Wiping hard drive

[buzz2400]

I have 2 old computers I want to get rid. Internet states I should wipe the hard drive. Has anyone used dban.org. Can I download this program to my current computer without deleting anything. The two I want to get rid of are old and no internet access.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It might be easier to just remove the hard drives and smash them with a hammer!

 

[rock_doctor]

yep boot and nuke is basically the accepted program by most techies...

Be aware it doesn't just delete the files. It deletes and then writes over all sectors of the drive several times. It will take a couple hours if not a good chunk of the day if they are big drives.

You will download an ISO file. This is an image of the program so you will need to burn the iso. The program will take the iso and create a boot-able cd that contains the program. If you use win 7 or 8 they should do this automatically if you open it with windows image disk burner (comes with win 7 so i assume 8 has it also).

Put the disk into the old computer, boot to the cd and a old DOS screen will pop up. Just read the options. Any of the DOD options should be ok.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

It might be easier to just remove the hard drives and smash them with a hammer!

^^^This, if you can remove the hard drive from the computer, usually just a few screws, smash it, drill holes in it, whatever to render it physically useless.
Smashing it is faster, than boot and nuke most times, so long as you no longer want the hard drive.

 

[buzz2400]

I am not tech savvy, how would I know what is the hard drive? I think I would rather do this than waste time trying to wipe the hard drive.

 

[si-am]

It might be easier to just remove the hard drives and smash them with a hammer!

Funny, this is exactly what my techie brother told me to do with my old desktop I'm trying to get rid of. Who knows-- it might be cathartic, even!

 

[pad406]

I am not tech savvy, how would I know what is the hard drive? I think I would rather do this than waste time trying to wipe the hard drive.

They're fairly easy to spot. 99% will have 2 cables going into them. A power cable, usually 4 wires and then the data cable. Normally this is a flat ribbon cable, probably grey. If it's an older machine, you'll probably only have one hard drive and 1 CD drive, it isn't the CD drive

 

[DaretoDis]

I don't just take a hammer to it, I take the whole thing apart down to the platters and smash them up.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I don't just take a hammer to it, I take the whole thing apart down to the platters and smash them up.

Yep.

Experts have said that wiping a drive, no matter what program you use, ultimately doesn't get everything. There's always a ghosting of the info. Anyone with the knowledge can get the information off of wiped drives.

 

[vacationer1954]

However, the question is how much people will spend (electron microscopes? really?) to get the data off of a random hard drive. CCleaner has a bonus tool which will overwrite a disc a couple of dozen times, making it almost impossible to pull the original underlying data off of the platter.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It's easy to locate and remove a hard drive. I'm sure there are many instructional videos on YouTube.

I don't think the average person has that much secretive info on their hard drive to make wiping it worth the effort. I still advocate smashing it!

 

[rock_doctor]

No need to smash it just remove it and put it someplace safe. You never know, you may need something on that drive. Depending on how old the computer it is, it has a large 2"wide cable going to it and a white plug with 4 wires going to it. If newer then it will have two small plugs going to it. Turn on the computer and you will hear it make clicking sounds and you will feel it vibrating. I take old hard drives and put them into external enclosures and use them as back up drives... Here is a hard drive... It will be about an inch thick and will have a large sticker on the top. Just remove the 4 screws and unplug. Put it someplace safe in case you want to use it for something else.

http://betanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IBM-hard-disk-600x449.jpg

Now if this is a laptop then you have to google the model number of the laptop to find out how to remove the hard drive. That drive is much smaller.

I suggest you not take the drive apart. The larger drives have glass platters and they will shatter if you hit them... Good luck.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

All I need is more useless junk to store in my house! Take what you need off the hard drive and trash it.