Just delete personal files + leave the rest on the drive.

If you have sensitive data, consult a professional company.

Just delete personal files? Are you aware that when you "just delete" a file all that it does is make a change in the directory listing to indicate that the file has been "deleted" without actually doing anything to the file itself? Remember the old "undelete" command?

 

Is it possible to buy iron oxide and aluminum powder (to make thermite)?
Both components seem cheap enough, but the NSA is probably watching in case somebody wants some privacy.

Edit: Never mind. One google and it's $25/pound. A lot cheaper on eBay.

Iron oxide is pretty easy to make:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(III)_oxide

Got rust?

 

Just delete personal files? Are you aware that when you "just delete" a file all that it does is make a change in the directory listing to indicate that the file has been "deleted" without actually doing anything to the file itself? Remember the old "undelete" command?

Yes and what? After a while using Windows, they will become unrecoverable.

In the end there will be many photos from spiders, as well some DVDs I converted to video for my laptop. Totally interesting.

 

Easy aluminum powder:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_K8ZRVV8GE


If I had a nickle for every ounce of aluminum powder/shavings, I made.........

 

Iron oxide is pretty easy to make:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(III)_oxide

Got rust?

The problem is that if you REALLY want your thermite to perform, you need extremely fine powder -- along the lines of baby powder.

Of course, as with all things, it is not a simple go/no-go situation. Above some level of coarseness you will have trouble getting it to go at all. Just below that you may be able to get the reaction to go but it won't be very spectacular. As you go finer and finer the reaction becomes more... vigorous. At some point the reaction is nearly explosive.

 

After writing new files to the drive, holographically it retains the old files somehow.

When a recovery software can't recover the files, most people also can't recover them. At a recycling plant there are many computer parts chances are no one will read the data.

There's no holography involved.

If you are willing to accept that "chances are" that no one will read the data, then why even suggest that people delete personal files at all?

Again, it's about risk assessment. But you can't adequately assess risk if you think that just writing over the old data makes that old data unrecoverable.

 

From my understanding Dban is supposed to be good, but can be slow depending on what wipe type you use. They claim that it supports the defense departments standard of wiping. I think that's just an overwrite of all 0 or all 1, I believe dman can do multiple pass, or just run again if your worried about it. Also low level formats will destroy all data too. use something like HDD guru's low level format tool, or if it's SCSI use the controllers low level format. Newer drives low level format basically renders them useless, so that's an option if you just want data gone, and have no plan for the drive.

I know somebody actually works in I.T at local school, they have a few approaches to wiping. They have a Symantec program called Gdisk, I believe that's a part of ghost though so you'd have to buy ghost. there is limited options on that, delete everything, or total wipe. occasionally they'll have drives from a server or something they can't wipe with any program, so the one tech just decided to start slamming them on the ground until they rattle around, (I think that just wrecks the head array, maybe a crash too.) So possible stuff could get of the plates, but he says that once they get that he takes home, and takes them all apart for the magnets for some ham radio thing they need magnets for. I guess his boss said that was O.K, but I'd still be worried about the plates, but chances are by time anybody got ahold of they'd be marked up, scratched, etc, and likely not any use. Maybe he drills all the platters too, but i was never told all the details of that.

 

There are many more ways of recovering data from a HD, than there is to delete it.

For hard disks with financial data, there are commercial data destruction services. Basically, they use a very large machine which shreds the disk, metal and all. Like a crosscut paper shredder on steroids. In goes a hard disk; out comes teeny metal chips.

 

Although the disk itself should be destroyed, the whole assembly has magnets and other parts that can be salvaged.

I believe the rare earth magnets are actually produced in China, but the raw material can be recycled here in the U.S. so there's no need to import anything.

 

just turn off windows abruptly, wait for the disk checker to come up, then reset during disk checker.

fuck the disk for sure.... make sure you hate the guy before you do it.

 

just turn off windows abruptly, wait for the disk checker to come up, then reset during disk checker.
fuck the disk for sure.... make sure you hate the guy before you do it.

Even if you mess up the filesystem that way, which I doubt, this will surely not destroy the whole disk, nor make the files unrecoverable.

 

Even if you mess up the filesystem that way, which I doubt, this will surely not destroy the whole disk, nor make the files unrecoverable.

It is a dated technique, but it used to work, I havent been that much a jerk to try it out on someone recently, because it really is not a smart thing to do at all. hehehe

 

HCL will dissolve cobalt layer .

 

Hi,

Interesting topic.

Yes hard drives can be read even when written over with junk bytes, but it takes a professional disk recovery service to do that.

One method that would have to work in the case of a regular hard drive is to melt the platter(s). The platters are made of metal therefore they melt.

This would not be enough however on the newer hybrid drives. You'd have to be careful to at least destroy all the SSD chips onboard too. Maybe heat them up with a torch or something, or bake the drive in an oven. They go good with ham and eggs in the morning

 

very clever, but the sledge hammer approach cannot be argued with.

 

Hi,

I like that idea too, and it must be more fun
For myself though i dont think i have the heart to do that, nor melt one down to the raw materials because i tend to want to keep the parts for some other use.

 

Hi,

I like that idea too, and it must be more fun
For myself though i dont think i have the heart to do that, nor melt one down to the raw materials because i tend to want to keep the parts for some other use.

haha yes it is sad destroying useful equipment, its like burning a painting, a heartless thing to do.

 

I have a 1884 springfield rifle, caliber 45/70 that is guarenteed to destroy hard drives. 405 grains of lead at about 1600 feet per second should do it.

 

I have a 1884 springfield rifle, caliber 45/70 that is guarenteed to destroy hard drives. 405 grains of lead at about 1600 feet per second should do it.

Ya, have a shooting range I built in my back yard, old hard drives become targets.