How to best securely wipe a couple very old PC laptops/hard disks that I plan to toss out?

[Celsius]

Yes. I used dban 20 years ago and it is still as effective. Just put it on usb and launch it before starting winblows.

 

I do not see how can anything be recobered after overwriting it with a bunch of 1 and 0's

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, dingdongrb said:

Be sure you're not going to end up like this guy:

 

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/symnalfp5#:~:text=In the depths of a,and restore the lost coins

Wow.....

 

"In the depths of a landfill in Wales rests a hard drive with bitcoins currently worth around $185 million. James Howells, the man who accidentally threw the drive in the trash nine years ago, explains his crazy plan to locate, extract and restore the lost coins."

 

[JustAnotherHun]

If you hand your old PC to others, use

Eraser

https://eraser.heidi.ie

Even IF data could be restored, it would be very very hard. So If your data is not relevant to NSA, you schould be very safe.

 

If you want to throw it away, damage the HDD physicly.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

18 minutes ago, connda said:

Look up "DoD 5220.22-M data sanitization method" and go from there.

The abovementioned Darik's software has got that covered....

 

"There's a popular freeware app called DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) that writes to all the sectors using secure sanitization methods."

 

"Select the method of drive erasure by hitting M if you want something other than the default, DoD Short method. DoD short is a 3-pass version of the American Depart of Defense 5220.22-M wipe process. It overwrites all sectors with zeroes on the first pass, overwrites them with ones on the second pass and then uses a random pattern on the third pass. 

 

A standard DoD 5220.22-M erasure is 7 passes.  The more passes, the longer the secure erase takes. The DoD short method should be fine for most people so you can skip this step if you agree."

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

If you hand your old PC to others, use

Eraser

https://eraser.heidi.ie

Even IF data could be restored, it would be very very hard. So If your data is not relevant to NSA, you schould be very safe.

 

If you want to throw it away, damage the HDD physicly.

 

"Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. Eraser is currently supported under Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, 8, 10 and Windows Server 2012-2022

 

Eraser is Free software and its source code is released under GNU General Public License."

 

https://eraser.heidi.ie/download/

 

From one of the review links posted on the Eraser website:

 

Q. What’ s the best tool for permanently deleting files from my hard drive?

 

"Eraser from eraser.heidi.ie and File Shredder from fileshredder.org come to mind, but there are many others.

 

File deletion apps like the ones I mention delete the files and overwrite the space on the drive where the files were, making recovery difficult to impossible.

 

Of course, if you’re looking to wipe your entire hard drive, there’s no better tool than Darik’s Boot and Nuke from dban.org."

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/How-to-spot-even-the-most-realistic-email-scams-17247591.php

 

 

 

[clearance]

There is another way: Encrypt drives with Bitlocker with a strong password (no need to save it obviously), format drives after that, and write some big files to them (you can use CrystalDiskMark with larger file sizes possible). Almost impossible to recover any data after that.

[Lemsta69]

Just for laughs, why not try the Peter Guttman method? 35 passes with random data, not ones and zeroes. Might take a while though so out the kettle on ????

 

https://www.cubexsoft.com/blog/use-peter-gutmann-erasure-standard-to-securely-wipe-hard-disk/

[bendejo]

Another vote for Darik's.

I used it and then had a look at the disk.  It shreds the partition table into a load of tiny partitions.  It appeared that the entire disk was filled with partition table data, over-writing just about all of whatever was on there before.

Haven't used it in some years, and it appears it hasn't been updated in a while.

https://www.lifewire.com/dban-dariks-boot-and-nuke-review-2619130

 

The newer versions of Windows create private partitions to hold Win data, which is why the partition table needs to be destroyed for cleanup.  If you want to fix the partition table afterward (as a courtesy to to whoever you're giving the system to) use a Linux installable booted from a pen drive or CD.  There is a bootable Linux utility called gparted that I prefer -- easy to use.

 

If you want to be a rascal after the destruction is done fill the disk up with useless junk.  If you suspect someone will attempt to recover what is on the disk that junk will keep them busy.  ????

 

[ukrules]

There's a piece of software by Jetico named BCWipe.

[freedomnow]

Just leave on main road so local computer repair guy can recover all your freaky porn then bribe you.

[KannikaP]

13 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So no one who might end up with the laptops after I've tossed them would be able to attempt to restore any files that previously were on the hard drives...

 

Surface deleting files on a PC doesn't really erase them permanently. It merely changing the file info on the files so they're not readable by Windows... But that process can be undone by anyone with a bit of PC smarts, if they wanted to do so.

 

Unless you physically disable the disk as suggested above, or really do a full and complete reformat of the disk.

 

 

It all depends on where you toss them.

[Daffy D]

Active@ KillDisk

 

Make thumb drive boot disk and boot from it.

 

Active@KillDisk will wipe the whole drive, remove all partitions and give a choice of several secure wipes up to Military grade.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Thanks for all the various software solutions offered here... I think all of them cited are freeware. And they each seem to be pretty much what I was looking for at the outset! 

 

[JensenZ]

21 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The two laptops I'm looking to dispose of are 20+ years old... Any Thai computer shop I tried to hand them off to (even though they're still functional)...would probably laugh and hand them right back to me!  ????

 

Not necessarily as old functional computer components can be valuable and sought after by some people. The last one I handed over was a 2009 Compaq laptop and they greatfully accepted it. Your 20+ year old systems might have some value yet.

 

If they don't want it, dump it in the bin.

[SpaceKadet]

Microwave oven can do wonders to an obsolete SSD. Totally unrecoverable!

Spinners are a different story. Some violence might be required if you don't own a powerful electromagnet. 

