[Glenn]

Even after erased and written over, data can be retrieved.

If you do it properly, there will be no data to retrieve. It's a myth that the data is still out there in some ghost-like fashion.

[Cagey]

Will formatting the drive erase all data? And, I've heard of utilities that will do a total wipe of the data that one chooses. I think Norton is one vendor who makes such a utility.

But, the thing is these crooks in Trenton are claiming that by dropping the computer the data was destroyed and that just doesn't ring true to me.

[AppyPappy]

Yup. I bet they overwrote the data with 0's.

[meatloaf]

Until a few months ago, I would have agreed with you. Go to slashdot and do a search. A topic on that site referenced the technical article describing the technique. As long as the disks can be removed from the hard drive and examined, the data can be retrieved ... even after reformating.

FWIW, the everyday hacker won't have the equipment.

[yevgenie]

Not a myth!
Yes, it is true that you CAN repeatedly rewrite over the disk surface. The problem is that many HDD's are not quite so precise in the movements of the head and the platter. Sometimes this results in a shift in the position of the head over the platter and there may be a residual charge left on the surface even after someone has "correctly" attempted to overwrite the data.
-Yev (computer security specialist)

[Coleus]

How do you do it properly?