how to effectively destroy HD contents

[Alex]

i got a new HD and i'm selling one of my current ones but it contains a lot of sensitive data and i'm kinda paranoid so i want to make sure that its 100% blank and the data is unrecoverable.

i know that if i only format it that won't really do much.... i read somewhere that since its NTFS if i format it as FAT32 it will make the data unrecoverable, can anyone verify this?

also, i know that there are tools to fill a HD with 1s and 0s, which can also help.

can anyone help me please? i know its overkill but i'm really paranoid and I don't want the new HD owner to be able to recover any of my sensitive data... thanks!

 

[ribbon13]

DBAN

 

[indtram]

well I use Cyberscrub....

It destroys the Net data (cache/cookies etc) and also cleans hard disk areas permanently..

It deletes data ir-recoverable....

try it

thanxxx

 

[Tarrant64]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
DBAN

Twice over if you wanted.

Either way, DBAN!.

 

[iluvdeal]

I use Kildisk.

 

[stogez]

DBAN is the only thing you need
Just remember that it take a while and let it run overnight or something. I try to do at least two passes.

 

[mc866]

Another vote for DBAN

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
DBAN

:thumbsup:

 

[redbeard1]

DBAN with multiple rounds and lots of passes. That should take a day or two

 

[Kirby64]

Thermite?

Oh, you want to recover the hard drive from usability.

 

[Alex]

thx all

 

[Nathelion]

It's close to impossible to clean out the harddrive unrecoverably, if the CIA was on your case, the only way to ensure your security would be to melt the platters. Literally. Shattering them into pieces is not enough; they can be put back together again. However, DBAN will for all practical intents and purposes do the job - it is a lot of professional-level work to actually recover the data after something like that. So unless the mafia and/or one/several major countries' intelligence services are after you...?

 

[aka1nas]

DBAN a few times and use a drill press to physically damage the platters.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Nathelion
It's close to impossible to clean out the harddrive unrecoverably, if the CIA was on your case, the only way to ensure your security would be to melt the platters. Literally. Shattering them into pieces is not enough; they can be put back together again. However, DBAN will for all practical intents and purposes do the job - it is a lot of professional-level work to actually recover the data after something like that. So unless the mafia and/or one/several major countries' intelligence services are after you...?

Links please. I would like sources or citation for this magical CIA machine that recovers all data.

My counter-argument:
http://www.nber.org/sys-admin/overwritten-data-guttman.html

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: Nathelion
It's close to impossible to clean out the harddrive unrecoverably, if the CIA was on your case, the only way to ensure your security would be to melt the platters. Literally. Shattering them into pieces is not enough; they can be put back together again. However, DBAN will for all practical intents and purposes do the job - it is a lot of professional-level work to actually recover the data after something like that. So unless the mafia and/or one/several major countries' intelligence services are after you...?

lol
naw i'm just selling my HD
... or am I....

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: Nathelion
It's close to impossible to clean out the harddrive unrecoverably, if the CIA was on your case, the only way to ensure your security would be to melt the platters. Literally. Shattering them into pieces is not enough; they can be put back together again. However, DBAN will for all practical intents and purposes do the job - it is a lot of professional-level work to actually recover the data after something like that. So unless the mafia and/or one/several major countries' intelligence services are after you...?

Links please. I would like sources or citation for this magical CIA machine that recovers all data.

My counter-argument:
http://www.nber.org/sys-admin/overwritten-data-guttman.html

You can't recover ALL data, but there is usually residual data that can be recovered with specialized equipment. That source also only asked the Police if you have data. If you are carrying information that is really worth recovering, its the job of the NSA, which could probably get anything they want to a degree.

And for the referance to the watergate, the reason why there is a 18 minute gap is because it is belived that the tape recorder was turned off. Youc an't recover anything that never was recorded.

 

[StopSign]

Originally posted by: Nathelion
It's close to impossible to clean out the harddrive unrecoverably, if the CIA was on your case, the only way to ensure your security would be to melt the platters. Literally. Shattering them into pieces is not enough; they can be put back together again. However, DBAN will for all practical intents and purposes do the job - it is a lot of professional-level work to actually recover the data after something like that. So unless the mafia and/or one/several major countries' intelligence services are after you...?

I think a junkyard electromagnet will kill all hard disk data...

 

[Roguestar]

Or save something really really important on the drive, and make sure you have no backups. Then just wait .

 

[bigsnyder]

Maybe the microvave

 

[Jeff7181]

Translation: nekkid pix of self on hard drive

Seriously though, DBAN like others have said, or you can use SDelete, a Microsoft Sysinternals tool.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

To all you tinfoil hat wearers saying that DBAN isn't enough, I'll gladly send you a hard drive with some of my personal information on it with zero physical damage. In exchange, you pay me a hundred bucks. If you can crack it and post the encrypted data, I'll give you a thousand on top of your costs.

Any takers?

- M4H

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
To all you tinfoil hat wearers saying that DBAN isn't enough, I'll gladly send you a hard drive with some of my personal information on it with zero physical damage. In exchange, you pay me a hundred bucks. If you can crack it and post the encrypted data, I'll give you a thousand on top of your costs.

Any takers?

- M4H

Hehe... just formatting the drive is enough to protect your data from 99.9% of people.

 

[redbeard1]

Big magnetic fields work too, apparently.

New way to erase drives

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Thermite (I was going to say microwave, but it was already taken ) Seriously though, what about just reformatting?

 

[corkyg]

To many replies seem to forget that the drive must be usable after whatever you do. Destruction is always good - like an oxy-acetylene torch to reduce it to a molten pool. The question was, how to santitize the drive so that it can be safely sold or passed on. RTFP!