Hard drive hard luck story
Posted by Sleeper on 02 July 2003 - 09:23 · 15 comments & 3136 views
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SleeperContact: via forum PM
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#1 Posted by Larac on 02 Jul 2003 - 09:30
- Not the only problem people have had with mastercare: http://www.mastercare.blogspot.com
Always use a file wiping program....
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#2 Posted by deadmonkey on 02 Jul 2003 - 10:18
- That is awful
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#3 Posted by TheFamousGeoff on 02 Jul 2003 - 10:25
- Good old Dixons group. I remember a story a couple of years ago about a man who bought a supposedly new computer from Dixons, only to get it home and discover lots of someone else's files on it. Turned out the computer had been bought, returned, and put straight back on the shelf...
Duh.
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#4 Posted by ingrampj on 02 Jul 2003 - 10:39
- I know that it is terribly easy to be derogatory about The Dixon Group/PC World, they do, by their actions, set themselves up to be shot-down with amazing abundance. Perhaps there should be legislation covering Companies who repair/maintain computers, they are after all handling personal data in the form of hard drives, and yet a large majority of these Companies conduct themselves in a most cavalier fashion.
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(4 replies)
#5 Posted by Paladin732 on 02 Jul 2003 - 10:58
- why dont these companys ever low-level format these drives before sending em out? it totally overwrites the drives with 0's sending it back to factory data level... just run it like 3 times and your all set
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#5.2 Posted by TheFamousGeoff on 02 Jul 2003 - 11:41
- See above
QUOTE Dixons said it uses what is known as low-level formatting techniques to wipe data from hard drives and other memory devices.
Guess it's not as good as you say
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#5.3 Posted by Paladin732 on 02 Jul 2003 - 13:32
- hehe whoops, didnt read that part, i read the article fast... i use stuff like ontrack to recover files when i accedently delete/format and ive never been able to recover from multiple low-levels
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#5.4 Posted by TheFamousGeoff on 02 Jul 2003 - 19:26
- Guess you're just better at deleting things than Dixons!
lol
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(3 replies)
#6 Posted by naap51stang on 02 Jul 2003 - 13:36
- The best way to wipe out a hard drive so no one can reuse the data is to take a 1/4" drill, and drill a hole through the case and the drive platters, then take it out to a gun range, blast it with buckshot, then put it in an industrial oven, then bury it in a landfill. LOL
I never reuse hard drives. I have probably 5 or 6 sitting on the shelf that I've pulled when I upgraded to a new drive. I guess if you are really paranoid about what is on your hard drive (of course NO ONE on neowin has illegal files right? ) you can use one of the freely distributed DOD erase programs.....
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#6.1 Posted by DrunkenMaster on 02 Jul 2003 - 14:29
- ...and the DOD erase programs still leave stuff on the hard drives. W/ a good recover program, you can still find stuff sitting on the hard drive. I've reformatted an old hard drive. Wiped w/ 7 passes over random bits over w/ a erase program then used a recovery program. Guess what? Some of the data from 1 to 1 1/2 years was still on there and perfectly recoverable.
The military probably either incinerates the drives or put detonation cord over top of them to make sure the sensitive stuff is all gone. -
#6.2 Posted by Jstphish on 02 Jul 2003 - 20:26
- I still have 2 old hard drives sitting on my shelf. Data will always be recoverable even when drilled through, put in an oven, blown up etc. There is a firm that specializes in recovering data from extrememly screwed up hard drives.
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#7 Posted by Mr. Black on 02 Jul 2003 - 16:43
- I just bought a used Hard Drive off of eBay - it had Windows and a bunch of other files on it. However, I didn't care to browse thru them, I just formatted it and installed NT4.
So they aren't lying here - almost every used HD probably hasn't been wiped properly.
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#8 Posted by Gary_Player on 03 Jul 2003 - 06:01
- What kinda crap is that?!?!?!?!?!?!
Personal information has been discovered on recycled computer hard drives used in repaired PCs, prompting experts to advise that hard drives should never be reused in this way.
Phil Clayton approached vnunet.com after discovering pictures of someone else's children, along with web documents and emails, on a recycled hard drive which was installed in his machine when it was sent away to be repaired.
Clayton had sent his PC for USB port repairs, but discoverd his hard drive was also replaced by Mastercare, the aftersales repair and customer support company owned by the Dixons Group.
Clayton complained because the replacement drive was of a lower specification than his original. When Mastercare did not believe him, he used a data restore program to prove it. It was then that he found information left on the drive by the previous owner.
From this information, he was able to track down the drive's original owner, whose PC had been written off by Mastercare as unrepairable.
Both men were deeply concerned about privacy issues and the implications of strangers being able to access personal data. But current data protection legislation had not been violated, according to a leading lawyer.
"The Data Protection Act does not cover domestic personal data on home PCs. Neither is there a law that covers overall right to privacy in this country," said Jon Fell, a partner with law firm Masons.
"And unless there was a specific contract signed with the company to destroy the data, which if not followed could be breach of contract, the duty of care remains with the owner."
Dixons' terms and conditions for its warranties do state clearly that the company uses refurbished components in repairs. Dixons said it uses what is known as low-level formatting techniques to wipe data from hard drives and other memory devices.
It has now agreed to review its data wiping procedures and is trialling a number of different methods.
But the ease with which Clayton was able to retrieve data, using freely available software, illustrates how difficult it is to delete information.
Clive Carmichael-Jones, a data recovery expert with forensic computing company Vogon, said data that people think they have eradicated can often be retrieved.
"There are a whole range of techniques used to remove data - some good, some not so good. But even the most complex and high-level techniques are not necessarily foolproof," he said.
"It is almost impossible to get rid of data on hard drives and we would never recommend reusing them."