SwiftOnSecurityDec 31, 2022

Fun fact: Windows includes an HDD overwrite functionality. (Note: This won't hardware-level wipe SSDs)
(Also, don't do this you'll probably do it wrong and delete all your data.)

diskpart.exe
list disk
select disk #
clean all

It writes 0's to all logical sectors on the disk. But this isn't the same as all physical sectors on an HDD, and nothing much guaranteed on an SSD. You need to (also) use ATA SECURE ERASE to do that.

But if you have drives you want to dispose and aren't paranoid it's what I did to go through 15 old disks in my closet before smashing them up with a hammer. (Just the hammer works fine too)

Show threadSwiftOnSecurityDec 31, 2022

The thing about data storage is that they are so incredibly intricate and low-level complicated, just giving a HDD or SSD some really solid whacks with a hammer that messes up the internals a bit makes it functionally impossible to recover.

And Google and Microsoft and Amazon and NSA don't software-wipe hard drives they physically destroy them.

Show threadQueDec 31, 2022
@SwiftOnSecurity drums full of hard drives straight into shredders. It’s a sight to behold.
Show threadBob ThomsonDec 31, 2022
@SwiftOnSecurity @BabblingGeek worked at a place that contracted a gent who’d come, remove the platters and grind the surface off of them. He upgraded to a de-Gausser eventually.
Show threadThat Blair GuyJan 1, 2023
@bobthomson70 I used to disassemble them by hand and use the platters to make clocks and such. I still have some of the magnets on the refrigerator.
Show thread4censordJan 1, 2023
@ThatBlairGuy @bobthomson70 the platters also work well on scarecrows
Show threadThat Blair Guy
@4censord @bobthomson70 I used a few *as* scarecrows, trying to keep the deer away from the garden.
Jan 1, 2023 at 6:12amWeb