Wiping Dead HD

  • Thread starter Thread starter MF
  • Start date Start date
M

MF

Hi, all

Anyone know a practical, effective way to erase a hard drive that is deader
than a brick? It's a West. Digital 60 gig 7200 RPM. It won't spin up and
WD's diagnostic utilities won't recognize it. It went out a few days before
the warranty expired and I want to try to return it, but it has _lots_ of
sensitive info on it, and, dead or not, I don't want it in the hands of
strangers.

By practical, I mean something accessible to the average bozo, like me.
Running it thru an MRI scanner might be worth a try, but not too
practical....

Thanks!

Mike
 
Hi, all

Anyone know a practical, effective way to erase a hard drive that is deader
than a brick? It's a West. Digital 60 gig 7200 RPM. It won't spin up and
WD's diagnostic utilities won't recognize it. It went out a few days before
the warranty expired and I want to try to return it, but it has _lots_ of
sensitive info on it, and, dead or not, I don't want it in the hands of
strangers.

By practical, I mean something accessible to the average bozo, like me.
Running it thru an MRI scanner might be worth a try, but not too
practical....

Thanks!

Mike
Click to expand...

Physically destroying the platters is pretty much the only method
accessible to "the average bozo". How you accomplish that is up to
you. The finer you make the shards, the less likely someone could
piece it back together. How much effort you want to put into this
depends on the level of paranoia you think the information warrants.

I guess high heat will also demagnetize stuff, but I'm not too sure
chucking a hard drive into the fireplace or an kiln is such a bright
idea.
 
Physically destroying the platters is pretty much the only method
accessible to "the average bozo". How you accomplish that is up to
you. The finer you make the shards, the less likely someone could
piece it back together. How much effort you want to put into this
depends on the level of paranoia you think the information warrants.

I guess high heat will also demagnetize stuff, but I'm not too sure
chucking a hard drive into the fireplace or an kiln is such a bright
idea.
Click to expand...

I think he wants to return it as he says so those options wouldnt
work. Can you take the cover off and use a magnet on the platter?
Never tried taking the cover off so I dont know if you can without an
obvious way of voiding the warranty.

What about a WD I have? This WD starting acting weird - part of the
bad ribbon cable thing I think that I mentioned in other posts. Ive
had problems with weird behavior - cant read disk , no boot up etc
corrupted data with my old ribbon cables. I finally swapped them out
for new and now have no problems. But a neighbors old PC also had the
same problems. His HD wouldnt boot up and was screwy. I formatted it
before I swapped out the cable on his and since then it spins up fine
but FDISK etc think its some alien format on it and not even WDs utils
can access it. They act as if they did something but its the same -
spins up but you cant access it. THe PC also recognizes it fine.

I need a prog that will destroy whatever is on it , wipe anything out
so I can partition and reformat it again. Of course Im assuming its
still a software issue and not a hardware issue.
 
Hi, all

Anyone know a practical, effective way to erase a hard drive that is deader
than a brick? It's a West. Digital 60 gig 7200 RPM. It won't spin up and
WD's diagnostic utilities won't recognize it. It went out a few days before
the warranty expired and I want to try to return it, but it has _lots_ of
sensitive info on it, and, dead or not, I don't want it in the hands of
strangers.

By practical, I mean something accessible to the average bozo, like me.
Running it thru an MRI scanner might be worth a try, but not too
practical....

Thanks!

Mike
Click to expand...


Those drives are 40 bucks or something now. Buy a new one and burn that
one.

If it's that sensitive you won't take the risk.
 
[email protected] said:
I think he wants to return it as he says so those options wouldnt
work. Can you take the cover off and use a magnet on the platter?
Never tried taking the cover off so I dont know if you can without an
obvious way of voiding the warranty.
Click to expand...

NO!!

Michael
 
MCheu said:
Physically destroying the platters is pretty much the only method
accessible to "the average bozo". How you accomplish that is up to
you. The finer you make the shards, the less likely someone could
piece it back together. How much effort you want to put into this
depends on the level of paranoia you think the information warrants.

I guess high heat will also demagnetize stuff, but I'm not too sure
chucking a hard drive into the fireplace or an kiln is such a bright
idea.
Click to expand...

Just taking it apart and separating the drives and tossing them separately
would probably be enough, but this won't help with getting it replaced.

I've already tried tapping it, but not reall whacking it or freezing/heating
it.
They come next, but I'm already guessing they won't do it. I think it's a
bad chip rather than mechanical, which is why I'm looking for a way to wipe
it.

Thanks for the ideas so far.

Mike
 
Hi, all

Anyone know a practical, effective way to erase a hard drive that is deader
than a brick? It's a West. Digital 60 gig 7200 RPM. It won't spin up and
WD's diagnostic utilities won't recognize it. It went out a few days before
the warranty expired and I want to try to return it, but it has _lots_ of
sensitive info on it, and, dead or not, I don't want it in the hands of
strangers.

