Wiping hard drives before donating

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  • sloughfoot

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    I have two old computers I would like to get out of the house and probably donate to Salvation Army.

    One has Windows 95 the other has Windows 2000 or something in that era. Whatever, I would like to wipe the hard drives of sensitive info. Would firing them up and formatting them do the trick or do I need to do more?
     

    Mr Evilwrench

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    A format will leave the data on the drive. It just takes some tools and skills to get it back, and there are liable to be losses. There is software available to overwrite the drive with anything from nothing to a sequence of different nothings to random garbage. I like to remove the drives and erase them with a flowerpot of thermite. That's more fun.
     

    sloughfoot

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    A format will leave the data on the drive. It just takes some tools and skills to get it back, and there are liable to be losses. There is software available to overwrite the drive with anything from nothing to a sequence of different nothings to random garbage. I like to remove the drives and erase them with a flowerpot of thermite. That's more fun.

    Thanks for the info that I suspected. I agree with the fun part of the thermite. I have used it a couple of times for real. Is your suggestion that I should donate them without the hard drive?
     

    jkaetz

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    Thanks for the info that I suspected. I agree with the fun part of the thermite. I have used it a couple of times for real. Is your suggestion that I should donate them without the hard drive?
    that is the most foolproof way. If you want to erase them Google DBAN. It will simplify the secure erase process.
     

    AngryRooster

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    Thanks for the info that I suspected. I agree with the fun part of the thermite. I have used it a couple of times for real. Is your suggestion that I should donate them without the hard drive?


    Yes, remove the drives before you donate them. I never get rid of the drives. There are tools out there that will wipe them. The safest way is to destroy them though. The platters are pretty well polished and make good signal mirrors for a bugout or get home bag.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    Dban works. The only guaranteed way to keep your data safe is to not donate the drives. If they REALLY want to make them work again they can find new drives.

    Bear in mind most places no longer accept computers as donations because many people try to donate computers that are so damned old they are unusable and are a disposal liability that costs them to dispose of. (such as windows 95 era computers)

    Many places around will accept them as e-waste. They will grind them up and recover the precious metals in the circuits.

    My recommendation for that era computer is to open it up, remove the drive, and throw the chassis in your can for the garbage man. Take a hammer to the drive to smash it up. Yes, the data is still there, but not worth anyone short of the NSA getting it back off.

    Throw the drive away in another week's trash just in case.
     

    dsol

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    I have software that can recover 99% of the information from a formatted hard drive. Writing over it with something like CCleaner will help but the surest way will be to simply destroy the drives. I took several personal ones and pulled them apart to harvest the cool powerful magnets. I had a box of old customer hard drives left over from when we had a computer business, took those to a cookout/range day a friend held. A warm loaded 45 Colt hard cast slug out of a 20 inch barrel blows a nice hole through them in a spectacular way...

    AR15 hits were pretty neat, small hole in and a bigger one out, but that 45 really was impressive. At the end of the day, there was nothing but mangled remains.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    I disassemble the drive and drill a couple of holes through the platters and rest assure that any data left will not be recovered.
    Why disassemble? (unless you are reclaiming the most awesome magnets in the world) Drill multiple holes clear through in the part around the spindle so that you penetrate the platters. (A hole where each finger is)

    IMG_3908_sm.JPG
     

    Cameramonkey

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