Deleting private info

[ELF2000]

Whats the best way to delete private information from a computer?

The computer is a old one which belongs to a accounting business and is to be giving to a friend but the owner wants the information deleted beyond retravial. Is this possiable?

[Tuttle]

The best you'll do for free is something like DBAN. Several random passes are enough for most purposes, but if the data is important enough, replace the hard drive with a new one instead of giving it away.

[ELF2000]

Thanks for the quick reply Tuttle. I will have a look at DBAN