Erasing a hard drive for sale?

[Technique]

I'm guessing this may be more a software question than hardware but i'm happy to be corrected.

 

As i get larger drives, the smaller ones are going to be pretty useless to me. Sure i'm not going to get any retirement money off them but i also probably wont use them either so they'd just end up in the bin, which is a bit of a waste especially when someone may have use for them.

 

They'll have had sensitive data on at one point or another such as banking details. It's highly likely that i could just remove everything off the drives, sell them and nothing would happen but i'd prefer to not take any chances.

 

So on that note, how do you totally erase a hard drive so that there's no (or minimal) risk of anyone using a program to see what had been stored on the drive?

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Windows can do this ...  

 

Format x: /P:y

 

(x being the drive letter and y being the number of passes)..

Quote

/P:count        Zero every sector on the volume.  After that, the volume will be overwritten "count" times using a different random number each time.  If "count" is zero, no additional overwrites are made after zeroing every sector.  This switch is ignored when /Q is specified.

 

...or you could also use something like DBAN ... though the Windows format option will probably suffice.  If concerned, afterwards, you could try data recovery software and see if anything shows up.

[+BudMan MVC]

3 hours ago, Technique said:

As i get larger drives, the smaller ones are going to be pretty useless to me

No not really - not if your wanting to store your whole media library.. Sure if you have some old less than 1TB disks around ok - but who is going to want to buy those?

 

Your talk of moving from 6 to 8.. Doesn't get you much bang for the buck for storage at the cost of the 6.. Just ADD the 8 to your 6 so have 14..

 

Software like drivepool from stablebit very useful in creating "pools" of your disk.. But for a media library you could just have multiple disks..  Plex doesn't care

[Technique]

I know but i have 500GB and 1TB drives. In this day & age that's going to be pretty useless. I would say 2TB minimum (for my usage).

 

My case has room for 4 drives. I have...

 

1x SSD 256GB - this has my Win 7 OS on it.

1x SSHD 2TB - this also has Win 7 OS on it and is partitioned as 2x 1TB drives being 1TB for the OS and 1TB for the storage files. My wife boots off this drive. Yeah weird set up i know, not what 99.9999999999% of the population do but it's what i do and what i'll continue to do.

1x 6TB HDD - Media library

1x 2TB HDD - storage files linked with the SSD OS. Music/videos/images i've downloaded, videos i've edited (not movies but videos i make), iTunes library etc.

 

To do it differently i'd need a case that could house more drives and any idea of a new case or new system etc is way way down the line at the moment. Getting in to this i have seriously thought about either upgrading components or just building fresh. My setup cost me over £1000 back in 2010 and i simply don't have that cash spare to do that at this moment in time when my current set up actually works (ok it may be slow for things like Handbrake, but it works). Maybe one day, just not today.

Then there's also the concern of i'm sure i read that your Windows 7 licence is tied to the hardware you registered it on, or at least the MOBO or something. Not sure how true that is but it wouldn't surprise me in this day & age.

 

 

But anyway, i've sold a ton of stuff in the past 8-10 months. Stuff that was going in the bin because i thought "who is going to want to buy that". Surprisingly some of the stuff i thought wouldn't sell at all actually sold for quite an amount whereas other stuff i was sure would sell really struggled to.

 

One mans trash...

[+BudMan MVC]

Your forgetting option of external drive(s)... While sure not optimal... It does allow you to add storage at low cost..

 

Also there are sometimes options as well as long as you have free SATA port, or room for adding sata card in your current box.. There is normally some room in a case that can be used..  You can fit 2 2.5 SSDs into a 3.5 floppy bay

 

While you could swap out your 2TB disks, especially if they are getting a bit old in the tooth as far as age.. But if your goal is room for your library.. I would not remove space from you rig.. Only add.. If you need more space..

 

They also sell bays where you can fit 4 drives in a 3 bay, or 3 drives in a 2 bay for 5.25.. Comes down to how your current case bays are laid out and if you have spare sata cables..

