John Bartow
john at winhaven.net
Wed May 25 12:58:24 CDT 2005
Of course you are correct that in the most extreme examples of want/need data can be recovered from most damaged media however, he did state quick, easy, inexpensive. If you hit it good it damages all the platters. I've taken them apart to check. (There used to be a web site on this that some joker put up.) And once you have it out you certainly aren't going to put it back in! If recycling this for another user then smacking is not a very good idea - as the hard drive won't work :o))) >From my experience running a wipe program takes a couple of hours to run. That's not quick and what's the point if its just going to be discarded? John B. -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of John W. Colby Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 12:16 PM To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues' Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Wiping ALL data from a hard drive The "smack it" advice is ill placed. While it will probably stop the casual "next owner" from using the disk, any police force (or anyone else for that matter) can hire a firm to just remove the disk platter and have it read. If the platter itself isn't destroyed, then scrambling the data is required. Any of the good programs will write alternating ones and zeros in every bit position N times which will scramble the data. The US government has specified N for government drives being wiped. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com Contribute your unused CPU cycles to a good cause: http://folding.stanford.edu/ -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of John Bartow Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 1:07 PM To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues' Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Wiping ALL data from a hard drive Hi Jeff, I have similar requests from accountants, financial planners, etc. If they're just disposing of them: If you have a bunch of PCs then buy one of those huge-electro magnets from the hardware store or radio shack. Takes a few seconds per unit. Otherwise, if you only have a couple remove the hard drive and smack it dead center with a hammer. It takes less than five minutes. Your customer will be impressed with your thoroughness, and as a byproduct, it alleviates job related stress. :o) -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Barrows Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 10:23 AM To: Dba-Tech Subject: [dba-Tech] Wiping ALL data from a hard drive I am looking for a quick, easy, inexpensive way to wipe ALL data from a hard drive. A local non-profit business has recently replaced their hardware and wants to be sure that their data on the old machines is not retrievable by anyone before they dispose of them. I could format each hard drive, but I was wondering if anyone here had a better idea. TIA Jeff Barrows MCP, MCAD, MCSD Outbak Technologies, LLC Racine, WI jeff at outbaktech.com _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com