destroying data
Jefferson Kirkland
numberwhun at comcast.net
Thu Jul 3 17:24:38 EDT 2003
bscott at ntisys.com wrote:
>On Thu, 3 Jul 2003, at 5:01pm, derek at derek.homeunix.org wrote:
>
>
>>I was wondering if there was a good way to destroy the data on there
>>before I send it back.
>>
>>
>
> Most of the data sanitation methods available depend on the drive being
>operational, so you can write to it.
>
>
>
>>I was thinking some sort of magnet, but I'm not sure how strong of one I
>>need.
>>
>>
>
> Really, *really* strong. As an experiment, I've blasted a plain old IDE
>HDD with a commercial tape degausser, and as far as I could tell, it did not
>effect it at all.
>
> I suspect, to achieve data sanitation with a non-functional drive, your
>only options would also void the warranty of the drive. So it is your call
>as to what is more important: The cost of the drive, or data security. I
>imagine it depends greatly on what is on the drive. :-)
>
>
>
If the warranty on thedrive isn't that big of an issue, removing the
cover, taking out the platters and beating the living crud out of them
with a hammer might just do the job. ( a BIG hammer!)
Regards,
Jeff
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