Take a hammer to your hard drive!

[barryhynd]

The article below has been doing the rounds on a few sites I visit. Apparently Which? computing magazine is suggesting the only way to properly dispose of an old hard drive is to take a hammer to it! Seems a bit extreme

BBC NEWS | Technology | Hard drive destruction 'crucial'

Is this the best way or could you do something like reformatting the drive to get rid of the data?

[Brian McIntosh]

One of the I.T. dudes will come along and maybe correct me here but reformatting the drive won't get rid on the info on it. The drive needs to be overwritten with information so that your info is lost. There are standards that detail what needs to be done but if you need to get rid of the information, welly the drive, it's the only way to be sure. I heard a report on this on the radio today and it seems that crims are actively hunting computers in dumps and looking for personal information.

[TomB]

hey all,

yeah reformatting the hard drive doesn't wipe the contents and they can be recovered using software. not perfectly everytime though, but they can be recovered.

You get special software to securely wipe the hard drive, I use one called dban

It claims:
"Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.

DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis."

I've used it when i've been recycling computers to wipe the hard drive and it does what it says on the time. But it can take up to 5 hours depending on the size of the hard drive.

T

[Brian McIntosh]

Told Ya.

[stugster]

Or, use it as a backup

Most computers will let you install at least 2, usually 4, Hard Drives. They're a fantastic way to store large amounts of data.

I have to say though - the hammering is great fun!