So you upgraded the drive in your computer and now have an extra SATA drive that you do not know what to do with. There are a couple of things you can do with it. So here is what you can do with your old SATA drive.

I have written several articles on how to clone the drive in your Windows-based computer. But I have never written an article on what to do with the drive that you replaced.

Regarding the old SATA drive, there are two options: reuse or recycle it. Either way, you will need some additional hardware to utilize the old drive.

To reuse it inside of your computer, you will need a spare drive carriage, mounting screws, a 7-pin SATA data cable, and a spare 15-pin SATA power connection. If you want to connect it externally, you need a drive enclosure (2.5" or 3.5").

To recycle it, you will need to erase all of the data on the drive. I like to encrypt the drive with BitLocker first, then perform a seven-pass DoD (Department of Defense) disk wipe. So even if someone were able to recover any data, it would still be encrypted.

Now, was the old drive bootable (contained the operating system)? If so, then there will be a boot record that needs to be deleted before you can reuse it.

If you plan on reusing the drive, simply erasing all of the data on the drive should work. If you plan on recycling it, you will need to securely erase all of the data so no one can successfully recover anything from it.

If the drive was used only for storage, then erasing all of the data will work. If it was the boot drive in your computer, we have to erase all of the data and delete the boot record so that any computer that it is connected to does not accidentally boot up onto it.

Time to erase the drive

The first thing you have to do is attach the drive to your computer, either by turning the computer off and installing the drive inside of your computer. Or by connecting it externally using a drive case, docking station, or a USB adapter.

Remember that if the drive was originally a boot drive and you installed it inside of your computer, your system may try to boot on that drive. It is recommended that you wipe the drive of any boot record and boot partition before installing it inside your computer.

Several drive manufacturers have software that can erase the data from one of their drives. Western Digital, Seagate, and Samsung are a few that have that type of software. In fact, Seagate's Seatools for Windows will work on any manufacturer's drive.

There is also third-party software that can perform DoD (Department of Defense) disk erasing. The UBCD (Ultimate Boot CD) has several programs that can perform a DoD disk wipe (I like using Darik's Boot and Nuke). If you are planning on recycling the drive, a DoD wipe is recommended.

There have been times when I have seen a manufacturer's software fail when it comes to erasing data from a drive. It usually happens when the drive in question was originally a boot drive.

As you can see from the following screen capture,

the original boot/recovery partition can not be deleted in Disk Management application.

In cases like that, using the Diskpart application works great. It is a command-line program, but you can use it to delete any partition if you are very careful.

Using Diskpart to erase a drive

Note: Misusing Diskpart can erase a disk that you may not want to be wiped, so be extra careful and double-check the disk number before proceeding.

To ensure that you erase the correct drive, let's open Windows Disk Management and verify the disk number.

1. Open Disk Management by right-clicking on the Start button and selecting Disk Management from the Power User menu.
2. Locate the disk in question.
   
   It will be labeled Disk #. Please make a note of the disk number, as it will be required for the next step.

To erase your SATA drive, you will need to run command-line syntax(s) and parameter(s) in an administrative Command Prompt or PowerShell. In Windows 11, you can access both of these through the Terminal app.

Open Terminal with Administrator privileges in Windows

1. Right-click on the Start button to bring up the Power User menu.
2. Left-click on Terminal (Admin). If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Open a Command Prompt or PowerShell with Administrator privileges in Windows

1. Left-click on the magnifying glass to the right of the Start button or use the Windows logo key + S to bring up the Search dialog box.
2. In the Search dialog box, type Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell.
3. The Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell should be highlighted in the results list.
4. An options menu is in the right-hand column under Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell. Left-click on Run as administrator. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Now that you have an Administrative Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Terminal open.

1. Type diskpart and then press enter.
2. Type list disk and press enter.
   
3. Type select disk #, replacing the # with the disk number found in Disk Management.
   
4. Type clean and press enter.
   
   
5. Type exit to close Disk Management.
6. Type exit again to close the Command Prompt.

Time to format the drive

All partitions will now be gone, and the drive is ready to be reformatted. Let's go back into Disk Management and reformat the drive. When you open Disk Management, you should be prompted to initialize the disk.

If the drive is smaller than 2 Terabytes, use the MBR (Master Boot Record) partition style. Any drive larger than 2 Terabytes must use the GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition style.

Once you initialize the disk, right-click on the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.