 

There are multiple ways to skin the cat that is for sure..  They sell external multiple bay enclosures as well where you could store say 4 disks with only 1 usb or estata connection to them... They can be found for about $100... Like I said many ways to skin the cat..

[ThaCrip]

Use one of the following...

 

-DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke)

-Secure Erase (this is a feature built into the hard drive so the hard drive itself wipes the drive instead of software based solutions like DBAN etc)

 

basically I would probably opt for the Secure Erase as it's faster and a bit more thorough, but if your a bit paranoid you can run DBAN afterwards (if you got the time, do both). the free version of Parted Magic (runs from bootable CD etc) can issue the secure erase command (so the hard drive is erasing itself using it's built-in secure erase function)... https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html ; NOTE: Parted Magic is basically a bootable Linux CD that uses 'hdparm' for issuing the Secure Erase command, but it's a more automated with that which makes it easier. I am sure you can find basic tutorials online for using Parted Magic to Secure Erase a hard drive, but it's not difficult.

 

with SSD's 'Secure Erase' is what you need to use as on popular SSD's like Samsung it pretty much just erases the SSD's internal encryption key which is why Secure Erase completes so quickly (about 1-2 seconds) on a Samsung SSD as it does not actually erase any data but destroys the encryption key. so any data left can't be read as it's like the drive was wiped since it just changes to a new encryption key and any data on the SSD before that point should be permanently gone.

Edited June 2, 2019 by ThaCrip

[+BudMan MVC]

Windows can do this with simple diskpart "clean all" command

 

DISKPART> help clean all

     Removes any and all partition or volume formatting from the disk with
     focus.

Syntax:  CLEAN [ALL]

    ALL         Specifies that each and every byte\sector on the disk is set to
                zero, which completely deletes all data contained on the disk.

    On master boot record (MBR) disks, only the MBR partitioning information
    and hidden sector information are overwritten. On GUID partition table
    (GPT) disks, the GPT partitioning information, including the Protective
    MBR, is overwritten. If the ALL parameter is not used, the first 1MB
    and the last 1MB of the disk are zeroed. This erases any disk formatting
    that had been previously applied to the disk. The disk's state after
    cleaning the disk is 'UNINITIALIZED'.

No need for any 3rd party tools here, also no need to do it more than once..

[Technique]

Yeah i had a bit of a problem with SATA ports since i took them all. I had to buy an expansion card for a couple more SATA ports - that's the red arrow just above the graphics card

 

The graphics card is a bit of a PITA. Due to its size it blocks off the channel below it.

 

The green arrow is another expansion card of sorts but i can't remember what it is. There's 2 things connected to it. One is a fairly thick black cable which says USB3 on it and the other i think connects to the power supply. One of them Molex connectors or whatever they're called.

 

The blue arrow is the optical drives. There's 5 bays and 3 are occupied. a DVD re-writer, a Blu-Ray drive, 2 empties and then a multiple card reader.

 

The white arrow is to the hard drives. There's 4 bays and they're all occupied.

[+BudMan MVC]

Pretty sure your blu-ray can write can it not?  And if it doesn't who still writes to dvd? Pull that = space..

 

Get an external enclosure that can do say 4 bays.. And you have room to grow!

 

$100

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=lp_160354011_1_20?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1559504638&sr=1-20

 

Does your rig not have a usb3 port in the back, or better yet esata?

[Technique]

To be honest i have thought about pulling the DVD-rewriter. I used to burn a lot to CDs and DVDs but not so much these days.

Not sure if my blu-ray drive is a writer or not. The old one was but then it struggled with too many blu-rays when using MakeMKV so i had to replace it.

 

I do have a USB3 in the rear, yes. I have an extension cable connected to it which leads to the top of my desk. Anything i need then plugs in to that. Saves me locating ports in the dark.

The card reader has USB3 ports but i wonder how fast these would be since the card reader is connected to one of them expansion cards i mentioned. I wonder whether they'd be as fast as the port on the rear for example.

 

 

If it helps any then this is my MOBO. Old yes. I bought it in 2010.

