How to completely erase a hard drive?

redsoxsalty · #1 02-20-2007, 08:36 PM

So my old hard drive in my laptop has failed (I can get it working maybe 1/15 times or so), and Dell has sent me a new one per their warranty. However, in order not to be billed, I am supposed to send my broken hard drive back to Dell. Is there anything I can do other than reformatting my old drive that will erase it? I'm not interested in a disgruntled Dell employee being able to mine my financial information from an old HD. Better yet, can I get away with not mailing the broken part back to Dell and escaping a bill?

Thanks.

C McGuinness · #2 02-21-2007, 12:41 AM

That failed part makes it hard ... normally, you would run a program that repeatedly overwrites the drive, but that sounds like it's hard to do now.

In the olden days, you could get a tape bulk eraser from Radio Shack (which was just a big electro-magnet in a nice plastic case) and bulk erase your hard drive.

Your only option today probably involves a ballpeen hammer...

Freakin · #3 02-21-2007, 01:21 AM

tell dell that the drive functions have failed, and you are unable to erase your sensitive data. You would feel more comfortable if you could disassemble the drive and destroy the data and send back the parts.

pcmag says to drill 4 holes all the way through the section of the drive that holds the platters. you can also remove them and grind them down with heavy sandpaper or a grinder until they aren't shiny anymore

LuckyTxGuy · #4 02-21-2007, 01:41 AM

Been there done this. The only way to truly 100% destroy the data is to destroy the drive and scatter the tiny pieces in different places.lol Usually a data overwriting program will do just fine though, as long as the data is over written many times. But as McGuinnes said, you've got a failing/failed hard drive. To overwrite it, it has to be in good working order as every little sector needs to be overwritten multiple times. The magnet trick still works (I think) but it would require a huge magnet. Not 100% sure on that one.

If the drive doesn't work, then you are probably safe. It's worth about $60-$80 new and Dell isn't going to spend the money to fix. Most likely they will just trash/destroy it. HOWEVER, I don't know this for a fact and there is some weird chance they recycle it through the manufacturer of the drives. The really good news is if you can't get the data off of the drive no one else (ie: bad apple at Dell) would probably spend the time and money to try to get it off.

As for not sending it back, feel free. But you will pay for the new drive they are sending you and they will charge you 3x what you could buy the drive for yourself. I've been down this exact road with one of my customers. She had a laptop drive go out under Dell warranty and wanted to destroy her data and couldn't. I talked to Dell about this and while they understood her plight, they explained that they had to have the drive back. They have good reasons for this too. You claim your drive goes out and to save everyone time and $ they just send you the new drive. If you don't send them the non-working drive, you could have made the whole story up just to get a new drive. It would happen every day if they didn't have this policy in place.

So you're between a rock and a hard place. If it makes you feel any better you could probably hold Dell liable if any of your personal info was leaked some how from that drive but that's probably not too comforting.

Cliff notes: You're only options are to attempt to overwrite the data on the drive if you can get it working. If you can't, you can either destroy or keep the drive and pay Dell (way too much) for the new drive, or just take your chances like most everyone else and send it back.

Sorry. Good luck.

redsoxsalty · #5 02-21-2007, 02:23 AM

thanks for the feedback. i will opt to manually wreck the drive (i.e. smash it with a hammer) and work it out with dell later. my private data is worth way more than what dell might charge me for the drive anyways.

kerowo · #6 02-21-2007, 09:04 AM

Call up a local TV station and see if they have a Degauser and if they would let you use it for the drive. If they don't find some big magnets and run them over the drive for a while.

LuckyTxGuy · #7 02-21-2007, 11:41 AM

Look, if you are willing to destroy the drive and pay Dell, I'd just send the new drive back to Dell and go buy your own. When you get the package from Dell there will be an invoice in there that will tell you how much the drive will cost if you don't return it. Check that price. From what I've seen in the past, the price they charge is WAY too much. Again, buying your own drive would probably be very +EV. Then again, if money isn't an object then it doesn't matter.

Also, I'd call Dell and explain the situation and offer to pay for the drive rather than just not sending it back and waiting for a bill to arrive. It will probably be easier on you and them for you to just go ahead and pay them for it, if that's the route you are taking.