You will be prompted for the volume size, assigning a drive letter or path, and specifying the format you want the partition in. Using the selected defaults is recommended.

Some of my favorite programs for performing computer diagnostics are the kind that you just download and run. These applications are simple to use and can be deleted when I am finished with them. So here are some of my favorite portable programs for Windows.

Since I repair computers for a living, I use many different programs during my typical workday. Most of them I can store on USB drives for quick access.

However, there are some programs that I like to download before I use them, as they are portable applications and do not require installation. Since they do not get installed, the only way to get the latest updated version is by downloading them.

Some of these programs have time stamps and will expire after a certain amount of time. So downloading them when I need them makes the most sense. The hardest thing about downloading them is remembering where you saved them.

All of the applications mentioned in this are article can run on any version of Windows currently supported by Microsoft. And the best thing is that they are all free to use.

CPU-Z

This convenient utility displays the details of the installed processor, motherboard, memory, and graphics card in any given computer. This way, you do not have to disassemble a computer to determine its installed components.

CPU-Z comes in handy when you are looking to add or upgrade your computer's memory modules. I use it when a customer wants to upgrade the installed memory, as it displays the exact part number of all installed memory modules.

There are portable (ZIP) and installable (EXE) versions of CPU-Z and versions customized for particular motherboard vendors. If you are going to use CPU-Z to measure system performance between different BIOS settings, the installed version may be the best bet.

But if you are only going to run it a couple of times, then the stand-alone version will work quite well. All you have to do is extract the files inside the ZIP archive, and you are ready to go.

For more information on CPU-Z, follow the link below.

CPU-Z

Advanced IP Scanner

Have you ever added a new device to your network and then could not find it? That is where Advanced IP Scanner comes in handy. It can scan your network and find network devices, shared folders, and shared printers. You can even use it to access other network computers remotely.

Advanced IP Scanner can be installed or run as a stand-alone program. When you download the program, it comes as an EXE file. When executing it, you have the option of installing it or just running it.

If you are only going to use it a couple of times, then the stand-alone version will work. If you are going to use it regularly, you may want to perform a complete installation.

For more information on the Advanced IP Scanner, follow the link below.

Advanced IP Scanner

Adwcleaner

This is by far my favorite tool for cleaning up Internet browsers. Just download and run Adwcleaner to remove adware and PUPs (Probably Unwanted Program) from your favorite browser.

Unlike the rest of the programs in this article, when Adwcleaner downloads its latest database, it also checks for a new version of itself. It will download an updated version but does not remove the previous version. It has to be removed manually.

Besides cleaning up browsers, it will also clean up and reset the TCP/IP network stack back to the default settings. And if you only need to run it a couple of times, it can delete itself and all of its quarantine files.

For more information on Adwcleaner, follow the link below.

Adwcleaner

Microsoft Safety Scanner

Microsoft's Safety Scanner is a powerful utility when it comes to scanning for viruses and malware. Even though the user interface is sparse, the true power is built into it.

Since this program is updated on a pretty regular basis, you will defiantly want to download it when you are ready to perform a scan. Keep in mind that this program is date stamped and will run only for ten (10) days after it was downloaded.

There are only a couple of choices regarding the types of scans it will perform; Quick, Full, or Customized. Be warned that if you choose a full scan, it can take hours or even days to complete, depending on how much data your drive(s) contains.

Remember that the Microsoft Safety Scanner is for manually scanning for malware and viruses and does not replace the need for a full-time anti-virus program.

For more information on Microsoft's Safety Scanner, follow the link below.

Microsoft Safety Scanner

Sysinternals Suite

With over seventy utilities, Microsoft's Sysinternals Suite has the most extensive set of diagnostics tools. Sysinternals have been around for more than two decades and have become a staple in computer technicians' toolbox.

Every single program in the suite is a stand-alone program and does not require installation. You can download the complete suite of utilities in a single ZIP file or a single utility separately; it is your choice.

Now you have to remember that the Sysinternals Suite does not automatically update any of its programs. But there are script files out there that can download updated files.

There is also the Sysinternals Live service that allows you to run the tools directly from the web. That way, you will always have the latest and greatest version of any of the utilities.

For more information on Microsoft's Sysinternals Suite, follow the link below.

Sysinternals Suite

For decades now, we have been compressing files and folders to make them smaller to attach to an e-mail or archive. I have used many archiving programs over the years, but the best one I have found is 7-Zip.

