Drive wipe vs. Water damage

[arbalest]

This is just a curiosity. A friend was discarding an
old and troublesome laptop. I offered to do a disk
wipe first and explained why it should be done.

He says he is just going to soak the whole laptop
-- under water in a sink -- then throw it in the
garbage.

I say if the disk is air tight, it's water tight and the
data will still be recoverable. I have no interest
in proving this fact but I'm curious what others
think.

[rchadwick]

The drive actually isn't airtight. Drives need to compensate for pressure differences, and have a little filter to the outside. You may have noticed a little hole on a drive, with a label saying 'Don't cover this hole'. However, a drive can be recovered even after being dunked, depending on how much time has passed.

Frankly I think it's a bit rude to dunk the WHOLE laptop in water. Simply take out the drive, and give the laptop to someone who can't afford one. His junk can be some else's treasure. I'm actually typing this on a laptop that was abandoned by a customer who decided it wasn't worth repairing.

[shaun]

Agree. Even if its burned up, a OEM USB or power jack may recover another notebook which would not be worth being repaired with manufacturers original parts (read: new mainbord).

[salvationlaura]

Here was a real story about the Data In the laptop. A super star, gave his laptop to one computer repair store. And terrible things happened, the private info was spread on internet. At last, the police was intervened and the star had to go abroad and never set food on the show business.

So, we have to protect our privacy, even just sellling a junk laptop.

[PijoMax]

Data is data. Laptop is laptop. For good privacy, take an hammer, and hit the hard disk until you'll hear broken glass sound inside... if you destroy the platters no one in this planet can recover any data from it.
Then, give the laptop so someone who need it. No more garbage, and one poor student happy.

[rameez]

low level format the whole hdd that way nothing can be recovered and the hdd can still be used along with the laptop .

[salvationlaura]

low level format the whole hdd that way nothing can be recovered and the hdd can still be used along with the laptop .

I heard that the USA FBI can recover data from a disk which is zerofill 6 times. I am not sure it's true or not.

You said low level format the Whole HDD, including the FW section and the DATA section? do you know the some easiest and safe way to wipe data in a hard disk?

Best Regards,

Laura

[prodata]

I heard that the USA FBI can recover data from a disk which is zerofill 6 times. I am not sure it's true or not.

Laura

Watch too much MOVIE

[PijoMax]

of course low level formatting (some utilities write random or programmed code inside the sectors) will assure privacy... but for customers who believe in FBI tales... the hammer !