Reply to: Best way to dispose of old laptops ?

[DaveB]

Minigun.

It's the only sensible way.



AtW.

Not quite a minigun but....

And

[Addanc]

Obviously you want to wipe the disc clean. Any reliable software to do this or do you need to take the hard disk out and break it into pieces with a hammer?

I think you should donate it to some Africa charity, I sure they will clean the hard disk for you and your bank account as well.

[Sysman]

If you really, really, really, dont want someone getting your data then physical destruction is the only way. And just hitting it lots with hammer wont do it. Either pay for it to be done properly or dismantle it yourself and completely destroy the platters.

Angle grinder

[sasguru]

Or just use DBAN which is free and US Dept of Defence approved.

Thanks that looks like jsut the ticket

[Scrag Meister]

UltraSentry

[b0redom]

There are plenty of commercial products that will do a secure deletion for you. The more you pay the better they get.

Or just use DBAN which is free and US Dept of Defence approved.

[craig1]

completely destroy the platters.

I can never get to that bit... I dismantle then get the platters that are nice and shiny then I'll play with them or leave them hanging around. Eventually, I'll break them accidentally and seriously contemplate opening up another old drive.

[DaveB]

Obviously you want to wipe the disc clean. Any reliable software to do this or do you need to take the hard disk out and break it into pieces with a hammer?

Depends on how clean you really want it to be.

Delete all the partions, reformat, install an OS and then fill the space with crap. Repeat that a coouple of times and someone would really have to want your data to do anything with it and even then it would probably cost more than the value of the data on the disc to get it back.

There are plenty of commercial products that will do a secure deletion for you. The more you pay the better they get.

If you really, really, really, dont want someone getting your data then physical destruction is the only way. And just hitting it lots with hammer wont do it. Either pay for it to be done properly or dismantle it yourself and completely destroy the platters.

[mooshld]

Computer Aid International

They are a registered charity so if its a company asset there may be a tax advantage in using them.

[TestMangler]

Big hammer everytime

do-do-do-do, do-do....can't touch dis......

[craig1]

Linky please ??????

AOHell

[TestMangler]

I usually just whip out the drive and dispose of the rest. If it's relatively recent then I'll wipe and rebuild for a family member. For example, my gran has my old laptop that she uses for her over 70s chat groups and emails so there's no need for a fast, modern machine.

I never seem to get around to disposing of removed drives though, I must have a good number hanging around in my junk box. Occasionally I'll dismantle one just for the hell of it.

Linky please ??????

[Support Monkey]

Big hammer everytime

[craig1]

I usually just whip out the drive and dispose of the rest. If it's relatively recent then I'll wipe and rebuild for a family member. For example, my gran has my old laptop that she uses for her over 70s chat groups and emails so there's no need for a fast, modern machine.

I never seem to get around to disposing of removed drives though, I must have a good number hanging around in my junk box. Occasionally I'll dismantle one just for the hell of it.

[PAH]

Just overwrite it will a load of freely obtainable porn, then sell at a premium on ebay.

No-one will bother trying to undelete anything that is still accessible as they'll be too busy craving pot noodles.