[+BudMan MVC]

Well to just get yourself some breathing room for your growing library.. Just get a external Disk...

 

From those MB specs you have you could use either usb3 or esata..

 

So if you don't want to spend the $ for the external Bay currently.. Just get external for now.. You could always shuck it later to put into a bay if you get one.

[ThaCrip]

15 hours ago, Technique said:

To be honest i have thought about pulling the DVD-rewriter. I used to burn a lot to CDs and DVDs but not so much these days.

Not sure if my blu-ray drive is a writer or not. The old one was but then it struggled with too many blu-rays when using MakeMKV so i had to replace it.

 

Yeah, I pretty much removed my DVD writer from my PC (I can use it externally if I need to though) as while I do burn a small amount of higher importance data to a DVD once in a while, it's not something I do much since the higher importance data I have to backup is pretty much limited to family pics/vids etc. but I do have a older PC with a CD writer and DVD writer (both of the IDE kind) if I need to burn something, or I can temporarily connect my more recent burners back onto the PC temporarily to backup some data if I need to.

 

I have heard burned BluRay discs are not as reliable as CD/DVD's as those(CD/DVD) tend to stay solid for along time if your using quality media (Taiyo Yuden/Verbatim) as I have some discs in the 10-15 year range, possibly more in some cases (as old as 20-21 years with some CD-R's), that are still working well. so while I am no expert on BluRay burners, from what I heard, they tend to be so-so for more long term storage which is why as far as non-hard drive backup goes, quality DVD recordable is your best bet. I would stick with DVD for higher importance data backup on quality media as those should likely give you AT LEAST 10-20 years of data backup, for a conservative estimate (they are a nice peace of mind for that data you can't afford to lose especially if you don't have a ton of it to burn). but as usual, for anything of higher importance data backup I tend to have multiple copies... say 1 copy on Verbatim DVD, 1 copy on Taiyo Yuden DVD, and some copies on at least a couple of hard drives etc. that should help keep the chances of data loss quite low short of a house fire etc.

[+BudMan MVC]

If what you are after is long term backup/archive then you should us mdisc, which are bluray size..

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC

This is what I have as media form of backup for my home video's...

[ThaCrip]

@BudMan I have heard about M-DISC. but the question is... are they fairly proven to last, or is it mostly just speculation? NOTE: I know you need a M-DISC specific burner to burn those though. but I guess regular quality DVD's seem to be fairly proven so far in that it's not a stretch for those to last at least 10-20+ years as they have basically proven it and M-DISC, according to your link, have only been available since 2009, so that's like 10 years tops and I suspect not many people have these discs due to cost. so there is even less of a sample size out there to see how they preform in the real world.

 

but then again here is a test that seems to suggest they are noticeably better than standard recordable discs... https://www.zdnet.com/article/torture-testing-the-1000-year-dvd/ ; I would have been curious to see how regular Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden discs performed though especially given Verbatim seems to be considered the all around best standard recordable DVD that's priced well and widely available. still, that does seem to suggest the M-DISC are pretty tough and can take plenty of abuse from the elements and I would expect them to last longer. I would have liked to have seen how BluRay recordable M-DISC media would have faired in the same situation.

 

I ask because they are quite pricey compared to normal DVD's as taking a quick look on Newegg I see $65 for 25 25GB BluRay discs (625GB total) or $37 for 25 4.7GB DVD (117.5GB total). both under Verbatim brand. so while that makes the BluRay ones the better buy, and more convenient due to more data per disc, I might still opt for the DVD's since DVD readers are everywhere unlike BluRay which seems to be more limited in drives available that read them. like it will be easier to find a drive as the years pass to read DVD where as BluRay I suspect those will be more difficult to find drives that read them as the decades pass since there don't seem to be nearly as many available, especially at cheap-ish prices. plus, it seems the general word even with regular DVD vs BluRay recordable media that BluRay recordable media is a bit suspect and generally more flaky than recordable DVD's.

