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From: peter pilsl on 28 Jan 2008 04:44

I have several broken harddisks. (increasing amount of badblocks or
I/O-errors all the time, S.M.A.R.T-error-count >60.000 and rising ...)

The harddisks are all on a staple and are ready for the Trash. However:
before dumping I need to wipe them, cause they still contain sensitive data.

How to wipe a broken disk? I tried COPYWIPE from ultimatebootdisk as my
preferred solution, but it takes ages or hangs.

I could now start dealing with a own set of dd-commands, but maybe there
is someone who has to deal with this frequently and knows a proven
reliable solution.

Drilling is an option, but to be frank: I dont know how to do it and how
secure/reliable it is. If someone recommends drilling, please dont
forget to mention the points where the drilling-fun is best ;)
I'm sysadmin and wanna-be-bikemechanic, so drilling might be a good
sensation.

thnx,
peter
From: Haines Brown on 28 Jan 2008 05:22
peter pilsl <pilsl(a)goldfisch.at> writes:

> How to wipe a broken disk? I tried COPYWIPE from ultimatebootdisk as
> my preferred solution, but it takes ages or hangs.

For whatever it's worth, I used to work for a company that reconditioned
or trashed used computers from corporations. For disposal of hard disks
that presumably held sensitive data, we simply took a sledge hammer to
them and wacked them enough times so that the casing and disks were
crushed. I don't know if this satisfies the legal requirement, but it
probably does the moral one.

--

Haines Brown, KB1GRM





From: Peter D. on 28 Jan 2008 05:52
on Monday 28 January 2008 20:44
in the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.linux.hardware
peter pilsl wrote:

>
> I have several broken harddisks. (increasing amount of badblocks or
> I/O-errors all the time, S.M.A.R.T-error-count >60.000 and rising ...)
>
> The harddisks are all on a staple and are ready for the Trash. However:
> before dumping I need to wipe them, cause they still contain sensitive
> data.
>
> How to wipe a broken disk? I tried COPYWIPE from ultimatebootdisk as my
> preferred solution, but it takes ages or hangs.

It is possible that a disk breaks in such a way that the media (and data)
remain intact, so the spy/journalist/police/spotty kid only have to pull
the drive apart and put the spindle in a new box.

How serious are you? Physical destruction might be your only option.

> I could now start dealing with a own set of dd-commands, but maybe there
> is someone who has to deal with this frequently and knows a proven
> reliable solution.
>
> Drilling is an option, but to be frank: I dont know how to do it and how
> secure/reliable it is. If someone recommends drilling, please dont
> forget to mention the points where the drilling-fun is best ;)
> I'm sysadmin and wanna-be-bikemechanic, so drilling might be a good
> sensation.

You should have used an encrypted file system before you started and
then wiped the disks before they broke. ;-)

Magnetic domains get scrambled if you (thoroughly) heat things to
the Curie temperature. How hot that is depends on what your disks
are made of.

I've heard stories about shredders for hard drives. They must be
fun.

Oxy-Acetylene, sandpaper, sledgehammer? Be creative. ;-)


--
sig goes here...
Peter D.
From: Anton Ertl on 28 Jan 2008 05:56
peter pilsl <pilsl(a)goldfisch.at> writes:
>
>I have several broken harddisks. (increasing amount of badblocks or
>I/O-errors all the time, S.M.A.R.T-error-count >60.000 and rising ...)
>
>The harddisks are all on a staple and are ready for the Trash. However:
>before dumping I need to wipe them, cause they still contain sensitive data.
>
>How to wipe a broken disk?

A low-level format should do it. It's even possible that the drives
are usable again afterwards (depending on what the cause of the bad
blocks ist).

The alternative is to destroy the drive mechanically. I would open
the drive, and then destroy the platters with a hammer. Make sure the
shards don't hurt you or anyone else (the platters may have a glass
substrate).

- anton
--
M. Anton Ertl Some things have to be seen to be believed
anton(a)mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at Most things have to be believed to be seen
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/home.html
From: Grant on 28 Jan 2008 06:29
On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:52:04 +1100, "Peter D." <psd(a)live.home.invalid> wrote:

>I've heard stories about shredders for hard drives. They must be
>fun.

They are, seen it on youtube...

--
http://bugsplatter.mine.nu/
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