Dicko Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 I'm looking to dispose of an old laptop that broke. I used to do online banking on it and ideally want to wipe the hard drive, but don't really know how to do it Is it simply a case of removing it and smashing it up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrant Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 That's one way of doing it, I guess, but even then if someone was particularly interested in seeing what was on there they could probably piece it together. As well as battering the hell out of it, I'd suggest at least formatting it before doing so. I have a feeling that formatting, while it appears to wipe everything, still retains some sort of fingerprinting from its previous states. Someone with more hardware knowledge will probably be able to confirm/deny that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesaint sfc Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 copywipe - download it for free from http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/copywipe.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exit2 Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 Low level format will do it, but beat it with a hammer few times that will do the trick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Super Saint Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 Fire is good for ruining magnetic drives... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancake Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 Fire is good for ruining magnetic drives... (insert nodding head smiley thing here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scummer Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 Would putting it in a microwave work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al de Man Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 Would putting it in a microwave work? Only if you're looking to wipe the microwave too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastleighSoulBoy Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 Would putting it in a microwave work? Sometimes you can't tell if someone is being sarcastic. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerx16 Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 Fire is good for ruining magnetic drives... It depends on how desperately somebody wants to get the data back. I've seen some pretty shot kit give up useful info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerx16 Posted 3 November, 2008 Share Posted 3 November, 2008 That's one way of doing it, I guess, but even then if someone was particularly interested in seeing what was on there they could probably piece it together. As well as battering the hell out of it, I'd suggest at least formatting it before doing so. I have a feeling that formatting, while it appears to wipe everything, still retains some sort of fingerprinting from its previous states. Someone with more hardware knowledge will probably be able to confirm/deny that... I read a whitepaper the other day that said it is sometimes possible to retrieve partial data from a track that had been overwritten 100 times ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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