TPA5 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) It's always good to have a reminder why it's important to physically destroy hard drives you are done with, before throwing them away. It started when my friend and I were strolling through town to get some ice cream. We're both adults, but you're never too old for ice cream. We passed by the local thrift store, and I always check by the back door because they put stuff they can't sell there. It's usually junk, but every now and then they put something interesting out. Today, it was an older HP computer. Not really cool, but I cracked the case and swiped a floppy drive and card reader. Call me a vulture. I also noticed an 80gb IDE hard drive. I figure, could be useful to have another spare kicking around for my old builds. Turns out, whoever owned this machine before I took the hard drive left every last shred of their existence on it. Thousands of personal photos, financial documents, budgets, contact lists, internet history, music, home movies, if it could go on a computer it was here. I sighed and shook my head. I didn't open the documents marked as budgets, contact lists, etc. Not my business. I wiped the drive clean and it'll go into my box of spare computer parts. But I wonder if someone other than myself would have gotten this, what they could have done with the information on it. Everything about this fellow is here, and he just gave it to the thrift shop. It's a good reminder to dispose of old hard drives with extreme prejudice! Open them up, kill the platters, and be done with it. You never know who may find it. Edited August 7, 2014 by TPA5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 A friend asked me what to do with a computer once they were going to give it away. I told them to take the hard drive out and drill holes through the hard drive. And he did. In the past all I have found is mainly music or movie files on old hard drives. And a few rough drafts of stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I used to rebuild and resell desktop computers for extra money in college, and I often found a lot of personal data (very personal, in some cases!) that had been carelessly left behind on these machines. I was glad for the previous owners' sakes that I wasn't evil, because I'm sure it wouldn't have been hard to make some sort of diabolical use of it. I just wiped the drives and rebuilt the machines from a prepared image. Physical destruction of your hard drive isn't necessary; it's just a waste of a perfectly good drive mech. Just give it a wipe with a utility like DBAN. Even a zero-fill (the simplest and quickest method of erasure) is enough to make your data unrecoverable to almost everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Zero-fill should be more than sufficient. It is supposedly possible using expensive physical forensic techniques to retrieve data but nobody would bother. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I've seen the same people that are paranoid a computer repair company will see their bronie pr0n dump their old computer next to an apartment complex garbage container. It's called dban folks. It's free. use it. love it. http://www.dban.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I Physical destruction of your hard drive isn't necessary; it's just a waste a perfectly good drive mech. Just give it a wipe with a utility like DBAN. Even a zero-fill (the simplest and quickest method of erasure) is enough to make your data unrecoverable to almost everyone. I agree, when I wiped a familiy members HD for them I used System Mechanic, it works fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Zero-fill should be more than sufficient. It is supposedly possible using expensive physical forensic techniques to retrieve data but nobody would bother. Absolutely right. That sort of recovery capability is only available in world-class labs. And the cost for you to have access to that is going to be far in excess of the value of the data. Not to mention the required clout. Whatever you use to zero-fill, be sure it gets the MBR, HPA, DCO, G-List, all tracks, partition table, allocated space, un-allocated space, and all partitions. Activating the internal Secure Erase feature of the drive is a good way to zap all that. The newest of drives use built-in full-drive encryption. And you kill the disk in an instant by just wiping the key. Beauty part is this applies to both HDD and SSD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 e passed by the local thrift store, and I always check by the back door because they put stuff they can't sell there. It's usually junk, but every now and then they put something interesting out. Today, it was an older HP computer. Not really cool, but I cracked the case and swiped a floppy drive and card reader. Call me a vulture. I also noticed an 80gb IDE hard drive. I figure, could be useful to have another spare kicking around for my old builds. Turns out, whoever owned this machine before I took the hard drive left every last shred of their existence on it. Thousands of personal photos, financial documents, budgets, contact lists, internet history, music, home movies, if it could go on a computer it was here. I sighed and shook my head. I didn't open the documents marked as budgets, contact lists, etc. Not my business. I wiped the drive clean and it'll go into my box of spare computer parts. But I wonder if someone other than myself would have gotten this, what they could have done with the information on it. Everything about this fellow is here, and he just gave it to the thrift shop. It's a good reminder to dispose of old hard drives with extreme prejudice! Open them up, kill the platters, and be done with it. You never know who may find it. Just a guess, but the computer may have been: stolen and sold to the thrift store by thieves stolen and dumped at the thrift store by thieves (when they realized it was worth very little) donated after the passing of a family member bulk home clean out (this happens a lot these days with foreclosures on the rise) It could also be someone who just has no clue what the heck they are doing on a computer (i.e.: my parents generation). That said, I really don't think something like that could possibly be intentional in this day and age. Every day on the news, they are talking about data breaches and how important it is to protect yourself from identity theft…it seems that if you are tech savvy enough to keep your budgets on a computer, you would know how to wipe the disk. Very odd indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 it seems that if you are tech savvy enough to keep your budgets on a computer, you would know how to wipe the disk. Very odd indeed! Not really. Imagine having a formerly self-sufficient family member, who used to be sharp as a tack and savvy on a computer slowly fade away due to Alzheimer's, lose the ability to even play Solitaire on the computer, forget all his passwords, then lose interest in anything other than getting lost in whatever memories remain. It's heart wrenching. I commend TPA5 for doing the right thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Pac Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 It's even been on the news how old hard drives have helped identity thieves. Destroy your old one!