http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-980824.html

Good reminder,
It is amazing how many times we think the information on a drive is "gone" but it is simply the computer's forgetting how to find the information that still exists. "Delete" has been explained as just removing the first letter of a directory, if you replace that letter the data comes back to life.
Zero fill utilities are safer but still not complete erasure.
Taking the platters out and heating them to a extreme temp should kill the data?

I think a sledge hammer or, even better, a metal shredder is the best bet... I will probably stick to erasure programs though... :D :eek: :D

A large Neodymium Magnet will permanently destroy any data on the hard drive, if not destroy the hard drive itself.
As will as floppy disks and monitors in the area. :D

large Neodymium Magnet
Wasn't that the energy source for the Starship Enterprise?

I'm far from a Star Trek trekkie, but I believe it is called a Dilithium Crystal something or another. :)

It's used in the 'rail gun experiment' (http://www.powerlabs.org/railguncurrent.htm)
___________________

I've purchased used drives several times but never even tried to see if anything was still on them and formatted them immediately. Not next time! :p

John,
Sorry, I was just joking.
And I am a trekkie.

I normally just use a simple crystalic fusion device to wipe the data. :p

When I have a hard drive that has data I don't want anyone to see, I use eraser and make a nike disk. It boots up to a floppy and erases all files 35 times. Just to make sure, I then remove all of the pins that attach to the IDE interface. If someone wants to take the platters out and read the info on them, well go for it as I have nothing that's worth all of that effort.

The bits inside a hard drive can be extremely useful for certain things..

The spindle from a read/write head is even being used as the tail stoc on my home made lathe. :p

I haven't decided yet whether I can find a use for the motors.

A harddrive that is past its prime can often be simply tired. :(

Try setting it behind your vehicle and driving over it. If you do so repeatedly the drive will be retired! :D

Procedure used by US Gov't: zero-fill the entire drive at least 7 times.

I must admit that I have many uses for working hard drives, so as long as they still work, I use them! Thus I still have all of my working HD's (maybe 7? haven't counted). The ones that break get broken some more (I take them apart - it's fun!) before I toss them. I even keep one around to show people what the inside of a hard drive looks like.