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Best tool to wipe drives before throwing them away?
- Thread starter alexd
- Start date
glych t.anomaly
TRIBE Member
why wouldnt you just hook them each up and format them?
or are you looking for something that does more than a quick format so that people cannot recover the data?
if that is the case a strong magnet?
or are you looking for something that does more than a quick format so that people cannot recover the data?
if that is the case a strong magnet?
praktik
TRIBE Member
I use acronis secure erase functions, you can pick some military specs and other ways to erase data, they typically involve writing null data to each and every block in some algorythm or other...
And yes a magnet may work but its tough to know right? Maybe portions of data would still be accessible... more peace of mind from the verification you get after using acronis -
"secure erase complete" - ok NO ONE can ever see what was on the drive before..
I used a ripped version of Acronis, its on the torrent sites - but I am 100% certain there is likely some nerd freeware out there that does this for free
And yes a magnet may work but its tough to know right? Maybe portions of data would still be accessible... more peace of mind from the verification you get after using acronis -
"secure erase complete" - ok NO ONE can ever see what was on the drive before..
I used a ripped version of Acronis, its on the torrent sites - but I am 100% certain there is likely some nerd freeware out there that does this for free
glych t.anomaly
TRIBE Member
OR, smash the platters with a hammer -_-
if the information is not hella sensitive and cant be used to steal your identity then i would suggest tossing them all in a bucket with some salt water.
i call it batch cleaning
if the information is not hella sensitive and cant be used to steal your identity then i would suggest tossing them all in a bucket with some salt water.
i call it batch cleaning
Blysspluss
TRIBE Member
DBAN is decent. Killdisk is okay. This one is one I may give a try when I throw my next ones away: CMRR - Secure Erase
If ye've got a drill press...poking several holes in the platters/shattering them is also deec.
If ye've got a drill press...poking several holes in the platters/shattering them is also deec.
el presidente Highsteppa
TRIBE Member
This was what we did when I worked for a major computer company. Most of our clients did too whenever they requested to keep any defective or replaced their hard drives.
Brokenbone
TRIBE Member
I guess a drill doesn't count as software, it counts as hardware.
But google some images of drilled drives, you'll get the picture.
EDIT: it's one of the least fancy procedures which is often involved with retiring assets from big IT deals... clients want to be sure no data's left no matter what technical mumbo jumbo was done, drilling the drives or doing some other physical destruction tends to be desired.
But google some images of drilled drives, you'll get the picture.
EDIT: it's one of the least fancy procedures which is often involved with retiring assets from big IT deals... clients want to be sure no data's left no matter what technical mumbo jumbo was done, drilling the drives or doing some other physical destruction tends to be desired.
I don't understand the motivation here. Is the point to give them away to charity and leave them functional but blank? Just drive a spike through them with a hammer!
OR, borrow a friend's Macintosh and use the built-in Disk Utility. You can select different levels of security and designate the number of times it "zeros" the data out.
OR, borrow a friend's Macintosh and use the built-in Disk Utility. You can select different levels of security and designate the number of times it "zeros" the data out.
a gigantic powerful magnet.
that's your true solution... other than taking a power drill through the platters....... or a hammer like what glitch said. Although, i suggest a power drill. It's much less effort compared to swinging a hammer around.
Believe me... dem IT peoples have no muscle or cardio. Much easier to use a drill
that's your true solution... other than taking a power drill through the platters....... or a hammer like what glitch said. Although, i suggest a power drill. It's much less effort compared to swinging a hammer around.
Believe me... dem IT peoples have no muscle or cardio. Much easier to use a drill
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Blysspluss
TRIBE Member
Believe me... dem IT peoples have no muscle or cardio. Much easier to use a drill
HEY! I resemble that remark!
Guarantees nothing.
I've applied both large electro magnets as well as magnets born out of decades old massive CRT televisions to little to no effect on hard drives and even in the cases where constant prolonged exposure to the electro magnet was performed, a lot of data was recoverable through software utilities freely available on the internet today.
I don't understand the motivation here. Is the point to give them away to charity and leave them functional but blank? Just drive a spike through them with a hammer!
OR, borrow a friend's Macintosh and use the built-in Disk Utility. You can select different levels of security and designate the number of times it "zeros" the data out.
There are lots of drive wipe and secure erase tools you can get. Apple is not the only solution LOL. The problem with these tools is that they take time to do there work, if you want to do a proper job of it, and when you have a dozen or so drives, that is a lot of wasted time.