Storage

Gallery: How to destroy your hard drive

By // July 21, 2008, 5:32 AM PST

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  • Verity manual hard drive destroyer

    Disposing of computer hard drives in a secure and safe way has become a hot topic, especially after the high profile data leaks in the past year.

    Whether it is ID thieves after personal information; or data leaks that could affect business or even national security, making sure data can't be retrieved from old hard drives is very much on the agenda.

    So bearing this in mind, silicon.com picked some ways to deal with your unwanted hard drives.

    This is the Verity Systems VS7000 manual hard drive destroyer which crushes the hard drive with the turn of a handle. The destroyer bends the hard drive platter so any data on it can never be read again.

    Plus, check out these 10 hard drive disasters.

    Photo credit: Verity

  • Degausser

    Of course, every security professional knows that it's also recommended practice to wipe your hard drive using one of these bad boys: a degausser.

    These use electro-magnetism to clear data and render the hard drive unusable. This method is recommended by the National Security Agency in the U.S. for military and government hardware.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson

  • Acid test

    Another method proven to work well is to leave your old hard drive soaking in acid - apparently hydrochloric is best. Leave the hard drive soaking for a couple of hours and the metal will corrode making the device useless.

    Photo credit: CNET Networks

  • Burn it

    Obviously the previous approach depends on you having enough time to wait for acid to do its work but in some situations speed is sometimes most important.

    Military and security service personnel wanting to avoid information getting into the wrong hands are able to make their hard drives explode. This can be triggered either remotely or by people tampering with the device.

    Photo credit: CNET Networks

  • Donate

    For the more philanthropic or environmentally conscious among us, donating old computers to a good cause is an option. Organizations like Computer Aid International will take a hard drive off your hands and put them to good use elsewhere.

    Data on your hard drive will be wiped before a fresh operating system and applications are added.

    Here Tony Roberts (left), Computer Aid International CEO, cuts the ribbon on a shipment of PCs delivered to Kenya and hands over the first piece of kit to a pupil at Starehe Boys' Centre.

    Photo credit: Will Sturgeon

  • Nuke it

    Or you can nuke it.

Verity manual hard drive destroyer

Disposing of computer hard drives in a secure and safe way has become a hot topic, especially after the high profile data leaks in the past year.

Whether it is ID thieves after personal information; or data leaks that could affect business or even national security, making sure data can't be retrieved from old hard drives is very much on the agenda.

So bearing this in mind, silicon.com picked some ways to deal with your unwanted hard drives.

This is the Verity Systems VS7000 manual hard drive destroyer which crushes the hard drive with the turn of a handle. The destroyer bends the hard drive platter so any data on it can never be read again.

Plus, check out these 10 hard drive disasters.

Photo credit: Verity

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