Laptop disposal

[MagmaTimes]

Hi all

Does anyone know if the computer-recycling thing still operates from Sydenham library? Failing that, anyone got any recommendations for how to dispose of three knackered old laptops?

Ta!

Tom

[GFA]

Currys in Bell Green operate a recycling scheme. Just drop off any electrical item and they will dispose of it free of charge.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/recycle-1 ... ?s=recycle (see the free recycling in store). I dropped off my microwave there last year.

[mikej]

No, the library doesn't recycle laptops any more - unless they are still operating.
It now costs them money to dispose of them, so no good.
Go to Currys/PC World.

[MagmaTimes]

Thanks all!

[John H]

Remove the hard drive and take the rest to the Dump... (Recycling centre). Then you can plug the hard drive into another machine to clear it... Formatting the drives should be sufficient.

Easily done.

[JGD]

Heavy duty magnet, 14lb hammer, 4lb hammer or a disk grinder amongst other destructive tools all are fairly effective if you want to permanently delete data from a disk.

[John H]

Remove the hard drive and take the rest to the Dump... (Recycling centre). Then you can plug the hard drive into another machine to clear it... Formatting the drives should be sufficient.

Easily done.

Youre kidding right !?...

do a search on reclaiming data from formatted drives and all the software that will easily get it back....
To clean data from the drive/drives permanently they need to be Wiped...and then if youre feeling really paranoid aboiut it, for good measure take out the platters and sand them aggressively !...

formatting

A low level format is quite sufficient. If you are that paranoid you can always dismantle the drive and cut up the disk. However... consider how likely it is that someone would rummage through the tons of rubbish to find your hard drive and spend hours attempting to decipher scraps of files and how likely it might be they could identify who owned those scraps. Of course, if you are storing illicit material on your machine, I can understand your anxiety BUT you deserve to be caught...

Ever heard of needles in haystacks?

[John H]

Youre kidding right !?...

do a search on reclaiming data from formatted drives and all the software that will easily get it back....
To clean data from the drive/drives permanently they need to be Wiped...and then if youre feeling really paranoid aboiut it, for good measure take out the platters and sand them aggressively !...

formatting

A low level format is quite sufficient. If you are that paranoid you can always dismantle the drive and cut up the disk. However... consider how likely it is that someone would rummage through the tons of rubbish to find your hard drive and spend hours attempting to decipher scraps of files and how likely it might be they could identify who owned those scraps. Of course, if you are storing illicit material on your machine, I can understand your anxiety BUT you deserve to be caught...

Ever heard of needles in haystacks?

"A low level format " hahahahaha...your level of naivety regarding Wiping data from an HHD is startling...and it seems you arent able to read and interpret the information in posts correctly...

Are you aware how many people are having their personal details nicked from old HDD's that they lob on the dumps, then matey boy from wherever comes to the dump gathering all the HDD's left in old PC's, lappy etc and then gets the data , like bank details etc off of them ?...no didnt think so

Given that it is an area of my very specific experience and qualifications I rather suspect it is you that is naïve. Perhaps, too, you failed to read what I posted. (That is clear from your response)

[chrisj1948]

There is a US DoD standard for erasing discs which involves multiple overwrites with different bit patterns. No original information on the disc is then recoverable. I was commissioned to write a utility which could do this for a Swedish Health authority 30 years ago. I still have a copy of the utility somewhere but I never use it. Instead I remove the old HD's from equipment which is to be scrapped and pound them with a sledgehammer. Information from them could still in principle be recovered but the effort required would be enormous. Since I am unlikely to be a specific target a data robber would just choose an easier source.

Regards
Chris

[JGD]

There is a US DoD standard for erasing discs which involves multiple overwrites with different bit patterns. No original information on the disc is then recoverable.

Absolutely - and there is a range of freeware utilities available that will overwrite the disk in such a way as to conform with the US DOD standard.

The downside is it can take an extraordinarily long time to do it. Dependent upon size of the disk, the calibre of the processor in the machine that is doing the deleting, amongst other things can influence the time taken. I cannot remember precisely but the number of times the utility has to execute the overwrite to reach compliance at the highest level is fairly large too. And if you have multiple disks to obliterate, the option of physical destruction becomes very much more attractive.

[JGD]

Ever heard of needles in haystacks?

