destorying the hard drive

My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
into the local recycling place.

She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
want to do that.

She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
dispose of the computer for $50.00.

Any suggestions?

Jim

Bill
Thu Mar 20 15:54:10 PDT 2008

Reformatting it will destroy all the data.

Jim Madsen wrote:
> My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
> one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
> into the local recycling place.
>
> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
> reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
> took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
> want to do that.
>
> She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
> dispose of the computer for $50.00.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Jim

Don
Thu Mar 20 15:57:19 PDT 2008

"Jim Madsen" <justme@nobody.com> wrote in message
news:%23ks9OztiIHA.5280@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
> reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
> took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
> want to do that.

1. In software you already own,
(DOS) FDISK will remove the logical drive (C:) and any
others you want;
FDISK can then create a new logical drive (C:) which
should be of type Primary DOS;
(DOS) FORMAT will then write the essential FAT information
and the drive will be empty.

2. Some expert/specialized software can still read between
the lines, i.e. rescue fragments of data still on the drive and
not yet overwritten. If you think both (a) her data is uniquely
valuable, and (b) her hard drive is likely to get into the hands
of someone who knows the data fragments are valuable and
who owns software capable of retrieving it . . .
you can then buy specialized software which overwrites
every byte of the hard drive with null bytes 000000000000000.

Most people find method #1 meets their needs.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Franc
Thu Mar 20 16:19:12 PDT 2008

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:48:40 -0600, Jim Madsen <justme@nobody.com> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

>My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
>one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
>into the local recycling place.
>
>She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
>reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
>took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
>want to do that.
>
>She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
>dispose of the computer for $50.00.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>Jim

Use a "zero fill" utility, eg ...

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=65a8783c970ce010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&locale=en-GB

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

Gary
Thu Mar 20 16:26:26 PDT 2008

No, it won't. Not even close.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:ubjMS1tiIHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Reformatting it will destroy all the data.
>
> Jim Madsen wrote:
>> My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
>> one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
>> into the local recycling place.
>>
>> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
>> reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
>> took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
>> want to do that.
>>
>> She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
>> dispose of the computer for $50.00.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> Jim
>
>

Bill
Thu Mar 20 16:31:16 PDT 2008

Come again? (And no, I'm not talking about someone using special snoop
programs). If you boot up on a DOS floppy, and do a format c: , what's
really left there?

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
> No, it won't. Not even close.
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> www.grystmill.com
>
> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:ubjMS1tiIHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Reformatting it will destroy all the data.
>>
>> Jim Madsen wrote:
>>> My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
>>> one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
>>> into the local recycling place.
>>>
>>> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
>>> reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
>>> took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
>>> want to do that.
>>>
>>> She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
>>> dispose of the computer for $50.00.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions?
>>>
>>> Jim

Brian
Thu Mar 20 16:31:58 PDT 2008

"Jim Madsen" <justme@nobody.com> wrote in message
news:%23ks9OztiIHA.5280@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no one wants
> it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it into the local
> recycling place.
>
> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if reformatting
> the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I took the HD out and
> smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't want to do that.
>
> She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and dispose of
> the computer for $50.00.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Jim

Pull the hard drive from the PC and use it in another PC. Either reformat the
drive and install it as a slave or use it as a slave with the data on it. That way
no one else without access to the drive can't get info from it.

--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Gary
Thu Mar 20 16:36:32 PDT 2008

Not even smashing the thing with a sledge hammer will destroy the data. And
I have tools sitting right here in my machine that will recover at least
*some* of the contents of the disk even after 20 formats. It will recover
ALL of the data after a single format.

You want to either use a "zero-fill" utility to write all ones and all
zeros, over and over, or you find a geek with a mega magnetic tool to
magnetically scramble it but good.

