marmelising old hard drives

[GeoffF100]

This article may be of value if you use a Linux live DVD:

https://fossbytes.com/erase-disk-linux-mac/

[Howard]

Pratchett used a steamroller...

Yes, but it wasn't as effective as you'd imagine...

The disk proved sturdier than initially imagined and was driven over multiple times by the vehicle, before being put through a steam-powered stone crusher for good measure.

https://discworld.com/terry-pratchetts- ... ng-wishes/

The best tool to destroy a hard drive is a small cross-head screwdriver. That's all it takes to remove the cover, and doing so introduces sufficient dust to destroy any chance of being able to read from the platters ever again. If you want to help the process, add some sand, grit, oil, superglue - whatever you feel like.

You're joking, Bree. My hard drive had about 8 torx head screws securing the cover. I had to buy a mini screwdriver set* to dismantle it. And the screws were so tight that it needed a pair of pliers on the screwdriver shaft to loosen them. Luckily the torx driver was made of hard steel as I feared burring it.

regards

Howard

* I've always wanted a comprehensive mini driver set, so it was a good excuse. It even contains a steel pin for resetting electronic devices .

see https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

[jfgw]

The best tool to destroy a hard drive is a small cross-head screwdriver. That's all it takes to remove the cover, and doing so introduces sufficient dust to destroy any chance of being able to read from the platters ever again. If you want to help the process, add some sand, grit, oil, superglue - whatever you feel like.

The ones I have dismantled are held together with Torx (or something similar) screws. Don't forget the one(s) under sticky labels.

I am not sure but the idea that the drive is immediately destroyed by dust might be urban myth. Putting the opened drive into a tub of caustic soda solution should render the platters unreadable almost instantly, however. Just bending the head assembly will make any viable attempt at reading the drive expensive.

Drilling a hole may leave almost all of the data intact. Various types of microscope may be used to read the data. I just found this which relates to recovering overwritten data, https://www.sans.org/blog/spin-stand-mi ... disk-data/ . I doubt whether the OP needs to worry about techniques such as these being used.

Julian F. G. W.

[servodude]

I am not sure but the idea that the drive is immediately destroyed by dust might be urban myth

it does make it a little bit harder, you should certainly clean it (blow it out with an airduster) before you try and spin it up
- but you don't need a clean room to successfully take these things apart and put them back together

There's a fair bit of error correction within the bit sequence that is used on the disk so it's more robust than you might think

I've never gone as far as a static read but i've had platters spinning in various ways to recover info
- e.g. at much less than normal speed, or with multiple passes and averaging
- I've also managed to find data on a CD-R after removing the reflective layer, but that was because I'd been told it was impossible (fudge the focus and tracking servo gains and spin it at 1X or slower)

Also, at a higher level (and relevant to SSD also) there are often multiple locations where revisions of the same data has been stored so while one part of it could be borked you might be able to find data if you look at a layer lower than the normal operating system or disk driver does
- but it's time consuming (and hence expensive) - and unlikely you'll get everything if you needed to (or the specific thing you might be looking for)

I generally put old laptops to use; this week my daughter's 5 year old school laptop (DELL 3000 2-in-1) was repurposed as LUBUNTU skype and gimp machine (everything "just worked" including touch and gestures - flies compared to the bloated win10 with McAfee image that had been put on it after it had served it's time)

Old hard drives get low level formatted (a quick format basically just "forgets" where the files are) and reused as drives (secondary or external) for media that doesn't matter. This keeps them out of landfill and the constant use makes it harder to dig up anything that might be of use to anyone.
- once they're finally dead you can take them apart and use the platters to make wind chimes for the garden

- sd

[UncleEbenezer]

Can you point me to how I can reformat the hard drive? I've never done that and don't see anything obvious.
Arb.

If there's high-value data on there, reformatting isn't enough. Just as deleting all your files isn't enough. You would want to shred[1]/overwrite anything potentially-sensitive. Someone already posted a URL offering shredding utilities.

But unless you're of interest to MI5 or someone with comparable capabilities and budget, or perhaps suspected of serious crime, noone's likely to bother: it's going to cost them a lot more (in manpower) than a new 'puter. Deleting files or reformatting should serve. The caveat is, there's an outside chance some youngster exploring the system out of simple curiosity might stumble on something. Do you have data that are both private and likely to mean something interesting to an archetypal geek in a bedroom or garage?

[1] Digitally shred the data. Physically shredding the medium would be way above my pay grade.

[vrdiver]

A large consulting company I used to work for used "eraser" (https://eraser.heidi.ie/) to wipe hard drives on laptops before passing them over to be sold on. They were very keen on being seen to keep client data secure.

If the laptop itself is no longer useful to anybody, there is always: Things you can make from old, dead laptops https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLP_L7Mgz6M

VRD

[Arborbridge]

Thank you for all the replies. I will probably opt for one of the simpler methods, since I'm not aware of any doomsday data on the drives. No passwords, no blackmailable information, nothing embarassing.

[yorkshirelad1]

I have a fine collection of old laptops which I need to get rid of.

Is there a downloadable app (preferably free, naturally) which will delete everything on the hard drive, or some way of reformatting so that nothing is easily recoverable?

Thanks,

Arb.