 

but with that said... who knows, maybe ill consider those M-DISC (DVD's) at some point for a small amount of my higher importance data. but then again between my Verbatim & Taiyo Yuden discs and hard drive copies, chances are I won't lose any data for the foreseeable future as I would imagine the odds of both of those Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden discs failing around the same time should be somewhat slim. plus, I would have to buy a DVD burner capable of writing M-DISC DVD's and the cost will be at leasy $50+ for the burner and a fair amount of M-DISC media. but I can't blame those who try out M-DISC media as it's just another layer of long term data storage

[+BudMan MVC]

55 minutes ago, ThaCrip said:

I see $65 for 25 25GB BluRay discs (625GB total)

What does that work out to like 10 cents a GB?  How much is your data worth heheheh

 

Pretty sure video of my grand daughters first bday is pretty priceless

[ThaCrip]

@BudMan

 

In terms of storage space, which I am sure you already know, hard drives well exceed recordable media and have for years now which makes them best for most data backup. just a quick example...

 

-2TB (2000GB) hard drive = $40 (I imagine that gets even better if you get those large hard drives. but I just used the 2TB example since it's cheap)

-100 DVD recordable discs (470GB MAX) = $20-30 or so.

 

so basically, at least strictly in terms of data backup, that's 4.25 times the amount of data storage for only $10-20 more. plus, not to mention hard drives are far more convenient/faster than DVD media which makes them clearly the better choice for general data backup. although I realize if we strictly look at things from a long term data storage perspective... I would tend to trust quality DVD recordable media over the typical hard drive to still be readable in 10-20+ years of time. but not just in random failures of the hard drive but you ain't got to worry about potential accidental data deletion etc when using DVD etc.

 

...and even the BluRay media thing, but you get the gist

 

but yeah, I don't blame you for using those on stuff like that (priceless granddaughter pics/vids etc) as it's a extra layer of data protection and, even a bit conservatively, they 'should' be at least as reliable as regular DVD recordable media (I wonder if quality varies like it does with DVD media though or if all of those M-DISC are pretty reliable in general regardless of manufacturer(?)) but, given that quick test in the link, it seems to suggest they are more resistent to the general elements like light/humidity/heat and the like.

 

but I guess things kind of boil down to how much more reliable those M-DISC are compared to standard quality recordable media in the real world? ; because lets say standard DVD recordable media lasts something in the ball park of 20-40 years, that's a good portion of ones lifespan as we really only need long term storage media to last for the average person probably 50-100 years or so at the most.

 

just some thoughts

 

p.s. I see some recordable BluRay media is 100GB (which would be great since my entire family pics/vids is less than that currently) but since the data is packed into smaller space it seems like it would be naturally more prone to error to where it won't take as much degradation of the disc before the data is corrupted. I think this is even true of CD vs DVD media but to a lesser degree. but probably not as much as going from DVD to BluRay media since the physical disc size has basically remained the same but yet going from say CD to BluRay media is 35.7 times the storage space in the same size disc where as with CD to DVD it's only packing in 6.7 times the data into the same physical space.

Edited June 3, 2019 by ThaCrip

[+BudMan MVC]

BTW those are not by any means the only backup/copy... They are on glacier, they are on my webhosts storage (nextcloud) they are on multiple machines in my home... They are on a my go disk.. Which I can easy grab in case of say fire or something where I need to leave the house in say my underwear or something..  The mdisc sit on my shelf.. I don't think they could survive a fire or anything... But simple flood they should be fine.

 

My son who is now living in SD, CA - other side of the country has DVD copies... I will be bringing him latest ones and disk with everything on it this trip..

 

You can not be too careful with such data... You have to be sure of the recovery from disaster... I have them on multiple disks in different systems in my home.. Disk, and Optical... And off site geographic remote along with online, etc. etc..   There would have to be a zombie apocalypse for me to loose these files... And if had power and a computer would prob still be able to have them

 

My point to the cost of the mdisc was yeah they are bit more expensive then your typical dvd or even bluray...  But the data is priceless so what does it matter spending a couple of extra bucks for piece of mind.