[Discuss] Disk/Tape Eraser

[blu at nedharvey.com (Edward Ned Harvey)]

> From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org [mailto:discuss-
> bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org] On Behalf Of Chris O'Connell
> Subject: [Discuss] Disk/Tape Eraser
> 
> Can anyone recommend a piece of hardware used to erase hard
> disks/tapes/floppies?  I've done some googling, looked on Amazon and
> NewEgg, but can't seem to find anything that fits the bill.

There are several standards for data destruction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_remanence#Standards

You can shred & melt.  (That's right, neither shredding, nor melting is
acceptable.  But both in combination are.)  

You can degauss with a standards compliant degausser.  Unfortunately, those
cost tens of thousands of dollars.  You can rent a degausser for a few days,
for several hundred, or a grand or two.  I wouldn't stand too near the thing
while you're using it, if you care about ever reproducing.

You can overwrite with 0's, and then a pattern of A's and then a pattern of
5's, and then random data, repeat 3-7 times.  (Very time consuming but very
inexpensive.)  The built-in disk utility on Macs can do this for you.

Most likely, you won't like any of these options.  So you can pay a
recycling company (such as www.pcdisposal.com) a small fee to destroy your
hard drive.  It's like $8 or $10 per device.  They get a whole bunch of them
together, and do them all at once.

A lot of people don't trust the recycling companies.  So you might consider
a soft erase before sending it to them.