By practical, I mean something accessible to the average bozo, like me.
Running it thru an MRI scanner might be worth a try, but not too
practical....

Thanks!

Mike
Click to expand...


There is nothing you can do to the drive to erase the data
that won't void the warranty. You might be grossly
overestimating their eagerness to find out what data was on
the drive, use of data on dead drives for ANYTHING AT ALL
would open up all kinds of nasty lawsuits and tarnish their
company name forever... Plus I'll bet you they have security
measures in place so employees aren't secretly walking off
with drives. Your data is probably safer there than it was
in any Windows PC.
 
I need a prog that will destroy whatever is on it , wipe anything out
so I can partition and reformat it again. Of course Im assuming its
still a software issue and not a hardware issue.
Click to expand...

If BIOS can see the drive, amke sure it's the only drive in the machine and
boot from a DOS (or Windows) Boot Disk which has the file Debug.com on it
(it should be included with older versions of Windows/DOS and you can copy
it to your disk or another disk).

Then run the following from a DOS prompt:

WARNING - THIS WILL RENDER ANY DATA ON THE DRIVE USELESS

DEBUG.COM <ENTER>
F 200 L1000 0 <ENTER>
A CS:100 <ENTER>
MOV AX,301 <ENTER>
MOV BX,200 <ENTER>
MOV CX,1 <ENTER>
MOV DX,80 <ENTER>
INT 13 <ENTER>
INT 20 <ENTER>
<ENTER>
G <ENTER>

Now Reboot the machine. The hard disk will have no partitions on it and you
should be able to FDISK it.
 
In message <[email protected]> MCheu
Physically destroying the platters is pretty much the only method
accessible to "the average bozo". How you accomplish that is up to
you. The finer you make the shards, the less likely someone could
piece it back together. How much effort you want to put into this
depends on the level of paranoia you think the information warrants.

I guess high heat will also demagnetize stuff, but I'm not too sure
chucking a hard drive into the fireplace or an kiln is such a bright
idea.
Click to expand...

And in either case you won't get the warranty replacement drive...
 
If BIOS can see the drive, amke sure it's the only drive in the machine and
boot from a DOS (or Windows) Boot Disk which has the file Debug.com on it
(it should be included with older versions of Windows/DOS and you can copy
it to your disk or another disk).

Then run the following from a DOS prompt:

WARNING - THIS WILL RENDER ANY DATA ON THE DRIVE USELESS

DEBUG.COM <ENTER>
F 200 L1000 0 <ENTER>
A CS:100 <ENTER>
MOV AX,301 <ENTER>
MOV BX,200 <ENTER>
MOV CX,1 <ENTER>
MOV DX,80 <ENTER>
INT 13 <ENTER>
INT 20 <ENTER>
<ENTER>
G <ENTER>

Now Reboot the machine. The hard disk will have no partitions on it and you
should be able to FDISK it.
Click to expand...

Im trying to remember the last time I recall seeing Debug. I wonder if
any of the online bootup disk images come with it. I remember trying
to work my way through one of Peter Nortons Assembly language books
using Debug ages ago.

I just downloaded the Ultimate Boot CD image. Im going to try the
utils on it and if that doesnt work and if PArtition MAgic and some
other well known utils dont work I might start looking for Debug.

Ive seen a few commercial progs online that claim to destroy anything
on your disk so you can start over but its not worth paying $20-30
bucks when you can get a new HD for 10-30 sometimes. I got my last
Maxtor 60 gig a special anniversary sale at Office Depot with a
special 10 buck Gift card they sent me for spending 500 bucks last qtr
- for net $10.

This one --- I aready bought a new HD cheap replacement for them and
fixed their PC but if I can get this one going somehow I can give it
to another poor family (single mother) who I put a system together
for. They have a 40 gig HD and could use another 80 gig one even if
its 1.5 yrs old.
 
[email protected] said:
I think he wants to return it as he says so those options wouldnt
work. Can you take the cover off and use a magnet on the platter?
Never tried taking the cover off so I dont know if you can without an
obvious way of voiding the warranty.
Click to expand...

Oops. Guess I should have read MF's post a bit more carefully. If
you take the cover off, it's going to be pretty obvious that you did
it. They usually put a bit of lacquer on the screws to detect
tampering.
 
MF said:
Hi, all

Anyone know a practical, effective way to erase a hard drive that is
deader
than a brick? It's a West. Digital 60 gig 7200 RPM. It won't spin up and
WD's diagnostic utilities won't recognize it. It went out a few days
before
the warranty expired and I want to try to return it, but it has _lots_ of
sensitive info on it, and, dead or not, I don't want it in the hands of
strangers.
Click to expand...

