[Loubee]

...what do I need to do to make sure it is wiped of all information? I wouldn't like to just chuck it and have all my details still hidden on it somewhere. Very old machine and system (Windows 2000!) not sure where to start - help!

[psionic]

Burn DBAN to a blank CD and boot from it.
http://www.dban.org/download

edit: Or pull the hard drive out of it and put a hammer through it

[max99]

Just to add to the above:

Method one is the technical approach which will securely erase all data.

Method two is the fun approach which will physically destroy the hard drive.

Either method will prevent someone from recovering the data, so you just need to decide which one appeals to you more.

[Loubee]

Awww, poor computer, and after it has served me so faithfully as well!

Still, option two does sound like a lot of fun...oh the choices!

[max99]

There is a third and kinder option...

You can buy a USB hard drive enclosure, place the old drive into it and connect it to any PC or laptop via USB. This will allow you to access the files or for storing new files on it. Such an old drive is going to be small, slow and probably won't last much longer, so it really wouldn't be advisable to use it for anything important.

Instead of an enclosure, you can also buy an adapter for connecting the drive via USB.

[RobinOfLoxley]

Or you could make a clean install from a Recovery Partition or Windows CD, then use Ccleaner /Tools / Drive Wiper for the empty space.

You then have a machine you can give away (friend/relative/charity/Freecycle) or sell for a nominal amount.

[1saintly]

Originally Posted by RobinOfLoxley

Or you could make a clean install from a Recovery Partition or Windows CD, then use Ccleaner /Tools / Drive Wiper for the empty space.

You then have a machine you can give away (friend/relative/charity/Freecycle) or sell for a nominal amount.

Nice thought and idea. But no were as much fun as the hammer choice

[Maxatoria]

the choice is really one of how paranoid you are dbanning the disk will do the job enough so that even the NSA spooks won't be able to recover the data but if you cannot afford any chance no matter how remote and improbably then get out the screwdriver and open the drives take out the drive platters and get a blow torch on then and melt them into a puddle and then you can take the stuff to the recycling yard knowing theres no way to recover the data

[Stig]

Joking aside, you can injure yourself attacking the drive with a hammer or setting fire to it. A software approach is safer.

[max99]

Originally Posted by Stig

Joking aside, you can injure yourself attacking the drive with a hammer or setting fire to it.

Is this speaking from experience....?

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by Loubee

Awww, poor computer, and after it has served me so faithfully as well!

Still, option two does sound like a lot of fun...oh the choices!

Probably best if you stick with the first option in that case

[Stig]

Originally Posted by max99

Is this speaking from experience....?

No, but smashing a hard disk can send bits of metal flying in all directions. It's bad enough trying to break CD-Rs as they shatter into tiny bits of sharp plastic. Not safe.

On that note, it's odd how people get so paranoid about wiping hard disks, but probably put their old CD-Rs with all their backed up data in the bin! I make use of a disk shredder at work for mine.

[max99]

Originally Posted by Stig

No, but smashing a hard disk can send bits of metal flying in all directions.

Shame... I was hoping for a 'Casualty' style story where you'd set the hard drive and hammer on fire.

Originally Posted by Stig

It's bad enough trying to break CD-Rs as they shatter into tiny bits of sharp plastic. Not safe.

True. I still remember the surprise the first time I snapped a blank CD in my hands, thinking that it would snap cleanly and gracefully in half. Not as bad, though as a CD shattering inside a drive, whilst spinning at high velocity. I've seen the result, but never seen it actually happen.

[cat666]

One of our exam questions at college was "How do you delete all data froma hard drive?" They obviously wanted the "format C:\" answer but my friend wrote "heat it up until it is white hot then hit with a large hammer". He was marked incorrect, but contested it and was given the mark!

[RobinOfLoxley]

Format c:\ is actually quite tricky from a working Windows install.

Floppies are no more. Was easy then/

Edit: Not sufficient anyway. Discs can be Unformatted.

[cnbcwatcher]

Ah yes, the good old Format C Had to do it when reinstalling XP, I always felt good typing in that command and pressing Enter

[s2k]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

Ah yes, the good old Format C Had to do it when reinstalling XP, I always felt good typing in that command and pressing Enter

Slightly OT but one of the guys in work came across an old Win95 laptop not long ago. Once the nostalgia had worn off he decided to type del c:\windows into the command prompt. Needless to say it did exactly that and the computer was hosed in a matter of seconds. Obviously the rest of the data was still on the drive but it seemed mad you could do something like that so easily.

The format bit you shouldn't have needed to do with XP though cos the tools are built into the setup utility. Might have been a 9x setup you were thinking of with FDISK and the like?

[Sexbomb]

Originally Posted by psionic

Burn DBAN to a blank CD and boot from it.
http://www.dban.org/download

edit: Or pull the hard drive out of it and put a hammer through it

Doesn't work, you seen how hard those platters are?

[whoever,hey]

I thought separating the platters alone was enough. Because you need the controller pcb that the drive was manufactured with so it knows the angular offset of each platter.

[1saintly]

Originally Posted by RobinOfLoxley

Floppies are no more.

Actually you would be suprised how much of a demand there still is for the good old floppy

http://www.maplin.co.uk/high-density...31851&t=module

http://www.staples.co.uk/SearchEngine-floopy+disk

http://www.maplin.co.uk/3.5in-floppy-disk-drive-161

[RobinOfLoxley]

Of course, I still have a an unopened box upstairs and a few used ones in the drawer.
And a couple of year 2000 or so laptops with internal drives. (I know one works)

But my 8 yr old PC didn't come with a floppy drive. I was quite narked at the time.
But CD booting has proved to be reasonably reliable. And CD iso boot images of floppies can be found for tinkering.

[psionic]

Originally Posted by Sexbomb

Doesn't work, you seen how hard those platters are?

The bend and dent just fine. Shame they're not glass anymore....