[phetphet]

We used to drill them. Put a few holes in them.

[Lacessit]

Do a reformat, then run a strong magnet over the HD.

[3NUMBAS]

a powerfull magnet ??

[Pouatchee]

On 5/31/2023 at 6:14 PM, save the frogs said:

really? are you guys sure you know what you're talking about?

reformatting completely wipes out all information as far as i know.

i've thrown out laptops by reformatting disks and no one has stolen my identity yet.

i got old data back even after 3 reformats. with the right software can take days to do it but can definitely be done

 

On 5/31/2023 at 5:42 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I've got a couple of very old PC laptops that I plan to toss out,

 

On 5/31/2023 at 5:53 PM, KannikaP said:

Why try to reformat them if, as you say in your headline, you are going to TOSS THEM OUT?

as kannikap states... you gonna toss them out cos they got problems but you wanna reformat them? 

[NativeBob]

Take it to Pantip Plaza and ask to fix it: "something slow" - they can destroy to unrepairable levels anything!

Talking about restoration: there were few really nasty stories exactly what one can find on tossed laptops. 

[save the frogs]

19 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

i got old data back even after 3 reformats. with the right software can take days to do it but can definitely be done

I'm not a CEO of a Fortune 500 company and I don't work for the CIA.

So I'm not sure anyone would want to go through that much hassle to recover my data. 

 

But thanks for the heads up. At the very least, I need to take a few precautions before handing over my old computers in the future. 

 

[JayClay]

On 6/1/2023 at 12:55 AM, Lemsta69 said:

Just for laughs, why not try the Peter Guttman method? 35 passes with random data, not ones and zeroes.

All data [in current every-day hardware systems] is stored as 1s and 0s.... regardless of how random it is.

[Pouatchee]

39 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

But thanks for the heads up. At the very least, I need to take a few precautions before handing over my old computers in the future. 

hiren's boot cd or the newer versions of this have all the software needed to get data back or to do a deep clean of hard drives. some software on there can format a computer hd so data is irrecoverable. surprised no one yet has mentioned this bootable, downloadable disc

[save the frogs]

11 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

hiren's boot cd or the newer versions of this have all the software needed to get data back or to do a deep clean of hard drives. some software on there can format a computer hd so data is irrecoverable. surprised no one yet has mentioned this bootable, downloadable disc

I decided to do a google search. 

 

This software overwrites the hard drive with junk data so it cannot be retrieved. 

 

https://www.pcworld.com/article/439273/how-to-guarantee-your-data-is-truly-deleted-before-recycling-old-pcs-and-drives.html

 

To avoid this, you’ll want to use a disk-wiping tool like Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) before reinstalling Windows. This tool wipes your computer’s hard drive by overwriting it with junk data. If you’re disposing of the PC or internal drive, you’re done—you can leave the PC in this state. 

 

[nauseus]

On 5/31/2023 at 5:55 PM, blackcab said:

If you are not donating the machines then take out the hard drives and hit them with a hammer a few times. Nobody will spend the time or money to reconstruct them.

lint9n

Alternaticvely drill a few holes right through the drives.

a la Hillary Clinton.

[gearbox]

On 5/31/2023 at 7:11 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So no one who might end up with the laptops after I've tossed them would be able to attempt to restore any files that previously were on the hard drives...

 

Surface deleting files on a PC doesn't really erase them permanently. It merely changing the file info on the files so they're not readable by Windows... But that process can be undone by anyone with a bit of PC smarts, if they wanted to do so.

 

Unless you physically disable the disk as suggested above, or really do a full and complete reformat of the disk.

 

 

If properly wiped they _may_ have some content detectable via electronic microscopy, but I doubt your hard drives are that valuable.

 

Hit them with hammer or drill holes to expose them to air, then submerge in a bucket for a week, all gone, the magnetic media doesn't like water.

[gearbox]

On 6/1/2023 at 1:55 AM, Lemsta69 said:

Just for laughs, why not try the Peter Guttman method? 35 passes with random data, not ones and zeroes. Might take a while though so out the kettle on ????

 

https://www.cubexsoft.com/blog/use-peter-gutmann-erasure-standard-to-securely-wipe-hard-disk/

Even the governments don't use that many passes. With the 21st century large capacity hard drives 3 passes are enough.

[gearbox]

On 6/1/2023 at 2:33 AM, bendejo said:

Another vote for Darik's.

I used it and then had a look at the disk.  It shreds the partition table into a load of tiny partitions.  It appeared that the entire disk was filled with partition table data, over-writing just about all of whatever was on there before.

Haven't used it in some years, and it appears it hasn't been updated in a while.

https://www.lifewire.com/dban-dariks-boot-and-nuke-review-2619130

 

The newer versions of Windows create private partitions to hold Win data, which is why the partition table needs to be destroyed for cleanup.  If you want to fix the partition table afterward (as a courtesy to to whoever you're giving the system to) use a Linux installable booted from a pen drive or CD.  There is a bootable Linux utility called gparted that I prefer -- easy to use.

 

If you want to be a rascal after the destruction is done fill the disk up with useless junk.  If you suspect someone will attempt to recover what is on the disk that junk will keep them busy.  ????

 

If you use Linux you can boot from a live USB key and use a tool called "shred" to shred the whole disk from sector 0, no mucking up with partitions needed. You can choose how many passes to overwrite with random data.

 

[Muzzique]

On 5/31/2023 at 12:55 PM, blackcab said:

Alternatively drill a few holes right through the drives.

Absolutely the best way. Drill though the case into the disk and out the otherside.. Quick and easy.

[bendejo]