The How And Why Of Hard Drive Destruction

Like every other thing in our daily life, computers and hard drives also have a lifecycle. After they have completed that, they need to be replaced. But in order to dispose of hard drives, confidential data and personal information need to be wiped from them. Although, several IT recycling companies provide hard drive destruction services, yet we can always do it ourselves. But the question is how do we do that? Most people don’t know how to wipe out their hard drives. They think only deleting the data from the computer and recycle bin would do the trick. But this isn’t the case. Most of the time this basic deletion doesn’t completely delete your data and by using any retrieving software it can be restored. So, in order to be completely sure businesses hire trustworthy IT recycling agencies to do the job. But if we know some basic methods of hard drive destruction, we might not need a company to do our job. Therefore, we have gathered some basic methods that can be applied to destroying a hard disk.

How To Destroy A Hard Drive

Deleted the data? Cleaned the recycle bin? All set for sending your equipment for IT recycling? Well, not so soon. More often than not, your data isn’t gone forever if all you do is press delete. There are software programs that can be used by hackers to restore your data. So, in order to be safe from potential data breaches, go for one or all of the following steps.

1. Wiping Off The Data

The programs like Nuke (DBAN) or the free Darik’s Boot are perfect for manually wiping your hard drive. Most of the IT recycling companies also use DBAN to carry out their hard drive wiping services. If you don’t know how to run the program don’t worry as there are many easy tutorials available online. You just have to watch and learn and you’ll be good to go.

2. Physical Destruction

The second method for hard drive destruction is to physically destroy it. This is pretty easy and quite clear by the name. All you need to have is a sledgehammer and you’re good to go. Just use the hammer to destroy the plates within the hard drive. Moreover, there are destroyer devices specifically designed for this purpose, too. So, if you can get one of those, it would be great as they can easily bend, dismantle and puncture the hard drive. Although this method may be the easiest in terms of execution, yet it isn’t the most environment-friendly one. This is because of the remnants of hard drive ending up in landfills and polluting the planet.

3. Data Destruction Services

If you’re not so sure about the first two options then you’re left with just one more option. You can hire a professional IT recycling and data destruction agency to do the job. They provide services like erasing confidential information from the drive and then physically destroying it. Most businesses prefer such services as they are cheap, fast and highly secure. Moreover, it saves their time from destroying the data and hard drive themselves.

Why should we be destroying hard drives?

There are several reasons to destroy a hard drive. Some of these are mentioned below:

1. Nobody would want their confidential data to end up in wrong hands
2. It saves the data from reaching hackers and identity thieves
3. It saves companies from going bankrupt just because of security breaches
4. It is an eco-friendly initiative as it saves the environment from getting exposed to toxins
5. It contributes to lessening e-waste which is continuously rising