7-Zip is one of the most straightforward archiving programs I have ever used. It can work with a ton of different file types and has a high compression rate.

7-Zip can create several different archive files, including ZIP, TAR, and of course, 7z. And it can also open over thirty (30) other archive formats, including CAB, DMG, ISO, and RAR.

The 7-Zip File Manager is straightforward to use and has a ton of features. Besides being able to create and open archive files, it can also edit them, including splitting and combining archive files.

But the best feature is the right-click context menu. You can right-click on some files or folders and quickly create an archive file from them (7z or ZIP).

Or you can right-click on an archive file and quickly open, extract or test it. And the cool thing is you can edit the functions that the right-click menu can perform.

7-Zip is an open-source program that began over twenty years (20) ago and is still going strong. It has been translated into over ten (10) different languages, including French, Spanish, and German.

7-Zip is available in either 32 or 64-bit versions and can run on all Windows versions from Windows XP and up. And it is free to use for either personal or commercial use.

For more information on 7-Zip, follow the link below.

7-Zip

Are you looking for an easy way to synchronize your files to another computer on your network? Or maybe you want to sync to an external drive or the cloud. If so, then take a look at Allway Sync by Botkind.

For years now, I have been using synchronization programs to make an exact copy of my files on network drives and external devices. Over ten years ago, Microsoft released a straightforward file synchronization program called SyncToy.

But Microsoft dropped support for SyncToy a few years ago, and eventually, it stopped working correctly. That is when I started looking for another synchronization application and found Allway Sync.

Windows 10 does have a built-in file sync program called File History, but it is pretty basic. With File History, you can sync to a network folder or external drive, but not to the cloud.

On the other hand, Allway Sync can sync to a local or network folder, FTP / SFTP server, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and several different cloud storage types. You can even sync to a single archive file.

The user interface inside of Allway Sync

The user interface is simple to use and easy to understand. The sync options are quite extensive and include data compression and encryption. You can set up multiple sync jobs and customize each job to meet your needs.

The sync job options menu inside of Allway Sync

The options for sync jobs include synchronization rules, automatic synchronization, inclusion and exclusion filters, file versioning, error handling, and custom actions.

I have several clients that use synchronization software for backing up files. The primary reason is that files can be recovered quickly, as they do not have to be decrypted. Just copy the file you want to be recovered back to the original folder.

Allway Sync is free for personal use, with a limit of 40,000 files per 30 day period. But for unlimited file synchronization, purchasing a Pro license is recommended. FYI - A pro license is not that expensive (under $30).

There are a couple of different editions of Allway Sync, a desktop edition for installing on desktops, laptops, and servers. There is also an edition, Allway Sync 'n' Go, a portable version for installing on external drives.

Allway Sync comes in 32-bit and 64-bit versions compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019. They even have versions that will run on Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

For more information on Allway Sync by Botkind, click on the link below.

Allway Sync by Botkind

When it comes to editing text-based files, everyone has used Windows built-in text editor Notepad. But it is pretty basic and has very few features. If you are looking for a program that can do more than edit text files, take a look at Notepad++.

Notepad++ (Notepad plus plus) is a text/code editor based on the open-source editing component Scintilla and can be customized to a user's needs. It has an impressive list of built-in features like syntax highlighting, code folding, and extensive find and replace functions.

It includes support for over seventy (70) programming languages like HTML, JavaScript, and Visual Basic. Notepad++ can also record macros so that it can speed those repetitive commands.

Now one of the great features of Notepad++ is its customizability. You can completely change the way it looks and feels, from the font used to the background color; you can make it just the way you like it.

Notepad++ with the black board theme

You can edit the shortcuts for the pull-down menus, macros, run commands, plugin commands, and Scintilla commands with the shortcut mapper. You can even edit the right-click context menu.

Notepad++ shortcut mapper

But the best feature is the extension capacity using third-party plugins. Over 90 (ninety) plugins are available for Notepad++, including all sorts of coding tools and a spell checker.

Notepad++ comes in both 32 and 64-bit versions, and there are two ways to install it; the automatic installer or the portable stand-alone version. You can even modify the registry and use Notepad++ instead of Notepad, but you will have to go through the user manual to find the code.

And the best thing about Notepad++ is that it is free, but you can donate to the author to help support future releases. For more information on Notepad++, follow the link below.

Notepad++