Wiping data from a hard drive.

[Frans Ketelaars]

On Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:51:27 +1000, Basil Chupin wrote:

> A few days ago I 'lost an HD which is 11 months old - and it still has 4
> years of warranty remaining.
> 
> However, the HD contains personal information which means that I will
> simply put the sledge hammer to it - unless I can wipe the HD clean
> before I take it back for replacement.
> 
> Since the HD doesn't spin-up, I cannot use the normal data destroying
> programs to wipe the data.
> 
> When we were still using 3 1/4 and 5 1/2 inch floppies I had a powerful
> magnet thingie which would wipe a floppy clean (but I don't have that
> 'thingie' anymore, in anycase it would probably be too weak for a 500GB
> HD).
> 
> I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how I can wipe the data off
> the HD?
> 
> Would taking it to a wrecker's yard and putting it under the magnet they
> use to lift car bodies do the trick, for example?
> 
> Thanks for any advice.
> 
> BC

http://serverfault.com/questions/74716/how-can-i-destroy-data-on-a-failed-hard-disk-without-voiding-warranty

"Just explain to your vendor that the disk failed but that you cannot
return it due to sensitive data. Many vendors, especially vendors with
business customers, will accept that without asking.

If they don't, offer a signed, written statement declaring that the disk
failed. If that still doesn't satisfy them, write off the loss and
consider buying the next disk from a vendor with a sensible warranty
policy."

Good luck!

    -Frans