DBAN for non-system drives?
August 22, 2010 4:15 PM Subscribe
Looking for a way to wipe (for disposal) old hard drives without swapping them into my desktop.
I have about a dozen old IDE hard drives that I'd like to get rid of. I've got an external drive enclosure connected via USB to my laptop (Vista) in order to bulk copy the contents and now I need a way to wipe the drives.
DBAN would be ideal, but I don't have an easy way to make these old drives a system drive for DBAN to see. I've tried Eraser, and having to set up each folder as an erase task is so time consuming I'm considering just taking a sledge to the drives.
Anyone have any better suggestions?
I have about a dozen old IDE hard drives that I'd like to get rid of. I've got an external drive enclosure connected via USB to my laptop (Vista) in order to bulk copy the contents and now I need a way to wipe the drives.
DBAN would be ideal, but I don't have an easy way to make these old drives a system drive for DBAN to see. I've tried Eraser, and having to set up each folder as an erase task is so time consuming I'm considering just taking a sledge to the drives.
Anyone have any better suggestions?
Aquaman beat me to it. Get a sledgehammer and pound until your sure the platters are damaged. Even better if it's a magnetic sledgehammer.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:19 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:19 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Why on earth would you go go looking for a way to avoid hitting things with a sledgehammer? If you really bust them apart you even get a prize.
posted by contraption at 4:36 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by contraption at 4:36 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: In my workplace, drives are removed from machines that are being retired/surplussed and sent to an electronic recycler. To make sure the drives don't wander off between here and the recycler, the guys pulling the drives drill a (conspicuous) hole through the drive.
posted by kovacs at 4:43 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by kovacs at 4:43 PM on August 22, 2010
Microwaves are pretty effective. Puts on a fun show, too. Just don't leave them in too long -- you might break your microwave.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 4:48 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by GnomeChompsky at 4:48 PM on August 22, 2010
Best answer: My usual way to do this is to attack the drive with a Torx screwdriver and take out the fun bits. There are some super-strong magnets in there, for starters.
Possibly more practical ways would include bashing the hell out of it with a hammer (be sure to get the circuit board) or drilling a hole through it. Once the platter's compromised, your theoretical stalker would have to pay thousands of dollars to a data recovery firm to even think about snooping.
posted by neckro23 at 5:03 PM on August 22, 2010
Possibly more practical ways would include bashing the hell out of it with a hammer (be sure to get the circuit board) or drilling a hole through it. Once the platter's compromised, your theoretical stalker would have to pay thousands of dollars to a data recovery firm to even think about snooping.
posted by neckro23 at 5:03 PM on August 22, 2010
Take the magnets. Belt sand the platters.
posted by Marky at 5:03 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Marky at 5:03 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Assuming for a moment that you don't want to go the physical destruction route, you can easily wipe the drive in the USB enclosure using dd if=/dev/zero of=(whatever). The only hard part is figuring out what the device name for the drive is. If you're using the Windows native dd then use the --list option to see a list of device names, and remember that the one ending in Partition0 is the whole drive (i.e. what you want.) This will write zeros to all sectors of the device, you don't need anything more. (The Gutmann 'secure erase' method of 35 varying overwrite patterns was intended for MFM/RLL drives that have been obsolete since circa 1993 and there is no evidence that it is any more effective than writing a single pass of zeros on modern drives.)
posted by Rhomboid at 5:10 PM on August 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Rhomboid at 5:10 PM on August 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
I would bore a hole in them (in fact, this is what I do when I get rid of drives). It's easy and effective. I aim for the spindle in the center of the drive, but just about any place will do.
However if for some reason you don't want to destroy the drives, you could use something like this. It's a little box containing just enough circuitry to spin up the drive and overwrite everything on it, probably several times.
Things like that were more popular back when drives were expensive and basically worth something ... now, for the price of that eraser ($200), you could buy a whole lot of new drives. Preserving what I suspect are a bunch of low-capacity IDE drives doesn't really strike me as worthwhile.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:12 PM on August 22, 2010
However if for some reason you don't want to destroy the drives, you could use something like this. It's a little box containing just enough circuitry to spin up the drive and overwrite everything on it, probably several times.
