Giving my old computer away and need to know how to remove all info from the hard drive.

1/2" drill bit

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

9mm. you could format. but info can still be had with some skill

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Obtain a program that writes all 0's to the hard drive, then it will be assuredly erased.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

A 0 fill would work. DBAN comes to mind as a 0 fill utility.



A more fun solution is to take a nice sledgehammer to the drive. We do this at work because were too lazy to do a wipe.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Perhaps the people he's giving the computer to would appreciate a functioning hard drive....

Personally I enjoy surgically opening up the drive, powering it up, and then using something like a needle or paper clip and slowly scoring the entire surface of the platter(s). Isn't that twisted?

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Do a format of the drive and that should do it.
Use special programs to erase the hard disk if it makes you feel better but I wouldn't bother. Unless you have government secrets or highly valuable business information on that drive AND someone knows that, no-one's ever going to bother re-creating what you had there. The re-creation process can take hours of work.
Typically much more useful information about a person can be gathered by far simpler methods, like observing his daily routines, going through his trash and making simple questions to work/friends/relatives.

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Tomas, Sweden
1966 Mercedes Benz 230S with OM617.912, automatic. Disk brakes from W108
1983 Mercedes Benz 300TD grey, OM617.912 and 5-speed manual
1983 Mercedes Benz 300TD blue 7-seater, OM617.912 and 5-speed manual

Yes, quite twisted. I like the idea.

I never give away hard drives. They are so cheap these days, that if I was concerned about having the machine cost nothing for the recipients, I would replace the drive before donating it.

Of course, I have a freakin' drawer full of old hard drives. They are getting to be the cassette tape of the new millennium, put two of 'em together in a drawer, next time you look, there's a dozen.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

No kidding, my family has close to 10 computers in use, and I run a couple servers for my dad's business......and all the hard drives from upgrades and failures/Raid swapouts have been accumulating in a pile in the basement! I probably have 20+ old drives laying around right now. In fact I have 4 on my desk right now!

My family has about 23 drives running at any given time....scary.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

A giant magnet.....

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Just take the drive out and smash it with a hammer a few times. Used drives are flaky and new ones are cheap - it's better for the person who will receive the computer to go out an buy one anyway.

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1984 300TD

Removing the HD is a great way to ensure nobody wants the computer and it ends up in the trash. Nobody wants to buy a hard drive for an old giveaway if they can't even afford to get a $350 new computer. Chances are they don't have a HD just "laying around" or the technical knowledge (or CD) to install a new OS.

Writing 0's to the drive will remove all the data beyond what any piece of software can ever recover. Destroying the drive is pointless.

Hard-drives (HDs) are, generally, reliable for about 5 years...then like anything electronic, gremlins creap in and the havoc starts...SMDs (surface mounted devices like capacitors and related items) start "drying out" and the PLL-circuits start getting a bit flaky...that's where you start running into drive-access errors and related messages.

If you're giving this unit to a family member/friend and you don't want to be thought of as a person that dumps problems, go ahead and buy and install another HD and dump the one in this box...then be sure the OS is playing nice with everything.

You'll feel alot better in the end...

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

The approved DHS method of wiping a hard drive is this...

1) remove the drive from the computer

2) Remove the screws holding the cover on the drive

3) Remove the read/write heads

4) Remove the platters

5) Hit the platters with a hammer until they break into small pieces.

The drive is now wiped...

A new 160GB drive is around 100 bucks..

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
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'71 Buick GS conv
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Writing O's sounds like a good idea. I have no idea what that means or how to do that.Need as much info as possible.