Hard Drive Formatin'

[The Milkman]

Hey guys, quick queston. I got some HDDs (Old IDE ones) that I want to sell for a few bucks, or make external drives out of, problem is, all of them are IDE. I can't hook any of them up to my PCs for formatting. I have no idea what sort of place would offer a service for such a thing or how to go about it. Best guess has been a quick wipe with a home-made electromagnet, but before I try something like that, wanted to know if any of you could suggest any other way. Preferably something that wont damage them.

 

[Ericthegreat]

"old sata" What do you mean, sata is still the standard for hdds lol....? Do you mean "ide"?

 

[The Milkman]

"old sata" What do you mean, sata is still the standard for hdds lol....? Do you mean "ide"?

Maybe IDE then, i'll check the label.

Yep, my mistake.

 

[Ericthegreat]

Maybe IDE then, i'll check the label.

Yep, my mistake.

You can use something like this http://www.amazon.com/IDE-SATA-Adapter/dp/B000RK89M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377467975&sr=8-1&keywords=ide to sata

(There is also one that comes with a ide cord and a sata cord if you need) There is prob cheaper.

 

[The Milkman]

You can use something like this http://www.amazon.com/IDE-SATA-Adapter/dp/B000RK89M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377467975&sr=8-1&keywords=ide to sata

(There is also one that comes with a ide cord and a sata cord if you need) There is prob cheaper.

I acutally just saw this and was thinking about it, problem is all MY PCs are laptops one in which that wouldn't fit. Any chance these could connect via USB?

 

[Ericthegreat]

I acutally just saw this and was thinking about it, problem is all MY PCs are laptops one in which that wouldn't fit. Any chance these could connect via USB?

Maybe with a external harddrive casing that supports ide drives.

Just so you know tho, a magnet will have a good chance of just destroying the drive, and if it doesn't some ppl can still prob pull some data off of it. There may be magnets made for this purpose tho, but I am rather surprised if you have one lol.

Edit:

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-3-5in-Black-External-Enclosure/dp/B0012VRBGM/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377468614&sr=1-8&keywords=ide external hdd enclosure

(there are prob cheaper) or you could prob use once and return >.>; Best buy perhaps?

 

[The Milkman]

Maybe with a external harddrive casing that supports ide drives.

Just so you know tho, a magnet will have a good chance of just destroying the drive, and if it doesn't some ppl can still prob pull some data off of it. There may be magnets made for this purpose tho, but I am rather surprised if you have one lol.

Yeah, I figured an electro would fuck it up. Its not a professional one or anything like that, just one I made when I was bored during a blackout.

 

[Ericthegreat]

Yeah, I figured an electro would fuck it up. Its not a professional one or anything like that, just one I made when I was bored during a blackout.

Yea, btw I updated my previous post to show what I was talking about.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Or you could go cheaper and get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

Supports IDE and SATA, comes with a little casing so you could use it as an external, would be perfect for what you need.

 

[PityOnU]

Or you could go cheaper and get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

Supports IDE and SATA, comes with a little casing so you could use it as an external, would be perfect for what you need.

This piece of equipment is your best bet.

It will probably also be very useful for you in the future.

PROTIP: Formatting the drives doesn't actually erase the data. If you want to wipe it, use something like the "dd" command in Linux or the "format" tool in Windows Vista and beyond.

 

[trumpet-205]

PROTIP: Formatting the drives doesn't actually erase the data. If you want to wipe it, use something like the "dd" command in Linux or the "format" tool in Windows Vista and beyond.

Neither dd or format completely wipe data away. Data can still be recovered by sending it in to a recovery center. (Writing zeroes alone ain't going to do the trick).

To ensure complete data destruction, either physical destruction of the hard drive (which is what US DoD does) or sanitation algorithm such as Schneier method.

BTW: Home made magnet ain't going to do with trick either. You need much stronger magnet to erase data on hard drive platter. However, it will completely render the drive useless, hence it is physical destruction of the hard drive. Hard drive don't work the same way as cassette tape.

 

[pyromaniac123]

Neither dd or format completely wipe data away. Data can still be recovered by sending it in to a recovery center. (Writing zeroes alone ain't going to do the trick).

To ensure complete data destruction, either physical destruction of the hard drive (which is what US DoD does) or sanitation algorithm such as Schneier method.

Hey guys, quick queston. I got some HDDs (Old IDE ones) that I want to sell for a few bucks, or make external drives out of, problem is, all of them are IDE. I can't hook any of them up to my PCs for formatting. I have no idea what sort of place would offer a service for such a thing or how to go about it. Best guess has been a quick wipe with a home-made electromagnet, but before I try something like that, wanted to know if any of you could suggest any other way. Preferably something that wont damage them.

 

[The Milkman]

Or you could go cheaper and get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

Supports IDE and SATA, comes with a little casing so you could use it as an external, would be perfect for what you need.

Wow! This is perfect, thanks Tom. I'll have to order one when I get the cash.

 

[grossaffe]

Is anyone gonna buy a bunch of old IDE drives?

 

[trumpet-205]

Is anyone gonna buy a bunch of old IDE drives?

Very rare. People who buy IDE/PATA these days have a specific need.

 

[The Milkman]

Is anyone gonna buy a bunch of old IDE drives?

Computer Illiterates. Who happen to be just the people asking me for them. (Old PCs)

 

[Monty Kensicle]

I use them to outfit Phat PS2s with games via network adapter. But some of my more computer savvy customers prefer me modding them to work with SATA.

 

[PityOnU]

Neither dd or format completely wipe data away. Data can still be recovered by sending it in to a recovery center. (Writing zeroes alone ain't going to do the trick).

To ensure complete data destruction, either physical destruction of the hard drive (which is what US DoD does) or sanitation algorithm such as Schneier method.

This is true. But sending it to a recovery center costs around $5000 (I'm assuming they recover the data by detecting residual magnetic fields from the previously written data, would love to hear how they do it if that's not the case), so unless you are being actively and aggressively monitored by the government for whatever reason, you're pretty safe. Otherwise, you probably shouldn't be selling old disks anyway.

Anyone who will try to get your data off an old disk will probably just make a passing attempt using simple software-based tools, which overwriting with 0's would render useless.

If you really wanted, you could overwrite multiple times with dd pulling from /dev/rand which would make it near impossible to recover pretty much anything.

But nobody cares that much so a simple zeroing is generally enough.

SSD's and flash drives should be overwritten with ones, though, not zeros.

 

[The Milkman]

This is true. But sending it to a recovery center costs around $5000 (I'm assuming they recover the data by detecting residual magnetic fields from the previously written data, would love to hear how they do it if that's not the case), so unless you are being actively and aggressively monitored by the government for whatever reason, you're pretty safe. Otherwise, you probably shouldn't be selling old disks anyway.

Anyone who will try to get your data off an old disk will probably just make a passing attempt using simple software-based tools, which overwriting with 0's would render useless.

If you really wanted, you could overwrite multiple times with dd pulling from /dev/rand which would make it near impossible to recover pretty much anything.

But nobody cares that much so a simple zeroing is generally enough.

SSD's and flash drives should be overwritten with ones, though, not zeros.

...What? Read my last post please.

 

[raulpica]

You can use something like this http://www.amazon.com/IDE-SATA-Adapter/dp/B000RK89M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377467975&sr=8-1&keywords=ide to sata

OH GAWD BURN THEM WITH FIRE

They're some of the worst pieces of crap you can buy. AVOID THEM AT ANY COST.

Wow! This is perfect, thanks Tom. I'll have to order one when I get the cash.

You can get some unbranded chinese ones (that's the one I use down at work) for $5.