As witness by the interest and replies on this thread, this is evidently something people increasingly think about. Paper shredders are now commonplace items in the home and work place, mainly in response to demand where people are now conditioned into shredding their paperwork rather than simply chucking it in the bin to destroy personal data. I'm hoping that in the not-too-distant future, an equivalent (probably commerical in the first instance) method of slotting old hard drives (as there will be increasing numbers what with the prevalence of PCs, laptops and other storage media) into a metal shredder that renders them into very small pieces (& then gets recycled?) will become available. There would seem to be demand for it. I have a collection of about 20 HDDs collected over the last 5 or 6 years waiting for such a service. I would happily travel a few miles to get such a service.

[torata]

I remember with my Win 95 and Win 7 PCs, that after deleting all data and related programs, I discovered there was an internal command prompt that filled up all space that was blank or marked as deleted with random characters. My memory says it was fun watching the clunky interface gradually progress...

torata

[Parky]

I have a fine collection of old laptops which I need to get rid of.

Is there a downloadable app (preferably free, naturally) which will delete everything on the hard drive, or some way of reformatting so that nothing is easily recoverable?

Thanks,


Arb.

Why not reset the computers per :-


"What happens when you reset Windows 10 computer?

If you reset Windows 10, it will restore Windows version installed by your computer's manufacturer(OEM). Note: All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. All apps that you installed will be removed. Only apps that came with your PC will be reinstalled.
What happens after resetting Windows 10 - Microsoft Community
answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_1…"

You can then freecycle them for someone else to use.

[Arborbridge]

I have a fine collection of old laptops which I need to get rid of.

Is there a downloadable app (preferably free, naturally) which will delete everything on the hard drive, or some way of reformatting so that nothing is easily recoverable?

Thanks,


Arb.

Why not reset the computers per :-


"What happens when you reset Windows 10 computer?

If you reset Windows 10, it will restore Windows version installed by your computer's manufacturer(OEM). Note: All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. All apps that you installed will be removed. Only apps that came with your PC will be reinstalled.
What happens after resetting Windows 10 - Microsoft Community
answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_1…"

You can then freecycle them for someone else to use.

Windows 10? What's that

All these machines are much older than that.

[Garless]

What about reusing the disks, put them in a caddy and use them to backup critical files. Done that with 2 MacBooks, one has space to do a full backup, other can hold photos. One old MacBook got dropped and the other got too old but both disks were still usable.

[Parky]

Windows 10? What's that

All these machines are much older than that.

You didn't say how old. I thought more than a couple of years was old for a computer these days.

[jfgw]

Another way would be to do the following two steps:

First, factory restore the computer. Windows 10 (and 8, I think) provide this option. For Windows 7 computers, the manufacturer may have provided an image on a hidden partition with a means of restoring it. Alternatively, format the drive and install from scratch from an installation disk.

Next, wipe the free space. Ccleaner includes a tool (Drive Wiper) which allows you to do this (and it's free). You can do this from within Windows which makes it easy. This ensures that there are no deleted files still on the drive which can, with suitable software, be undeleted.

A problem with this method is that, since the images/installation files are old,there will be a brazillion updates to install. You may have to check for updates many times and wait for them to install before the operating system is up to date.

An easier way than this would be to delete your files, empty the recycle bin and then wipe the free space. This would leave the existing operating system in place but would overwrite the deleted data. You have to make sure you don't forget to delete anything, though, which makes this method risky.

Julian F. G. W.

[Breelander]

You didn't say how old. I thought more than a couple of years was old for a computer these days.

Really? My oldest laptop still in regular use (and with the latest W10 on it) was built in 2009, my next oldest (and the one I use most often) is from 2011. In fact, my newest (i7, 16GB RAM, SSD) was built mid-2016.

[terminal7]

Living in a flat I have neither the space or tools to start swinging a hammer at an old hard disc that I need to destroy - wiped clean though originally contained confidential financial data etc. The disc itself is within a casing that I am unable to dismantle. I read somewhere that placing the disc in hot water/vinegar does the trick. Any views?

T7

[kiloran]

Living in a flat I have neither the space or tools to start swinging a hammer at an old hard disc that I need to destroy - wiped clean though originally contained confidential financial data etc. The disc itself is within a casing that I am unable to dismantle. I read somewhere that placing the disc in hot water/vinegar does the trick. Any views?

T7

Call in at your local car workshop or builders yard, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to swing a large hammer at it

--kiloran

[terminal7]

Thanks kiloran - incidentally anyone have views on the boiling water/vinegar treatment?

T7

Tier 4 area - nothing of this ilk open

[GrahamPlatt]

I destroyed a collection of my old 5.25” HDDs a few years ago. Used a lump hammer. Then realised that one of them contained the only copy of my private keys to gpg. Oops.

[jfgw]

Thanks kiloran - incidentally anyone have views on the boiling water/vinegar treatment?

I can see how boiling water could work if the drive is left submerged until the water has cooled. Hard drives usually have breather holes (hermetically sealed ones are available). Boiling water will expand the air in the drive. When this cools, it will contract and draw in some water.

A solution of caustic soda will eat through the aluminium casing. How quickly, I'm not sure.

Physically damaging the circuit board would deter most people (but would draw attention to it and may attract someone who likes a challenge).

If you blow the head driver chip (on the head assembly inside the case) by applying a suitable voltage across the relevant terminals, recovery will be much more difficult.

The screws are usually star-shaped - a bit like Torx. A Torx screwdriver fits well enough if you have the right size. It shouldn't take much to bend a disk.


Julian F. G. W.