Next time you get a computer, ditch windows, install a linux distro and select the option to encrypt the hard drive, and you won't have to worry about people stealing stuff off it. Aliens with unearthly powerful computers maybe, like at the NSA, but not people.
californiacarlson wrote:
rojo wrote:So the wife and I just moved and in the process, I realize I've got about 5 old laptops - even one desktop - lying around. I don't have the power chords for all but one of them.
My question to you is. What the hell do I do with them? I know from an enviornmental standpoint we can't just put them in the trash and my wife is fearful that someone will steal our identity if I don't scrub them.
So sow do I scrub the hard drives? Is there a magnet I can buy? Can I put it in the sink and turn on the water? Drill a whole through the hard-drive? What's the protocol for a nonworking computer?
Then where do I take them?
Don't you have spellcheck? Your Ivy education is not doing you justice. Two, check out the thread about the guy that lost all his files when he opened a questionable email. Maybe he can send you a copy and then you won't have to lift a finger or a hammer. Easy as pie. Or, find some Russian who does Ransom coding and have him or her lock your computers up, good and tight.
I am sure you can find some electric "cords" that would work so you can start your computers to do this.
How could spell check have corrected a word he spelled correctly?
I always pull the hard drive, drill a few holes through the case, soak in a bucket with salt for a few days then toss. The remainder of the PC goes to best buy for recycling.
Doesn't help you though if you don't know what a hard drive looks like.
Bib #1 wrote:
I recently just disposed of a desktop and 2 really old laptops. After copying all files to a backup disk, I looked for an innocuous file of decent size (eg an exe file of some program) and stuck it in a new folder. I deleted all the files on the drive that Windows would let me except for the aforementioned folder. I then proceeded to make copies of the folder and moved the copy into the folder itself. Repeat. The folder will get larger and larger. I stop when the drive runs out of space. I will by then have overwritten everything that used to be on the drive with this innocuous exe file. Took the computers to Best Buy. Done
...and rename the ___.exe to virus.exe
So is fdisk not a thing anymore?
I am old wrote:
So is fdisk not a thing anymore?
Doesn't really erase data. Easy to steal it back.