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Finding a Home for Old Computers
washingtonpost.com ^
| Sunday, January 2, 2005
| Mike Musgrove
Posted on 01/02/2005 9:12:01 PM PST by crushelits
click here to read article
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To: crushelits
Office Depot was running a recycle program for awhile. I have 4 to get rid of this year ... need the space. But how to wipe the hard drive clean?
2
posted on
01/02/2005 9:15:34 PM PST
by
BunnySlippers
(Happy Festivus ...)
To: crushelits
For one thing, I like most of my clutter.
Also, if aluminum re-cycling plants will pay me to return cans, etc., why shouldn't a computer company pay me?
3
posted on
01/02/2005 9:18:06 PM PST
by
lakey
To: crushelits
We donate our old electronic/ computer stuff to a local trade school that teaches electronics and computer hardware repair. My husband got rid of several old computers and an old copy machine this way. We are about ready to make another donation to them again. They appreciate the donation and we get a tax write off, talk about a win-win situation.
To: BunnySlippers
I picked up an old but brand new in the box printer at the dump last summer. It was just sitting in front of a dumpster. I Ebayed a printer cable and youngest has a printer now.
5
posted on
01/02/2005 9:19:03 PM PST
by
annyokie
(If the shoe fits, put 'em both on!)
To: BunnySlippers
Just reformat the hard drive. By CIA standards (or so I hear) a hard drive must be reformatted three times to be officially "clean."
6
posted on
01/02/2005 9:20:29 PM PST
by
Future Snake Eater
("Stupid grandma leaver-outers!"--Tom Servo)
To: BunnySlippers
why bother - just grab a screw driver and pull the HDs out and throw 'em in a drawer or somethin
7
posted on
01/02/2005 9:22:55 PM PST
by
Texas_Jarhead
(I believe in American Exceptionalism! Do you?)
To: BunnySlippers
There are plenty of disk wiping programs out there that will clean disks beyond the ability of virtually anyone to read. If you're extra paranoid concerned - the NSA or CIA may want to see what you've been up to, for example - then you can always pull the drive out and physically destroy it. Bashing the case open and melting the platters with a blowtorch will make it unreadable by mortal men, just as an example of one possible method. Or just put the drive(s) back to work in your current machine(s) and don't dispose of them at all.
8
posted on
01/02/2005 9:25:08 PM PST
by
general_re
(Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.)
To: BunnySlippers
Stick it in an 80 ton fender press and cycle the press, or toss it into a lit fireplace. Guaranteed. 0 recoverable data.
9
posted on
01/02/2005 9:26:02 PM PST
by
kylaka
To: crushelits
I've always wished that someone (much smarter than me) would write an absolutely foolproof and simple to use email program for older folks to use to communicate via email and perhaps even instant messaging to their loved ones. I think it would be wonderful for shut-ins, those in various types of care facilities, etc., and a wonderful use of old, recycled computers that wouldn't be useful for much else.
To: BunnySlippers
But how to wipe the hard drive clean?Google up a utility called gdisk.exe. It'll wipe and rewrite to prevent retrieval.
To: Texas_Jarhead
This is the best solution. When you buy a computer, it's nice to have 2 spare drives so you can offload files to them. By having 3 drives, it reduces head motion and the system actually will run faster. It really does work. Also
you can use one of the 2 extra spindles to backup to.
12
posted on
01/02/2005 9:27:42 PM PST
by
ProudVet77
(Currently interviewing 2005 taglines.)
To: BunnySlippers
Can the system be booted off the CDROM? The UltimateBootCD has some utilities to simply zero a drive, or if you are truely concerned, some additional options to really scour the drive.
http://ubcd.sf.net/
P.S.: Of course you could do what one "bright" person did. Smash the drive with a sledge hammer. (In a room adjacent to a bank vault, equipped with the obligitory vibration sensors. ;-)
13
posted on
01/02/2005 9:27:46 PM PST
by
mlstier
("Abortion is not a choice. It's changing ones mind.")
To: kylaka
Stick it in an 80 ton fender press and cycle the press Cool. Where do I get an 80 ton fender press? What is it? :)
14
posted on
01/02/2005 9:27:50 PM PST
by
BunnySlippers
(Happy Festivus ...)
To: Future Snake Eater
There is a program called Shredder that should be available in the public domain. Let's just say it gets the seal of approval from the 3-letter agencies.
15
posted on
01/02/2005 9:28:23 PM PST
by
JackelopeBreeder
(Proud to be a mean-spirited & divisive loco gringo armed terrorist vigilante cucaracha!)
To: crushelits
16
posted on
01/02/2005 9:28:36 PM PST
by
MadelineZapeezda
(If you right click on Keith Olberman's image, the word a$$hole should come up!)
To: justt bloomin
I set up a pc for my Mom with nothing on the desktop but an icon that say "MAIL" and another that says "NET".
She forgets which button to push to turn it "ON".
17
posted on
01/02/2005 9:31:24 PM PST
by
bitt
To: Future Snake Eater; BunnySlippers
Just reformat the hard drive. By CIA standards (or so I hear) a hard drive must be reformatted three times to be officially "clean." No no no no no. Formatting a hard drives does NOT alter the data. It's all still there, all still accessible by anyone who knows what they're doing. (Like me.:)
You want to WIPE the drive, which is the process of actually overwriting each sector on the hard drive with meaningless "data." Most wipe utilities by default write a "00" to each sector. A single-pass wipe will be fine. There are plenty of freebie wipe programs out there. Go to download.com and do a search on WIPE and see what you find.
MM
18
posted on
01/02/2005 9:33:01 PM PST
by
MississippiMan
(Americans should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.)
To: MississippiMan
Out of curiosity, how do you recover data from a reformatted drive?
19
posted on
01/02/2005 9:34:28 PM PST
by
Future Snake Eater
("Stupid grandma leaver-outers!"--Tom Servo)
To: Gunslingr3
20
posted on
01/02/2005 9:38:22 PM PST
by
dennisw
(G_D: Against Amelek for all generations.)
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