If it is deader than a brick, then how about:

A hammer?
Put it in a bag and drop it out of a high window?
Open it up and soak it in water / acid?
Open it up and run a magnet all over it?
Bury it in the garden?
Anonymously donate it to charity?
Take it to repairs in PC world - they're bound to break it?
Put it in the bin along with the tea-bags and food remains?
Feed it to a large dog?
Etc...
 
Physically destroying the platters is pretty much the only method
I think he wants to return it as he says so those options wouldnt
work. Can you take the cover off and use a magnet on the platter?
Never tried taking the cover off so I dont know if you can without an
obvious way of voiding the warranty.
Click to expand...

Taking the cover off will definitely void the warranty - a hard disk is
filled with a particular gas and under slight pressure. Removing the seal
will break this clean environment and introduce dust and other air molecules
into the drive. 1 microscopic piece of dust hitting the head is enough to
render the drive useless, however the data will all still be on the
platters. If you are going to open the drive up, make sure you destroy the
glass platters as well, because you will never be able to check if you have
killed the data without some very expensive equipment and a clean lab
environment!
 
Taking the cover off will definitely void the warranty - a hard disk is
filled with a particular gas and under slight pressure.
Click to expand...

Where do you get this junk. HDD's are *NOT* sealed. They are not filled with
special gasses! (I am - pull my finger and I'll prove it).

HDD's are usually vented to the outside through an elaborate filter to
equalize pressure.
 
| kony:
|
| > There is nothing you can do to the drive to erase the data
| > that won't void the warranty.
|
| I've always wondered... what if you set a speaker magnet on it?

I have a leftover heavy-duty bulk tape eraser from reel-to-reel
recorder days that does a great job of destroying HD data.

Larc



§§§ - Change planet to earth to reply by email - §§§
 
Taking the cover off will definitely void the warranty - a hard disk is
Where do you get this junk. HDD's are *NOT* sealed. They are not filled
with
special gasses! (I am - pull my finger and I'll prove it).

HDD's are usually vented to the outside through an elaborate filter to
equalize pressure.
Click to expand...

If they have a vent, then it must have some kind expensive carbon filter +
water removal system because even a single grain of microscopic dust or
water vapour entering the hard drive casing and landing on the platter would
potentially render it useless!

I was told by an electronics guy that hard drives were sealed in laboratory
'clean' environments - hence the 'void if removed' seal all round the seam
between the top half of the casing and the bottom. The seal is rubbery and
slightly flexible to allow for pressure and temperature changes (a little
like the sealant around a bath) and to absolutely stop anything from the
outside world from getting inside.

I could be talking out of my arse, but that is what I have been told and the
western digital drive I have in front of me know does have a 'void if
removed' seal all round the seam between the 2 halves - also there is no
absolutely no gaps in it for a filter, unless it is under the circuit board
on the underside?
 
kony:


I've always wondered... what if you set a speaker magnet on it?
Click to expand...

WIthout opening the drive that shouldn't be strong enough to
ensure complete erasure. If we wanted to nitpick, any field
strong enough to erase the data would void warranty, though
they might not be inclined to do this sort of check on a
failed drive... though i seriously doubt they'd do much
checking at all, how much time & expense are they going to
put into failed hardware? They might hook it up to a
machine and if it seems ok, securely wipe it and return to
service as a refurb'd warranty replacement, at least that
seems like the logical way they'd go about acquiring used
drives to fill warranty replacement which some companies
mention may occur. Otherwise, if the data is that critical
just destroy the drive completely.
 
If they have a vent, then it must have some kind expensive carbon filter +
water removal system because even a single grain of microscopic dust or
water vapour entering the hard drive casing and landing on the platter would
potentially render it useless!
Click to expand...

Expensive? Bag of charcoal would do it, absorbs moisture
when drive cools and draws air it, drives off moisture when
drive heats up and exhausts. Regardless of this theory,
drives DO freqently have the vent whether they have fancy
filter and charcoal or just a very fine filter.
I was told by an electronics guy that hard drives were sealed in laboratory
'clean' environments - hence the 'void if removed' seal all round the seam
between the top half of the casing and the bottom. The seal is rubbery and
slightly flexible to allow for pressure and temperature changes (a little
like the sealant around a bath) and to absolutely stop anything from the
outside world from getting inside.
Click to expand...

It is rubbery simply to make a good seal like anything else,
not to allow for expansion of heated air.
I could be talking out of my arse, but that is what I have been told and the
western digital drive I have in front of me know does have a 'void if
removed' seal all round the seam between the 2 halves - also there is no
absolutely no gaps in it for a filter, unless it is under the circuit board
on the underside?
Click to expand...

Tiny opening could be easily concealed, and doing so would
tend to help keep dust out too, not that dust would
necessarily get in drive but could clog filter, eventually.
Note on the following pic the label reads "Do not cover any
drive holes."
http://www.ixbt.com/storage/disks1201/wd1000bb-tl.jpg
 
Back
Top