# So Im getting rid of my old computer...



## Sumer (May 24, 2003)

To keep any of my information safe before I pitch it I have to take out the hard drive right? 

I have 2 more at work that I have to get rid of so I am going to look for some kind of recycling place but I dont want that info accessable either. 

Is that the only thing that I have to do to keep my info safe. Or is there more to it?


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Yep taking out the hardrive should do it.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

The Hard drive is where ihe info is stored, you'll need to either keep it or destroy it. I suggest pulverizing with a 5 lb sledge hammer myself if you don't have access to a hard drive shredder.
Simply formatting a hard drive is not good enough - the info is still there just not accessable to those who don't know what they are doing


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## Sumer (May 24, 2003)

Thank you very much.
It took me 30 minutes to figure out how to open the computer & only a few to realize that I had no idea what a hard drive looks like.

I had to google some pictures to see what it looked like but I got it out. 

Using a sledgehammer on it is a great idea. My son will be happy to smash it. After years of telling him not to break things Its rare when I tell him "here take this outside and destroy it".


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Unless you have a business records or maintain a lot of financial data(online banking doesnt count) on your computer or are storing government secrets on the hard drive using one of the disk wiping programs is more than enough. Just make sure its a mulitpass program. If you want to physically destroy the drive then a drill press or sledge will work. 
I work for a financial institution and we use shredders and drill presses AFTER the drives are wiped for added security. Contrary to what most people thing, They DONT have that much important data on there computer. A wipe is more than enough.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Gary in ohio said:


> . Contrary to what most people think, They DONT have that much important data on there computer. A wipe is more than enough.


Lets see, I keep all my: bills, my bank accounts, tax returns (including SS #'s, medical records, etc) on my PC and many people do, so I disagree with you 100%

Unless you 'write zero's'* to the hard drive - its NOT enough

*Replace every bit of the hard drive with a zero overwriting every piece of info.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

I'm with Gary on this one. Even if you are one of the few who has anything of any real concern on their drive, why would anyone go to the time & trouble to look that hard at YOUR old hard drive? If you're paranoid, use one of the many free disk wiping tools, or fill the drive up with DVD ISOs or some other large files. Then reformat it (or not; let someone else do it) and give the computer to Goodwill, or to someone who will use it. Most computers folks get rid of these days are perfectly good and fast enough for most folks' needs, and it's just senseless to destroy perfectly good hardware when someone else can still get a lot of use out of it.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

mnn2501 said:


> Lets see, I keep all my: bills, my bank accounts, tax returns (including SS #'s, medical records, etc) on my PC and many people do, so I disagree with you 100%
> 
> Unless you 'write zero's'* to the hard drive - its NOT enough
> 
> *Replace every bit of the hard drive with a zero overwriting every piece of info.


I work in the computer security industry, simply writing "zero's" to a hard drive is a misnomer, and is not a recommended nor industry supported method of wiping a drive. 

The highly respected Gutmann method is a much better option:

Pass No. Data Written
1 Random
2 Random
3 Random
4 Random
5 01010101 01010101 01010101 0x55
6 10101010 10101010 10101010 0xAA
7 10010010 01001001 00100100 0x92 0x49 0x24
8 01001001 00100100 10010010 0x49 0x24 0x92
9 00100100 10010010 01001001 0x24 0x92 0x49
10 00000000 00000000 00000000 0x00
11 00010001 00010001 00010001 0x11
12 00100010 00100010 00100010 0x22
13 00110011 00110011 00110011 0x33
14 01000100 01000100 01000100 0x44
15 01010101 01010101 01010101 0x55
16 01100110 01100110 01100110 0x66
17 01110111 01110111 01110111 0x77
18 10001000 10001000 10001000 0x88
19 10011001 10011001 10011001 0x99
20 10101010 10101010 10101010 0xAA
21 10111011 10111011 10111011 0xBB
22 11001100 11001100 11001100 0xCC
23 11011101 11011101 11011101 0xDD
24 11101110 11101110 11101110 0xEE
25 11111111 11111111 11111111 0xFF
26 10010010 01001001 00100100 0x92 0x49 0x24
27 01001001 00100100 10010010 0x49 0x24 0x92
28 00100100 10010010 01001001 0x24 0x92 0x49
29 01101101 10110110 11011011 0x6D 0xB6 0xDB
30 10110110 11011011 01101101 0xB6 0xDB 0x6D
31 11011011 01101101 10110110 0xDB 0x6D 0xB6
32 Random
33 Random
34 Random
35 Random

Gary is correct, using a known and respected drive mutli-pass wiping utility is enough for home users hard drives. I challenge any average person or company with average resources to recover a drive that has had one multi-pass of a wiping utility run on it. There are not many LE or .gov agencies that can or would have the need to recover the data from the average Joe or Jane's hard drive unless they were involved in some highly illegal activities. 

If you are worried (ie: paranoid) that your hard drive may fall into the wrong hands then by all means go ahead and wipe the drive as many times as you wish then destroy it.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Does the hard drive still work? If so, why not keep it? I have about a dozen extra drives laying around. I letter them, and keep records on whats in them. I can replace a drive in a removable drive, in less than a minute, and that includes getting up to find it. HD's only take up a tiny bit of space.

Load em up with pictures, music, e books, web sites, (especially survival/homestead e books), and store them in a faraday cage. Might even consider putting one of the older computers in a faraday cage, for just-in-case scenarios. Even an old box would allow you to read and listen to music.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

mnn2501 said:


> Lets see, I keep all my: bills, my bank accounts, tax returns (including SS #'s, medical records, etc) on my PC and many people do, so I disagree with you 100%
> 
> Unless you 'write zero's'* to the hard drive - its NOT enough
> 
> *Replace every bit of the hard drive with a zero overwriting every piece of info.


Bills would be easier to steal from your mailbox and they offer little from a privacy standpoint. All of the rest can be deleted and keep 98% of people from every find your data. Assuming again you really have something of importance to someone, a simple wipe will take care of any concerns. The data being on the disk also require someone to try and get it off. In most cases they are not. delete is a must, wipe is recommended if you have any important data. If your selling or giving away your computer having a disk with it gives value. MANY charities will not even accept a computer without a disk in it. Our local Goodwill will not even accept a computer unless you can boot it to a start menu. Otherwise its just ewaste for them to dispose of and that is getting harder and more expensive.


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## DoubleBee (Nov 13, 2006)

I keep my old hard drives and use them as a second drive or a replacement drive if one goes belly up.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I reformat and repartion any drive that I am erasing so that its clean as the day it was born and ready to be installed in a compatable box build.


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