$50... Well, I wouldn't do much of anything for less than $50, but you can
recycle it yourself (or rather, your daughter can), and do you trust them to
actually do the wipe job? You can do it yourself for free.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"Jim Madsen" <justme@nobody.com> wrote in message
news:%23ks9OztiIHA.5280@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
> one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it into
> the local recycling place.
>
> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
> reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
> took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't want
> to do that.
>
> She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
> dispose of the computer for $50.00.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Jim

Gary
Thu Mar 20 16:41:24 PDT 2008

Everything is still left there except the table of contents (FAT). All
FORMAT does is write a new FAT. But it's *easy* to recover data after a
format, ALL of the data. Hell, with RTT, I can recover significant data from
20 formats back.

And why *aren't* you talking about "special snoop programs"? I have a very
good one and lots are sold for under $100. Why aren't you worried about
someone using one of those?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:%23bMCBKuiIHA.3448@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Come again? (And no, I'm not talking about someone using special snoop
> programs). If you boot up on a DOS floppy, and do a format c: , what's
> really left there?
>
> Gary S. Terhune wrote:
>> No, it won't. Not even close.
>>
>> --
>> Gary S. Terhune
>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>> www.grystmill.com
>>
>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:ubjMS1tiIHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>> Reformatting it will destroy all the data.
>>>
>>> Jim Madsen wrote:
>>>> My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says
>>>> no
>>>> one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
>>>> into the local recycling place.
>>>>
>>>> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
>>>> reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
>>>> took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
>>>> want to do that.
>>>>
>>>> She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
>>>> dispose of the computer for $50.00.
>>>>
>>>> Any suggestions?
>>>>
>>>> Jim
>
>

Gary
Thu Mar 20 16:42:44 PDT 2008

Amendment: Pull the drive and put into daughter's new machine.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message
news:%23rLgXKuiIHA.5780@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> "Jim Madsen" <justme@nobody.com> wrote in message
> news:%23ks9OztiIHA.5280@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
>> one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
>> into the local recycling place.
>>
>> She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
>> reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
>> took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't want
>> to do that.
>>
>> She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
>> dispose of the computer for $50.00.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> Jim
>
> Pull the hard drive from the PC and use it in another PC. Either
> reformat the drive and install it as a slave or use it as a slave with the
> data on it. That way no one else without access to the drive can't get
> info from it.
>
> --
>
>
> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
> Conflicts start where information lacks.
> http://basconotw.mvps.org/
>
> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
>
>

philo
Thu Mar 20 17:05:52 PDT 2008


"Franc Zabkar" <fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote in message
news:9ur5u3l0qbdnqh4pjnu8s4om84jvgkmm98@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:48:40 -0600, Jim Madsen <justme@nobody.com> put
> finger to keyboard and composed:
>
> >My daughter has an old Gateway computer running Windows 98. She says no
> >one wants it because it is slow and obsolete and she wants to turn it
> >into the local recycling place.
> >
> >She is worried about (personal) data on the hard drive. I wonder if
> >reformatting the HD will destroy all the data? My old W95 computer, I
> >took the HD out and smashed it with a sledge hammer, but she doesn't
> >want to do that.
> >
> >She took it to a computer store, and they offered to "hose" the HD and
> >dispose of the computer for $50.00.
> >
> >Any suggestions?
> >
> >Jim
>
> Use a "zero fill" utility, eg ...
>
>
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=65a8783c970ce010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&locale=en-GB
>
> - Franc Zabkar



This is the best advice yet.

If the drive is zero filled...not only is the data gone...
it cannot be recovered.

98
Thu Mar 20 17:18:39 PDT 2008

philo wrote:

> > Use a "zero fill" utility, eg ...
>
> This is the best advice yet.

No, it isin't.

The best advice was already given.

Open the computer and remove the hard drive. Throw the rest of the
machine away, give it away - whatever.

If the contents are important enough to be worried about, then
presumably you'd want to copy them to another system.

If the contents are NOT important enough to migrate them to another
system, then this whole thread is pointless.

I have 20 or 30 old hard drives - many of them 10+ years old and under
10 gb in size. Most of them fit into a single shoe-box.