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Additionally - any lab with the ability to recover from a zero-filled drive would likely have policy in place to ensure the data actually belongs to the person bringing it in. Like some, I just hold onto the things... generally whatever was on there gets erased anyway by the video/porn/music/whatever I archive on it in it's "put to pasture" role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I've recovered information from supposedly encrypted and zero'ed out hard drives. It's not that the method is flawed - just the actual DOING and confirmation of doing. When asked to wipe a HDD I always choose to overwrite with random ones and zeros. It's a lot more insurance for a little more time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPA5 Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Great responses, guys! It's true, wiping a hard drive with the right method makes the data inaccessible. But it's so fun to destroy hard drives My personal favorite was opening up a hard drive, putting in behind a shield and pouring molten lead onto it. Although I must admit it did feel akin to torturing the poor thing. I had wondered about the theft aspect of it, although foolishly I did not consider it a possibility until after I had wiped the drive. Now I must admit I feel somewhat badly, that I did not think it may have been stolen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Zero fill, 3 random passes, another zero fill...não? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Before I disposed of my old laptop, I physically removed the hard drive and repeatedly beat it with a hammer. It then went into the big dumpster behind my apartment building. I have a Government job, and our ID department is required to physically destroy all hard drives out of decommissioned systems. This even includes the drives in photocopy machines! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awhite2600 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I spoke to a friend who owns a company that does IT Infrastructure work for Walmart in Canada. They are so paranoid that they physically shred their old servers. Not just the drives - the whole server. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwilove Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 It can be a complete waste to physically destroy hard drives, when there is no need to. This shows a complete disregard for the recycle - reuse motto. If you apply the same mindset to everything else - no wonder this material world has gone so mad in it's destruction of this earth and it's resources, etc etc. To be so self-centred and focused on the individual, and not see the greater picture, we all are part of. We get to be recycled as human beings - seeing that reincarnation makes more sense than any other concept/idea - so why not computer tech? Harvey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) I know who to blame when the only SCSI drive I can find is a 2 gig for 200 bucks on the bay,all cause some housewives grocery budget from 1996 is on there heh Edited August 8, 2014 by Osgeld 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPA5 Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) It can be a complete waste to physically destroy hard drives, when there is no need to. This shows a complete disregard for the recycle - reuse motto. If you apply the same mindset to everything else - no wonder this material world has gone so mad in it's destruction of this earth and it's resources, etc etc. To be so self-centred and focused on the individual, and not see the greater picture, we all are part of. We get to be recycled as human beings - seeing that reincarnation makes more sense than any other concept/idea - so why not computer tech? Harvey Well, I can't speak for others but I generally do a good job reusing and recycling. The few rare times I simply did not need a hard drive and wanted to dispose of it, yes I did destroy it instead of sending it off to recycle. However, considering I often manage to find a use for old motherboards, graphics cards, CD drives, floppy drives, RAM sticks, and other electronic sundry items. So, I don't necessarily agree that I am a self-centered and focused individual for destroying one relatively specific item. Maybe if I disposed of hundreds a year, that would make me wasteful. I know who to blame when the only SCSI drive I can find is a 2 gig for 200 bucks on the bay,all cause some housewives grocery budget from 1996 is on there heh Oh no, SCSI drives are gold I'd never doom one of those. I feel as if I should make a clarification, as to avoid offending others. I am not suggesting that I destroy hundreds of drives a year, or even necessarily that destroying a hard drive is the ticket. As others smarter than myself have mentioned, certain wipe techniques will make the data practically inaccessible for all intents and purposes. Still, due to my personal strong sense of paranoia whenever I do need to dispose of a drive, I would still physically render it useless. However that is just my personal preference. Edited August 8, 2014 by TPA5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 It's all about the level of integrity you need. Weaponized malware can subvert the firmware on your hard drive. If you're a bank then destroy the thing. If you're a grandma then let them copy off your cookie recipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Invader Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 I say it's just another example of computer security paranoia (Richard Stallman would be proud). I like buying cheap used PC hardware and destroying a hard drive instead of wiping it clean seems like a needless waste. The IBM PC standard has a history just like the retro systems we know and love and today's outdated old hard drive will be a part of vintage computer heritage twenty years down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 The IBM PC standard has a history just like the retro systems we know and love and today's outdated old hard drive will be a part of vintage computer heritage twenty years down the line. I've seen more old PC's hit the dump because they no longer had a hard drive installed. Old PC's are "A-Dime-A-Dozen" and simply have no real value yet, or possibly ever, the future will tell. Now, very few people are willing to store an old PC for that long in a wait and see proposition. At this point they are not worth buying a hard drive for and messing with, especially with the prices on new PC's that are so much more capable are going so cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 one could argue that IDE is going the way of SCSI, but its not yet, and frankly the way to go, unless you JUST LOVE the sound of a old IDE drive, is a compact flash to IDE solution, solid state, silent (especially for laptops) and stable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 I got the itchy-bitchies to finish my Pentium-Pro and VS440FX project. Been wanting to build one since the 1990's, believe it or not. Talk about procrastination. Whether PC's will attain "classic status" is still a grey area. A quick troll through VOGONS would, however, lay rest to the question. Personally for me, I wouldn't go destroying HDD's. There may come a time when that hot-running 27GB or noisy 212MB disk will command a spiffy price among vintage enthusiasts. At any rate I still believe in http://atariage.com/forums/topic/228523-destroy-your-hard-drives/?do=findComment&comment=3048470 Anything more is simple paranoia and ignorance. People should be more worried about big data than HDD remnants. But for anyone not understanding the technicalities of data sanitation practices, nothing but a visual destruction will do. And while you're at it, take out those powerful Neodymium magnets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Then there are those who have lots of time on their hands (and probably money as well) to fry their hard drives and their microwaves: Skip to around 6:00 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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