Hard drive disposal

[disco]

I fitted a new hdd to my gfs pc and want to throw here old slow drives out.

I have cleared the data from the drives using active kill.

Snaped the ide pins off and a few controler chips.

Broken the seal on the drives and filled them with salt water then resealed them.

The drives contained personal information bank details etc before i cleared them so I wanted to make sure this was inaccessable before I threw them out. The salt water should stop even the best data recovery tools! Perhaps a little ott but after the programs on tv about computer bits ending up abroad with people accessing personal data I thought it best!

Can I just chuck them in the bin or do I have to take them to the dump?

D

 

[MRBILLYUK]

If your really worried , wrap it up in something to disguise what it is then bin it .

 

[disco]

I dont mind taking it down the dump if thats the proper place to get rid of them. Just wondered if it is legal to just chuck them in the bin?

 

[MRBILLYUK]

Bins the safest place tbh . When people dump their old pc's down at the dump thats when they find their way to Africa and indentity fraud .

 

[disco]

Cool cheers.

 

[wozzaa]

You know you could have just done a low level format and then not had to go through the trouble.

typical formats are high level. Low level will completely wipe the drive and write zeros to it basically making it the same as when it came out the factory.

 

[disco]

Low level format is reversable if you are determin enough. Reseting the disk to 0's does not destroy what was there before. As far as I know it takes multiple passes to truly kill the data.

http://www.oreillynet.com/sysadmin/blog/2005/03/please_for_the_love_of_all_tha.html

"Generally the data is sitting there waiting for someone with low-level tools to recover it. Even if you do a “low-level format” and write over the full drive with zeroes, there’s still a chance that an individual with the right (albeit expensive) equipment can recover data from the drive"

 

[RobTQ]

Hammer + Large Screwdriver = Dead HDD

 

[BenR]

a blender?

 

[The Hoff]

You know you could have just done a low level format and then not had to go through the trouble.

typical formats are high level. Low level will completely wipe the drive and write zeros to it basically making it the same as when it came out the factory.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!

There are tools which can pick up data on formatted drives, and theres magnetic tools which can pick up data that have been 'wiped' less than 5 times. Apparently 5 passes using an industry algorithm is classed as blanked.

Best way to blank a drive (which we do at work) is to run killdisk on it on multiple passes. Then as above, drive a screwdriver through the platters and through the controller chips on the reverse side. At that point it becomes damn near ballache impossible to recover anything from the drive, providing the platters are suitably destroyed.

But indeed, pretty OTT tbh.

 

[Gareth]

as said, BIG f**king hammer.

 

[sargey]

Yup, big flat head screw driver and an even bigger hammer.

And a pair of goggles for Health and safety.

 

[Jonaldinho]

BBQ it as well, you can put some chicken on at the same time!

 

[Mells]

why not just put it in the loft and forget about it?

 

[BioHzrd]

Smash it with a hammer....or just stick it in boilin water to screw it right over :/

 

[Bailey_1260]

Burn it

 

[Leeshez]

Set it on fire?

 

[sn00p]

We take them apart at work and smash the platters into dust. Very satisfying.

Plus you get to take the magnets out and keep them, they're the most immense magnets ever!

 

[Clellandmc]

You know you could have just done a low level format and then not had to go through the trouble.

typical formats are high level. Low level will completely wipe the drive and write zeros to it basically making it the same as when it came out the factory.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!

There are tools which can pick up data on formatted drives, and theres magnetic tools which can pick up data that have been 'wiped' less than 5 times. Apparently 5 passes using an industry algorithm is classed as blanked.

Best way to blank a drive (which we do at work) is to run killdisk on it on multiple passes. Then as above, drive a screwdriver through the platters and through the controller chips on the reverse side. At that point it becomes damn near ballache impossible to recover anything from the drive, providing the platters are suitably destroyed.

But indeed, pretty OTT tbh.

I think you have to run 7 passes not 5.

 

[FiDoDiDo]

I think you have to run 7 passes not 5.

Yep, 7 is DoD standard although anything over one wipe of zeroing is impossible to recover using software and has to be done using the positive and negative charges that are on the disk. This is only done at the very top level though.

 

[1fast6]

You will find that the people who can afford to recover data from a disk that has already had zero's written will not be interested in your bank statements.

If you are really worried, as said before don't even bother with the LLF just take the platters out and smash em up.

 

[Rich]

I would just go with the smash it to bits with a hammer option!

 

[BRUN]

yup, as above, its an excuse to smash something up and set fire to it

 

[Clart]

we give em to maintenance at work who go at them with a circular saw

 

[Don]

You know you could have just done a low level format and then not had to go through the trouble.

typical formats are high level. Low level will completely wipe the drive and write zeros to it basically making it the same as when it came out the factory.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!

There are tools which can pick up data on formatted drives, and theres magnetic tools which can pick up data that have been 'wiped' less than 5 times. Apparently 5 passes using an industry algorithm is classed as blanked.

Best way to blank a drive (which we do at work) is to run killdisk on it on multiple passes. Then as above, drive a screwdriver through the platters and through the controller chips on the reverse side. At that point it becomes damn near ballache impossible to recover anything from the drive, providing the platters are suitably destroyed.

But indeed, pretty OTT tbh.

Used to work for a secure government organisation, we had an agreement with Rolls Royce and used an acid bath up in Crewe to destroy the disks...so that there was nothing that could be brought back from them! (And I do mean NOTHING!)

 

[KDF]

Take it in the shower with you and use it like a bar of soap..
Then use it to wash your hair with..
Then attach a cable to it and dangle it out the back of your car on the way to work
Then at work accidently spill your lunch all over it.
Later.. Have a game of american football with it in the park..
Back home, use it to get those really tuff bits of food while washing the dishes.
Stick it in the oven for 4 hours at 300C and then eat it for supper..


Job done !