Velma, If you are concerned about someone retrieving the data from your hard drive, just simply re-format it and it will be absolutely empty and ready for someone to load new stuff. If the hard drive no longer works, why bother? In my opinion this sort of safety is much ado about nothing. I certainly don't consider myself or my data to be of that much interest to anyone. Gale Gorman Houston On Apr 13, 2012, at 3:51 AM, vjspringer@aol.com wrote: Hi, My church has a time once a year when those "do not dump" products are collected. Remember we paid a fee for the recyling. The church gets money for the children's program from the drive. The best part is that the company guarantees that all hard drives will be ground up. They have been checked to see that they are doing that. When the computer won't work how does one use a cleaning program? You might want to check to see if this sort of thing is available in your area. Velma =====

anyone can recover after a reformat. Rip it apart to get to that disk and shred it. Hard drive may not work but the disk is there recoverable. David Samuelsen On 4/13/2012 6:35 AM, Gale Gorman wrote: > Velma, > > If you are concerned about someone retrieving the data from your hard drive, just simply re-format it and it will be absolutely empty and ready for someone to load new stuff. > > If the hard drive no longer works, why bother? > > In my opinion this sort of safety is much ado about nothing. I certainly don't consider myself or my data to be of that much interest to anyone. > > Gale Gorman > Houston

Hi Gale It may well be overkill but I for one would sooner be safe than sorry Just formatting a hard drive does not stop someone with the right skills extracting data If a user hasn't used internet banking or any other form of credit or investment facility on their computer fare enough it may not matter much but if they have it makes sense to ensure no one else can get at it In the same way I shred any letters or paperwork with names or addresses on, it may be over the top but it gives peace of mind Generally by the time a hard drive is at the age when you need a new computer the old HD is not very usable anyway (ie size and compatibility) Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Velma, > > If you are concerned about someone retrieving the data from your hard drive, just simply re-format > it and it will be absolutely empty and ready for someone to load new stuff. > > If the hard drive no longer works, why bother? > > In my opinion this sort of safety is much ado about nothing. I certainly don't consider myself or > my data to be of that much interest to anyone. > > Gale Gorman > Houston

There are many levels to safety but they all boil down to fear and I suppose I just have none. I remember as a child hearing about kidnapping and I felt safe because my parents didn't have enough to attract a ransom note, much less pay it. This fearlessness has seen me through 71 years, a hazardous occupation as an ironworker, 58 years of motorcycles, and I remain in excellent health with the blood pressure of a teenager. To each his own, Gale Gorman Houston On Apr 13, 2012, at 8:28 AM, Nivard Ovington wrote: Hi Gale It may well be overkill but I for one would sooner be safe than sorry Just formatting a hard drive does not stop someone with the right skills extracting data If a user hasn't used internet banking or any other form of credit or investment facility on their computer fare enough it may not matter much but if they have it makes sense to ensure no one else can get at it In the same way I shred any letters or paperwork with names or addresses on, it may be over the top but it gives peace of mind Generally by the time a hard drive is at the age when you need a new computer the old HD is not very usable anyway (ie size and compatibility) Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Velma, > > If you are concerned about someone retrieving the data from your hard drive, just simply re-format it and it will be absolutely empty and ready for someone to load new stuff. > > If the hard drive no longer works, why bother? > > In my opinion this sort of safety is much ado about nothing. I certainly don't consider myself or my data to be of that much interest to anyone. > > Gale Gorman > Houston