The practice of "writing zeros" is the only was to ensure complete deletion without going the physical route. That writes 0s on every sector 3 times.

Remember it is POSSIBLE to view old files with a sector editor, but short of you having anything THAT sensitive on your drive, nobody cares. And if you have anything that sensitive, lock it in a bank safe deposit box.

PS. My practice is that I keep my hard drives. I must have a dozen laying around from over the years. When I junk a computer the drive is removed.

I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.