Computer disposal ---Non Boaty

[lukedh]

At home just sticking them on a barbecue or garden bonfire will do the trick. Do it after dark away from any tree huggers and don't breath in the smoke. A more involved but greener solution would be to remove the disc as suggested and only fry that bit, recycle the rest.

A sea burial seems simple and secure to me and more appropriate for a yachty but please avoid any seahorses.

 

[jimg]

Reformatting doesnt delete the data. The military now overwrite 15 times before destroying for this reason. Believe it or not even if you wipe the drive and fill it with new data the old information can still be recovered quite cheaply.

What would you recommend to overwite the data, so it is safe to pass on to someone else then?

 

[nimbusgb]

http://www.dban.org/

 

[TopDonkey]

LustyD is right, your data is still there and recoverable after deletion, formatting etc.., i too used to work in the computer security industry too, and part of my job was to attempt to recover data from supposedly securely wiped hard drives

The only secure way to delete your data is to smash the hard drive and make sure the platters have been smashed, you will be surprised at how many computer hackers spend hours of their time on second hand computer systems recovering the data 'just for fun' !

 

[lustyd]

What would you recommend to overwite the data, so it is safe to pass on to someone else then?

In reality, for home purposes the other guys are right - use the program linked to above and if you're paranoid do it a few times

 

[aluijten]

......and part of my job was to attempt to recover data from supposedly securely wiped hard drives

You don't say how much success you had. I doubt very much you had lot of success with modern drives.

 

[Fantasie 19]

take out the HD place on an anvil & hit with the biggest hammer you can lift.repeat as req

+1

..then take the rest to the tip...