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#21
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OT OT how to destroy
On Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:28:05 -0500, Polly Esther wrote:
Dunno, NM. Whatever came before Vista I guess. Polly Assuming it is XP, go to the system recovery menu and reformat C:. Alternatively, you may need to click the start button, go to my computer, right click "c: drive", select format, and proceed from there. After that you can install any software from anywhere and it will overwrite the memory making it nearly impossible to recover anything. I suggest trying to install linux over whatever is left of your system. That will scramble the artifacts beyond all hope. The installation does not have to succeed, just write a lot of stuff into the memory. Another alternative is to reformat, then stick an old speaker magnet into the case. Just lay it right on top of the hard drive. A big magnet will trash it better than almost anything else. There is software out there that will do much the same thing. Can't bring titles to mind at the mo, but if you want them I can do brain surgery on myself until I remember. NightMist -- I'm raising a developmentally disabled child. What's your superpower? |
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#22
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OT OT how to destroy
i have a dell desktop tower and there are no screws, just two big buttons,
push both at the same time and lift. j. "Sartorresartus" wrote in message ... Switch it off at the mains. Get a screwdriver and unbolt any screws you find on the back and sides of the main case. Take of the main case: it usually gives up to a hefty shove, pull and slide motion. Look inside, near the front and look for a rectangular metal box, or two sheets of metal enclosing a cylindrical thing, like an undersized CD, but up to an inch thick. It will be attached with more screws and a few pluggy things (flat with lots of holes, like a miniature bar of chocolate) usually its got a fat wire looking like unstretchy elastic attached. Haul that out and destroy. That was the hard drive. Your machine is now brain dead. Check if it has a donor card and dispose of its innards to the charity of your choice. They will make good use of it. Ours go to the boffins at the local university, who patch them up, insert new hard drives and so on and ship them out to Africa, India and other places who need them. They enjoy the challenge. It keeps them off the streets and the computers get a new home. Win:win. Does that help? Nel (GQ) who has disembowelled more of these than is strictly healthy! |
#23
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OT OT how to destroy
Kate is right you only need to remove the harddrive with all the data on it.
what is wrong with the computer by the way? most things can be fixed easier than you'd imagine and reused. yes even by you, Polly. it is not rocket science regardless of what some silly geek might tell you. take a piece out, put a new piece in. easy peasey, really it is. just gotta be gentle when doing it. but anyhow.... did it come with a manual? that should show/tell you how to open the case and show you all the innards and what is what. no manual? then try a google search thru images to find you computer. once you know that, you can google for pix of the innards. or you can tell us what brand it is and we can do it for you. getting into towers is not hard. mine is a dell and has two big buttons you push and the thing opens on a hinge to get inside and see all that is there. so what computer is it? approx year you bought it? sounds like you are running WIN XP. j. "Polly Esther" wrote ... You underestimate how clueless I am but I like the way you think. What does the hard drive look like? Polly "Kate in MI" You don't need to kill the whole computer. Assuming it is a desktop (not a laptop) - just take the cover off and pull out the hard drive, put the cover back on and contact your local recycling center to find out what to do with it. Then take a hammer to the hard drive. (Put it in a zip loc back -- so the pieces don't fly all over the place. The data is on the hard drive. The other stuff would not have data on it. Happy smashing! -- Kate in MI http://community.webshots.com/user/K_Groves "Polly Esther" wrote... I need to destroy a computer. It's not that I'm angry or anything. I just need it destroyed to ashes. There's nothing on it that would be particularly useful to the law enforcement drones - just stuff that's personal and I don't want to share. Do I take a screwdriver and axe, disembody it and set the whole thing on fire? Years ago, a friend of DD's took one out to the police dept's firing range and let them have a go at it. (That computer was a contrary mean cruel worthless ornery ... well, you get the picture ... and it gave him a lot of pleasure to have it shot through.) I don't need that level of killing; just want to know a 'safe' way to obliterate everything on this one and make it gone, gone, gone. Polly |
#24
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OT OT how to destroy
On Sep 6, 6:52*pm, Jack Campin - bogus address
wrote: Organized crime has not got to that level, but they could well go beyond what ordinary reformatting and erase utilities can do. I wasn't talking about ordinary reformatting and erase utilities. From the article I cited: Secure Erase overwrites every single track on the hard drive. That includes the data on “bad blocks”, the data left at the end of partly overwritten blocks, directories, everything. There is no data recovery from Secure Erase. Says who? The National Security Agency, for one. And the National Institute for Standards and Testing (NIST), who give it a higher security rating than external block overwrite software that you’d have to buy. ----- The utility we used overwrites and erases every *bit* (not byte) on the drive several times. There wouldn't be much left to find, even for an electron microscope, and going to those kinds of lengths would likely cost more than the net worths of the folks on this group who'd be concerned - i.e. not bloody likely/economically worthwhile. Here's a tip: We don't even keep sensitive information ON hard drives for these and other reasons. That kind of data might best be kept on CDs (backups in a safe deposit box or fire safe) that are easier to destroy if/when necessary. IMO, everyone should read a few articles on home computer security and decide what's best for them. Doc |
#25
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OT OT how to destroy
Polly,
if you google 'getting inside a (name of your computer)'. also click on images which might be helpful. then google 'hard drive of (name of your machine)' in images you'll see what one looks like. opening it should be easier than having to unscrew a bunch of screws on the back. tho that isnt hard actually. if i knew what brand etc your computer is i could find the info for you. happy to help if i can. just tell me what you got there. it is a shame to destroy the entire computer, just the hard drive holds what worrys you. the rest can and should be recycled. those folks add a new h/d and refurbish the entire machine and pass it on to someone who needs one. j. "Polly Esther" wrote... I need to destroy a computer. It's not that I'm angry or anything. I just need it destroyed to ashes. There's nothing on it that would be particularly useful to the law enforcement drones - just stuff that's personal and I don't want to share. Do I take a screwdriver and axe, disembody it and set the whole thing on fire? Years ago, a friend of DD's took one out to the police dept's firing range and let them have a go at it. (That computer was a contrary mean cruel worthless ornery ... well, you get the picture ... and it gave him a lot of pleasure to have it shot through.) I don't need that level of killing; just want to know a 'safe' way to obliterate everything on this one and make it gone, gone, gone. Polly |
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