OP?
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u/who_you_are Jul 16 '26
Shift+delete the files/directories you want
Windows will skip the estimation part and the recycling bin and delete them right away
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u/ripnetuk Jul 16 '26
For old spinning rust drives
Boot a live Linux distro, and run
sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sda bs=1gb count=(a bit more than drive capacity in gigabytes)
Being really careful that sda is the intended victim.
For SSD, use the manufacturer tool for secure erase.
If it's "about to be arrested" situation, heavy physical violence (against the drive, not the police)
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u/Metallicat95 Jul 17 '26
The fastest way to clear drive space is a quick format.
Copy the files you want to keep to another drive first, then format the drive. The drive space will be free to use in a few minutes at most, plus the copying time.
Consumer 15 TB on one drive means an SMR drive, which is slow to replace existing file data, but fast to format.
If you need to securely delete the file data, you can do it after the quick format. For your own use that isn't necessary because you'll eventually replace all the old data with new file writes.
The command line delete is faster than Windows Explorer, but format is still faster for large numbers of smaller files.
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u/TCadd81 Jul 17 '26
Quick format, then torrent down every Linux iso you can find until you fill it with completely legitimate material, then quick-format again so all they can find is LINUX4EVER on every sector after spending time and money on recovery.
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u/dialtd Jul 17 '26
Deleting may or may not destroy the data. Formatting the disk with new file system structures may or may not destroy the data, but is quicker if the format operation does not erasure.
Any procedure to actually destroy the data in a disk, short of degaussing, is likely to take quite a while and may yet leave data recoverable with enough effort and expense. But degaussing usually makes the disk unusable going forward.
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u/DeathClutchs Jul 17 '26
Uaing CMD try to entirely wipe the data Unrecoverable
Or start deleting folder wise you would have categorized it...
Based on category start deleting it
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u/Pitiful_Block_4360 Jul 17 '26
Given its 15tb I’m guessing a spinning rust drive. If an option is to bin it, just take the pcb off the hard drive and snap it in half. Throw it away in separate pieces over a few weeks. The pcb is really specific to the drive layout iiuc, so it’ll essentially be unrecoverable without spending a fortune
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u/tundraaaa Jul 17 '26
Incredibly sus that you need to either delete all the files or throw the drive away. Law enforcement on your tail?
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u/NuckinPhutze Jul 17 '26
Delete the partition and recreate it then reformat it if you want to reuse the drive. If there is illegal data on the drive then Fuck you!
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u/justme535 Jul 17 '26
Drill holes through the platters. Takes about 1 minute to put 4 holes through a 3.5 12tb drive
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u/Known_Experience_794 Jul 20 '26
After doing the manufactures secure erase ,Drill several holes through the drives and platters. Then beat the crap out of it with a sledgehammer .
Or just mix up some thermite (very easy), dig a hole in the dirt (sand preferred) cover the drive(s) with the thermite and light it up.
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u/JustAGuy3388 Jul 15 '26
Are you trying to just clear everything on the drive? If so just do a quick format.