Should I go to kali linux to practice hacking a windows hard drive

[Gattopardo]

Looking to remove all the bits of a win 10 updated from win 8 hard drive.  Don't want to clone the drive, just reinstall os on a new ssd as win11 doesn't let me view the files.

Is there a better linus to do this with?

[philip]

If you are doing a new install you don't need to delete any files. The installer will give you the option to delete partitions when choosing where to install, simply delete all the existing partions. Once the installer has created new partions none of the old files will be visible. Technically some of the data is still recoverable (by reading the raw device), but in normal use it has gone.

If you really want to delete stuff on an SSD then "secure erase" is probably the way to go. Booting into the UEFI BIOS may well provide a "secure erase" function. You only need this if you have some security reason for erasing the data, simply deleting the partions is likely to be sufficient in most cases.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Your aim is not clear. If you wish to read some files from a hard drive, simply boot into a live ISO of your choice, from USB.
Knoppix was the canonical choice in past times. (forgive the unintended pun)

[Gattopardo]

Looking for a linux that is easy to use and not haveing to do any command window stuff.

The drive in question doesn't work in the laptop, but works in a caddy.  Tried on a win laptop and could not view the files so was looking to install a new drive in  the other machine. Then transfer the files via the linux laptop.

[Feanor]

If you are trying to recover files from an unreadable drive, than I'm not sure adding a Linux machine to the mix is going to help much.

If you install a fresh Win11 on a new SSD, then go ahead and do that.

Not sure what you mean when you say it 'doesn't work in the laptop but works in the caddy'.
You might need to explain exactly what you mean by that.

If it works in the caddy, then just plug the caddy into the freshly-installed machine as a secondary drive, and copy the files over?

[Kim]

Doesn't Kali Linux make you a dangerous h4xx0r?  You might as well wear a hoodie and light your room with a projector showing meaningless binary.

https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/14/silly_police_infosec_parental_advice_poster/