Things like that were more popular back when drives were expensive and basically worth something ... now, for the price of that eraser ($200), you could buy a whole lot of new drives. Preserving what I suspect are a bunch of low-capacity IDE drives doesn't really strike me as worthwhile.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:12 PM on August 22, 2010
Last one I needed to get rid of I ran through a metal cutting bandsaw. The one before that I crushed in a hydraulic press. I have some fun toys.
posted by tim_in_oz at 5:26 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by tim_in_oz at 5:26 PM on August 22, 2010
I love bulk tape erasers. They sound mean (and they are). Leave your cell phone and watch a few feet away before handling it, and pay attention to the warning label on the side about not leaving it on for more than 15 seconds. The drive will jump and skitter all over the place.
posted by tmt at 5:29 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by tmt at 5:29 PM on August 22, 2010
"Microwaves are pretty effective. " don't do this...
posted by HuronBob at 5:32 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by HuronBob at 5:32 PM on August 22, 2010
I take 'em apart and use the platters as coasters. They make interesting conversation pieces.
posted by Mooski at 5:33 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by Mooski at 5:33 PM on August 22, 2010
Drill or punch a couple holes in the enclosure, and pour some Coke™ into it. Let stand overnight while the acid dissolves the platters' magnetic coating, putting the bits beyond anyone's ability to recover them.
posted by Dimpy at 5:41 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by Dimpy at 5:41 PM on August 22, 2010
sdelete -z driveletter Takes a little while, but it works.
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:06 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:06 PM on August 22, 2010
Best answer: If they still have data then mount drive, quick format NTFS, and sdelete -c driveletter.
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:08 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:08 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
We drilled holes through our old drives (being sure to hit the platters).
Just like playing cards in Las Vegas!
posted by chiefthe at 6:37 PM on August 22, 2010
Just like playing cards in Las Vegas!
posted by chiefthe at 6:37 PM on August 22, 2010
If you need to do this often, there is likely a paper shredding company in your town that can do hard drives. If you're paranoid you can request to watch it go into the shredder, and see the little metal bits coming out the other end.
posted by cschneid at 8:04 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by cschneid at 8:04 PM on August 22, 2010
I take 'em apart if I need rare earth magnets; I hit 'em with hammers if I have a lot to destroy and not much time. Either route is completely irreversible and would be good if you have something seriously secret you want to wipe.
But if I want somebody else to be able to use them, without giving them my data, I use the external enclosure and the dd command as Rhomboid suggests, run from a copy of a Linux live CD or thumbdrive like Puppy.
posted by richyoung at 9:04 PM on August 22, 2010
But if I want somebody else to be able to use them, without giving them my data, I use the external enclosure and the dd command as Rhomboid suggests, run from a copy of a Linux live CD or thumbdrive like Puppy.
posted by richyoung at 9:04 PM on August 22, 2010
A friend told me that hard drive platters make excellent wind chimes. Haven't tried it yet.
posted by and for no one at 9:23 PM on August 22, 2010
posted by and for no one at 9:23 PM on August 22, 2010
Best answer: I don't know how many drives we're talking about here... I'd say if you've got fewer than a dozen, open them up and get the magnets. I use them on my office walls. All you have to do is run one along the wall until you find where a drywall screw is. Even though the screw has been covered over in drywall compound and paint, the magnet will have absolutely no problem holding up a few sheets of paper. The nature of the spacing of the wall studs means you always have your wall-documents set to 'snap to grid'. ;-)
I've also recycled a pair of blue jeans and made a little (2-inch square) pouch to put a magnet in and sewed it shut. Best refrigerator magnet ever. I can't believe no one on etsy is selling these.
But I digress.... disregard data, acquire magnets.
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:05 PM on August 22, 2010
I've also recycled a pair of blue jeans and made a little (2-inch square) pouch to put a magnet in and sewed it shut. Best refrigerator magnet ever. I can't believe no one on etsy is selling these.
But I digress.... disregard data, acquire magnets.
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:05 PM on August 22, 2010
Response by poster: If I could flag every response as 'best', I would.
Based on the consensus here, I'm:
-trying to wipe using the newer version of dban on the newer, larger drives so they can be donated.
-if that fails, and on the 10 or so 3GB or less drives, I will take great pleasure in cracking them open,exposing their creamy nougat center, and harvesting the innards for Fun With Magnets!
-should any one attempt to thwart me with hidden or wacky screws, it will most definitely be Hammer time. And drill. Because, why not?
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:34 PM on August 22, 2010
Based on the consensus here, I'm:
-trying to wipe using the newer version of dban on the newer, larger drives so they can be donated.
-if that fails, and on the 10 or so 3GB or less drives, I will take great pleasure in cracking them open,
-should any one attempt to thwart me with hidden or wacky screws, it will most definitely be Hammer time. And drill. Because, why not?
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:34 PM on August 22, 2010
USB to IDE converter cable thingees are cheap and plug straight into the drive. Simpler than using an enclosure, especially if you have more than one drive to deal with. If you connect the drive to the computer this way, then you can reformat it securely without busting out the sledge hammer (but the sledgehammer route is more fun).
posted by zippy at 2:22 AM on August 23, 2010
posted by zippy at 2:22 AM on August 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Aquaman at 4:16 PM on August 22, 2010 [8 favorites]