Flaps

iTrader: (1)

I've two laptops at home which I want to throw away; one won't allow me to log on, the other just won't turn on, both are around four years old so i've given up on them and bought a new one. Both obviously have images of the family and some personal files on too, no dodgy stuff so that's not the issue, but I would still like to make sure the hard drive is blank before binning them. How can I do this? Any suggestions?

busby330

put them in an external hd case, plug into a current pc/laptop and format which will wipe the harddrive

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

One word: hacksaw.

richs2891

Personally I would just get a large hammer and smack the drives with it - much easier than a hack saw !
Or if that way inclined and have the revelant screwdrivers, take the lid off and take the platters out. - The magnet can be pretty handy around the house as they are quite powerful !

Richard

360ste

iTrader: (1)

Agree physical damage is the best, you don't erase it fully by formatting. That is why the police can get information of computers that they have confiscated. Physically dismantle it then smash or cut the disk.

busby330

I would personally remove format and keep!!!! as if theres pics on there you dont need to log into them hd when using an external case.

if you dont mind throwing away, as said a nice big hammer!!!!!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Yup, physically damaging the drive (crack it open, use the platters as coasters, and magnets to store paperclips ) is the only way, you don't need police forensics to get data off them, just some simple free software:

I restored my broken Raid 0 array and lost data on reformatted drives by using this: TestDisk - CGSecurity It restored all the formatted partitions and directory structure within seconds.

Also used this: Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download to restore images and text files on drives that have been formatted and data re-written on, with limited success (I found images and word files thats I deleted years ago).

BuRR

Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing

Simple, free and VERY effective

Albert47

as above
DBAN - Boot and nuke
Very good is you want re-use the hard drive again.

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

Looks like I might have a few destructive hours next week then

I'm not wanting to keep the hard drives or even reconnect them to wipe them, this new laptop has a 320gb drive so i've more space than i'll ever need. I'm sure my first which was three times the cost only had a 3.2 gb drive!

Can I not soak the drive in something to mess it up?

boxst

This from the man who does spend his life recovering hard disks, so I would believe it.

Although I seem to remember you saying once: cut the drive into pieces, burn them in places very far apart!

Steve

HHxx

I drill through mine. Sometimes if it is a 15krpm drive, I may spin them up and see how far the disk goes down the garage and up the wall

At work, they are completely shredded.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Magnets, fire, total destruction, normally the fire does the job

Tony

BuRR

Unless you are willing to spend £k on electron microscopes and the like, Boot n Nuke is good enough.

If you want the money from selling the drive, then go this way; if you're paranoid and aren't bothered about selling, then get the drive shredded, or do it yourself.

StickyMicky

Big *** hammer usually works for me

urban

iTrader: (1)

Yup, take out HD and wack it with a hammer.

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Another vote for the (s)wipe with a 7lb sledge from me.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Make sure you get the platters though; as they may survive a whack to the external casing.

Some drives have glass platters, so they can shatter, others are metal, which obviously are alot more immune to hammer whacks.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Found a good use for the read/write heads: YouTube - Improved Hard-Drive Speakers

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

I tried that, i found it was ok with a single hard drive but an error came up when it tried to wipe a different laptop that had 2 drives in Raid0.