That is why for those who make forensic data analysis and data recovery a career choice tend to make very comfortable living from it.

[John H]

There is a US DoD standard for erasing discs which involves multiple overwrites with different bit patterns. No original information on the disc is then recoverable. I was commissioned to write a utility which could do this for a Swedish Health authority 30 years ago. I still have a copy of the utility somewhere but I never use it. Instead I remove the old HD's from equipment which is to be scrapped and pound them with a sledgehammer. Information from them could still in principle be recovered but the effort required would be enormous. Since I am unlikely to be a specific target a data robber would just choose an easier source.

Regards
Chris

My point exactly. Do a risk assessment. What is the likelihood of someone/anyone finding my disposed fragments of a former drive and being able to associate the fragments with me and how likely is it they would consider the time necessary to extract anything from the fragments worthwhile?

[John H]

There is a US DoD standard for erasing discs which involves multiple overwrites with different bit patterns. No original information on the disc is then recoverable. I was commissioned to write a utility which could do this for a Swedish Health authority 30 years ago. I still have a copy of the utility somewhere but I never use it. Instead I remove the old HD's from equipment which is to be scrapped and pound them with a sledgehammer. Information from them could still in principle be recovered but the effort required would be enormous. Since I am unlikely to be a specific target a data robber would just choose an easier source.

Regards
Chris

My point exactly. Do a risk assessment. What is the likelihood of someone/anyone finding my disposed fragments of a former drive and being able to associate the fragments with me and how likely is it they would consider the time necessary to extract anything from the fragments worthwhile?

[MagmaTimes]

Thanks all for the responses. I must say, that after all that, I'm inclined to just chuck it in the bin!

[mosy]

You're more decisive than I. I have a small pile of crashed hard drives from over the years that I'm still deciding what to do with!

Help please on one question: If a hard drive crashes so won't load, how do you load it to be able to wipe it? Some computer shops say they can, although arguably in that case they could also recover the data unbeknownst to me. One said they could save my data and transfer it to a new disc. I'm just wondering what they can do that I can't if the drive won't load.

[JGD]

Help please on one question: If a hard drive crashes so won't load, how do you load it to be able to wipe it? Some computer shops say they can, although arguably in that case they could also recover the data unbeknownst to me. One said they could save my data and transfer it to a new disc. I'm just wondering what they can do that I can't if the drive won't load.

Sometimes a drive will not boot-up. Even if it attached to some separate interface/drive adaptor linked to another machine.

I those cases, and taking note of the well balanced risk assessment options articulated above, physical destruction is the best option. For data recovery purposes I keep a range of interfaces all the way back to five and a quarter drives and original Winchesters. And they do work and allow access to a range of legacy devices.

But the explanation of minimal risk in terms of someone accessing an old drive and making mischief with what they find is pretty sound.

[mosy]

Thanks JGD. It seems the best idea is to wait until I'm really cross about something and vent my spleen on the hard drives then

[JGD]

Thanks JGD. It seems the best idea is to wait until I'm really cross about something and vent my spleen on the hard drives then

And please publish the pix (or the movie) of its destruction !!

[John H]

You're more decisive than I. I have a small pile of crashed hard drives from over the years that I'm still deciding what to do with!

Help please on one question: If a hard drive crashes so won't load, how do you load it to be able to wipe it? Some computer shops say they can, although arguably in that case they could also recover the data unbeknownst to me. One said they could save my data and transfer it to a new disc. I'm just wondering what they can do that I can't if the drive won't load.

YOu do not rely on the disk concerned booting. You add it as an extra drive either by plugging into the appropriate socket OR using an external docking unit. Your current operating system is in charge and subject to a virus scan... You can then manage the content.

[JGD]

YOu do not rely on the disk concerned booting. You add it as an extra drive either by plugging into the appropriate socket OR using an external docking unit. Your current operating system is in charge and subject to a virus scan... You can then manage the content.

Absolutely correct. I would never choose to make a potentially faulty disk bootable. The primary disk in the pc to which the disk concerned is connected needs to be just that - the primary disk.

What we are discussing here is, if a disk is dead and no internals are responding it will never actually be readable again - in any circumstance unless you find an engineer who can replace the on-board disk controller. Connecting a dead disk to another machine leaves you with just that - a dead disk.