tossing computer curious ?????

[perplexed]

What do people do when they are told their computer needs to be thrown out, if they have vital info on there like banking stuff and work files??? I know they save all that stuff but if they toss it in trash and someone tries and fixes it and does won't they have all that info??? Just curious as a friend lives in apt and is afraid to toss out computer.

Thanks!

[edhunter]

format your hdd before throwing it out

[bAdWaYz]

Something like THIS (http://dban.sourceforge.net/) works very well. Just make a bootable cd, floppy, or even a USB pen drive and let'er rip! I have used it many times and it does blank, and I do mean blank a drive. If your friend wants to get even more destructive they could open up the computer take the hard drive out open the drive up and smash everything with a hammer. The platters will shatter resulting in data being gone plus its pretty fun.

[cHiNgY1788]

or keep the HDD

why toss it out when you can sell it on ebay?

thats how i get money =D
find tossed out comps
then fix em up, test them
then sell it on ebay individually or in bulk lots
i call it recycling lol

you'd be amazed as to how many ppl do format the HDD (none)
though thier smart enough to delete personal info (cept one guy who left is address there)
but most of em have porno on their comp...

[zipulrich]

I recently formatted a drive in my shop, using an acetylene torch. The platters turned a brilliant shade of blue before turning rather crispy. A lot of fun, took only a few moments (faster than a software-based program), and rendered the data unrecoverable - even to the NSA. :)

[Mikorist]

http://www.killdisk.com/


Active@ KillDisk - Hard Drive Eraser is powerful and compact DOS software that allows you to destroy all data on hard and floppy drives completely, excluding any possibility of future recovery of deleted files and folders. It's a hard drive and partition eraser utility.

If you use FDISK, FORMAT utilities, or DELETE standard operating system command for data removal, there is always a chance to recover deleted data (using undelete file or some data recovery software) and use against the owner's will. We highly recommend you to run this FREE utility for the hard and floppy drives you want to dispose of, recycle, re-use, sell or donate to somebody.

Active@ KillDisk conforms to US Department of Defense clearing and sanitizing standard DoD 5220.22-M. The most secure Gutmann's data destruction method is also implemented. You can be sure that once you clean up with Active@ KillDisk, sensitive information is purged out forever.

[cHiNgY1788]

open the drive cover
then rip out the hdd magnet
then run it over both sides of the HDD platters
then take the platters run them along the conrete floor for both sides
and then bury them in your back yard

doesnt take the usual hour or two for formmatting the HDD and rendered the data un recoverable maybe even to the NSA commonly known as No Such Agency

[perplexed]

wow I guess it was right to be concerned I actually never thought about it.
Thanks