Is there a way to completely erase data from drives?

[Ralf]

I have some older small drives, HDD, SSD and thumb drive that I don't use anymore, some of them have bad sectors and such. Is there any way to completely erase every data on it?

[DevaVictrix]

Zero fills/block fills just hammer the drive and take time. If it's a HDD then reassigned blocks don't get filled so the data is still there, albeit in a broken form. The headers might be wiped but if there's something serious to hide and someone serious looking for it then there might be ways round that. tbh, If I had a drive with reassigned blocks or reallocated sectors I'd bin it anyway. I don't know about SSDs, TRIM might sort that problem out.

secure-erase on NVMEs is a bit different but there are tools that do the same... nvme-cli for example.

hdparm for hdd/nvme-cli (type app) for NVME, then encrypt. Then if you're serious about getting rid of everything maybe try your hardest to recover something. You might not get a complete file but corrupted data is still data and blanks/missing pieces could surely be dummy filled. It'd be encrypted anyway so... And if you fancy it, secure-erase, again.

[b0rr31n00tj3]

1.
- Get yourself a speaker u dont use anymore
- Open it
- Take out the magnet
- Rub the magnet on your HDD

2.
- Pour some water in a baththub
- Get into the baththub together with your HDD
- Submerge the HDD

3.
- Open the window
- Throw it through the window
- Close the window

4.
- Start a browser
- navigate to your favorite search-engine
- write 'erase harddisk'
- press enter
- read the links on the first page, and click on one
- execute that, what you learned

5.
- make a campfire
- throw it in the fire
- bake the marshmellows in that same fire
- eat the marshmellows

Good luck and have fun!

[DevaVictrix]

:)

1. *biggest speaker you can find
2. You might have to turn it on whilst it's in there
3. Doesn't work - tried it
4. This
5. No, this !

[b0rr31n00tj3]

Originally posted by DevaVictrix:

:)

1. *biggest speaker you can find
2. You might have to turn it on whilst it's in there
3. Doesn't work - tried it
4. This
5. No, this !

About 2. You really think so? If you're right, in that case my apolegies for that wrong advice!

About 3. If you tell us here what went wrong, maybe this will help someone who still isn't that experienced with throwing stuff out of the window.

[Ice Robertson]

Do people actually bother to recover stuff from your hard drive?

I usually just delete the partition, Format and do a slight install of the OS.

[Kobs]

If you're going to throw them away and are afraid the data will fall into the wrong hands just open them (just a few screws) remove the disks inside and bend them in half, burn them with a gas torch etc.
If you just want to use them again a full format will do

[Bad 💀 Motha]

DBAN might be dead; but there is still ActiveKillDisk.

Yea if you are throwing drives away, sledge-hammer works best, or unscrew the top and expose the internals then take hammer to it. Much less effort then having to worry about wiping them with NSA/DOD class drive wiper.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

sledgehammer

[Supafly]

Originally posted by Ice Robertson:

Do people actually bother to recover stuff from your hard drive?

I usually just delete the partition, Format and do a slight install of the OS.

i have tried a few times on drives of used devices. Not to use any recoverable data but to prove to family and friends doing a quick format isn't a good idea when selling/trading/giving it away. It's like writing on a notepad and then ripping of the sheet and throwing it away. rub the tip of a pencil across the sheet underneath and you'll see some, if not all of what was written.

When purchasing used from retailer and I've actually found data I notified management making a point of mentioning the name of the original owner of the hardware. I then wipe it all securely.

[DevaVictrix]

Ive had all sorts from drives given to me by someone that worked at the local tip.

…Architect business that set up a second business helping people learn what the internet is and how it can benefit them, thousands and family photos, some kind of marketing photos for a private school… these are things that were pulled from a skip hire place. He also pulled out a fender Stratocaster that had a plate on it saying ‘ setup by *** for ‘British guitar legend name here’, hundreds of pounds worth of gold. Only one semi nude girlfriend pic though :)


It’s well worth doing proper wipes. A lot of those drives were 20-25 years old and survived perfectly until relatively recently. One day your drive will go to the tip.

[skOsH♥]

There is a program that does like 11 passes on your hard drive, and makes sure all traces are gone.

Same stuff the three letter agencies use to wipe their hdd's suffiently

I would just reformat and encrypt the drive, and don't lose that encryption key! If you do it right, all the stuff on a hard drive becomes just a fractured, tattered mess, with nothing being fully intelligible.

Intel agencies can pull from this data. They rely a lot on Microsoft to just rake in the money left by dumbfounded people who got screwed, and/or here on their way to getting screwed.

[Zefar]

Wouldn't a microwave just destroy a normal harddrive in mere seconds?

For the SSD you can just smack it with a hammer until it's in hundred pieces.

If you plan to resell them that won't naturally work.

[BlackBloodRum]

Boot a linux live cd, open a terminal and run:

For HDD:

$ shred -v -z -n 7 /dev/sd(a to z)

Replacing (a to z) with the drives letter you want to format.

For SSD:

Check if it has a self-erase feature, if so, use it. If not:

$ shred -v -z -n 1 /dev/nvme(number)

Replacing number.

Done.

(Obviously don't run these commands on drives you want to keep data for)

[De Hollandse Ezel]

there is.

militariry software (I have some dont ask how I got it)

whar it does is write a disj full of 111111111
than again with 0000000
and than 10x

that wipes all traces of old software.
-for deliting a file just removes the lables the software is not gone.
-even formatting does not fully alter this sectors are never fully unmagneyised (0) or magnetised (1) but are alwats a small fraction off .. from these fractiobs off old data can be reconstrycted which for semsible data you dont want.

you can uae syrong magnets or fysicly scred a disk but data can still be recoverd even after that.
melting the platters in a crusable.. will work too though..

destroyinh ssd is harder.. there obly the milotsiry write over 10x softwsre will work.

[Brian_the_Brute]

I worked one of the largest Financial institutions at their main data center, all retired servers had their drives yanked out and went into a big shredder.

Even with overwriting a drive with 1s and 0s, the original data can still be read with a highly specialized device, but this isn't in the public domain, nor do many hackers have the level of sophistication to know how that is even accomplished. Unless the data is worth millions or you are a national gov't, 1's and 0's on a single pass is good enough for the 99.999% of people.