Wednesday 19 January 2011

Protecting discarded hard drives

Sometimes I worry about the advice I give out. Being "one of the computer guys" means I get queries about all aspects of all technology, and it's important to understand what is actually being requested. The most recent one was about how to "get data off a dead hard drive". The request was actually about how to prevent someone reading a hard drive that is intended to be discarded, so I recommended blunt force trauma (hit it with a hammer until "the round bits inside" are broken). Having never done such a thing myself, I actually don't know if that will produce inpleasant side-effects like deadly shards of flying metal, but it's what I would do.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Or at least what I would try the first time.
PPS - The second time might involve something more careful.

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