upflying Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Bought a new PC and need to dispose of a desktop and laptop. Did the file transfer thing. In Ca, we pay extra when buying electronics to pay for "e-waste recycling". Presumably the ewaste goes to China where it is broken down. Short of firing a .40 cal or spinning a drill bit through the hard drive, is there a safe method to delete files? Just don't want anyone snooping on my computer after I dispose of this stuff. OTH, can a Win XP be decommissioned to the base start up so a school or nonprofit can use my donated PC? Link to comment
Bob Palin Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 The only truly secure way is to physically destroy the disk, it's very cathartic to take a sledge hammer to computer parts, (and even better to cell phones) DAMHIK. (They're usually very easy to remove from the case too) Link to comment
Twisties Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 There are several free software programs that will wipe a hard disk clean. All bits have to be reset. the best programs reset the bits multiple times according to complex rules. However, I believe even single pass all 0 or all 1 is plenty good enough. It may not be 100%, but it is practically so. Choose one with good reviews. Link to comment
HairyCannonball Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Like Killer said the only way to be sure is to physically destroy the hdd. If that bothers you remove and keep the hdd and dispose of the rest of the machine. Link to comment
Bob Palin Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 There are several free software programs that will wipe a hard disk clean. All bits have to be reset. the best programs reset the bits multiple times according to complex rules. However, I believe even single pass all 0 or all 1 is plenty good enough. It may not be 100%, but it is practically so. Choose one with good reviews. To be really thorough you have to do it with offset write heads on the drive... When I worked for the USAF after we shut a machine down we had reboot it with a program that ran random bit patterns through the memory! Link to comment
ghaverkamp Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 There are several free software programs that will wipe a hard disk clean. All bits have to be reset. the best programs reset the bits multiple times according to complex rules. However, I believe even single pass all 0 or all 1 is plenty good enough. It may not be 100%, but it is practically so. Choose one with good reviews. To be really thorough you have to do it with offset write heads on the drive... You could do that, but no one will be able to recover data after a single wipe pass, anyway. Link to comment
upflying Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 ok, I am using software called wipedrive. Supposedly this keeps the operating system and deletes everything else. Thanks for the suggestions Link to comment
Twisties Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 ok, I am using software called wipedrive. Supposedly this keeps the operating system and deletes everything else. Thanks for the suggestions Is wipedrive free? Looks like the trial is not fully functional. I would be wiping everything myself. Then just give the recipient all the oem install disks and leave it to them to reinstall or not. Whichever one I used last time did not require the CD burn, and I'm not sure how to burn an iso. The one I used ran from windows. If I recalled the name, I'd tell you, but I don't. Link to comment
w2ge Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I suggest Dariks Boot and Nuke.. it re-writes over every sector three times.. Smashing a harddrive does not kill the data, however in the "real world" I doubt anyone is going to get your data, but if someone really wanted it, they could get it. The physical platter is removed and read in special equipment in a clean room. DataRecovery services do this all the time, ie. from fires, etc... It is expensive, but corporations that have lost critical data will pay to do this. http://www.dban.org/ (Dariks..) Link to comment
BerndM Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I like to disassemble the HDD to get the magnets. They are fun to play with but watch your fingers!! You can get one hell of a blood blister when they slam together. (don't ask). Anyway, Its fun for me to remove the platters and do a quick run with them on my lathe. Sort of like resurfacing brake rotors...... LOL Link to comment
Bob Palin Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Smashing a harddrive does not kill the data Really? You show me somebody that can re-assemble a thousand pieces of platter and read the data off it... To make really sure you just dispose of the parts in several locations, since data isn't recorded contiguously on a disk it would be hard to get anything meaningful, even with a lot of superglue. Link to comment
Jerry Johnston Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Yeah, I have some glued to a dustpan so it will stick to the furnace duct without having to hang it. Even the little rare-earth magnets (1/16th" by 1/16th")are strong. I also use one to hold letters (that are to go out to the postman)to a file cabinet so they can be easily grabed on the way out the door. Link to comment
Jerry Johnston Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Why not just pull the hard drive and keep it as a backup? Link to comment
Mike O Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Someone told me 'ctrl-alt-delete' works. Mike O Link to comment
CarrotNC Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Given the personal data contained on my hard drives, when one is retired it's disassembled for the magnets and then the platter meets a propane torch. Don't know of anyone who's able to recover data from a blob of material - yet. Besides, it's fun to disassmble something you KNOW you don't have to put back together! If still want to donate the system to a school, their IT department is bound to have an old drive laying around. Or you can buy a cheap one and load it up for them. As for the laptop, I'd likely do the same there except the replacement drive might be expensive. Don't know, only laptops I've ever used were issued by my company and they take them back whole -- I just never put personal stuff on them. Link to comment
Quinn Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I like the idea of converting the old drive into a USB drive for doing weekly backups. ---- Link to comment
w2ge Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Smashing a harddrive does not kill the data Really? You show me somebody that can re-assemble a thousand pieces of platter and read the data off it... To make really sure you just dispose of the parts in several locations, since data isn't recorded contiguously on a disk it would be hard to get anything meaningful, even with a lot of superglue. BOb, yeah.. you smash the platter is one thing, You ever smash a HDD in its case? Unless your talking about taking it apart first and smashing the platter, HDD's are damn strong... and smashing the outside rarely gets to the platter. I own a PC business, (as a side investment/co-owner and work there two days a week) and we smash em' all the time with a hand held sledge, they are TOUGH! If someone wants the drive back and made clean, then Darik's Boot and Nuke. Link to comment
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