# Remove Memory before Computer Disposal?



## whale eye

I'm getting rid of my old computer. I already took out the hard drive and I plan on drilling some holes through it. But what about the RAM? It's got about 4GB of RAM in it. When I give my computer away could someone get important information off the memory sticks? Do those need to be destroyed as well? Would appreciate your advice.


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## DBCooper

Hi whale eye,

Only the hard drive would contain info on it. I would keep those memory sticks for spare parts/troubleshooting purposes. It's good to have spare parts laying around.

RAM means RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY so when the computer turns off, the info residing in the RAM is lost. Keep the memory for troubleshooting purposes.


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## Bill_Bright

Yeah, no worries that your RAM is holding some of your data. As Dan said, once the computer power is totally removed, so too is your data. 

But why do you want to drill holes through the drive? That is a trick I use - but ONLY when the drive is bad and cannot be accessed - and it contains VERY sensitive data on it - like client's credit card information. 

It is certainly good that you are concerned about remaining data when getting rid of old drives, but it is rare you need to destroy them. 

All you really need to do is "wipe" the drive. A wipe program will write a bunch of random 1s and 0s in every disk storage location so any data previously saved in those locations is totally obliterated. *Eraser* – which uses *DBAN* technologies is a good one, but in recent years, I use the Drive Wiper feature in *CCleaner*. It is just as effective, but it also has a nice feature to ONLY wipe the free space which is nice if you want to leave the OS intact. 

If the drive still works, I would just consider sticking it in an enclosure attached to a different computer, or temporarily install it in another computer as a secondary (NOT boot) drive, then run the wipe program on it from there. Much easier than destroying the drive by drilling holes through it.


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## gcavan

Eraser and DBAN are indispensable if you wish to reclaim the drive. But there is much to be said for the therapeudic aspects of smashing one to bits or driving a spinning 3/8" rod of hardened steel through it.


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## Bill_Bright

> But there is much to be said for the therapeudic aspects of smashing one to bits or driving a spinning 3/8" rod of hardened steel through it.


No doubt but I have to say with experience smashing a hard drive to bits, to where you successfully destroy the platters within, is no easy task and takes quite a few swings with a big hammer. 

So 3 holes about an inch out from the center spindle with a carbide tip drill bit is the easier task. I would suggest, however, inserting a nail through the first hole to hold everything still makes the next two holes easier. 

But again, physically destroying the drive is only necessary if the drive is not accessible and you have really sensitive data on it that a "determined" badguy (or his employers) really want to get their hands on. The vast majority of badguys are lazy opportunists and typically, if the drive is inaccessible, will not waste their time or effort (or expensive forensic analysis hardware and software) on it, and will quickly move on to easier pickings (a working drive that has not been wiped).


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## Superion

Unless someone is willing to pay up to $80,000 to retrieve data off of a damaged HDD then you can be worried about it. Software can only corrupt/erase data so much, the only true way to make a hard drive unreadable is to destroy it. Recycle when done.


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## Bill_Bright

Superion said:


> $80,000 to retrieve data


Well, that's an extremely exaggerated exaggeration! But for sure, forensic data recovery services can cost many $100s or in extreme cases, several (a few) $1000s, but not $80,000. 

But badguys are not going to spend even a few $100 to recover data from private citizens unless they know for a fact the drive contains information worth a lot more than that. It is not worth their time or effort. Those kinds of expenditures are only done by law enforcement going after big fishes, or foreign governments conducting covert espionage. And regardless, in those cases, the drives must be carefully disassembled in "clean rooms" then the platters analyzed using very expensive and sophisticated equipment. Nothing the "casual" badguy who may stumble upon a used drive will have. 



> Software can only corrupt/erase data so much, the only true way to make a hard drive unreadable is to destroy it.


No and yes. "Wipe" software can easily, effectively, and conclusively ensure ANY and ALL residual magnetism representing the data previously saved on a drive is totally gone and irretrievable - and still allow the drive to be used (readable) for future data storage. Not even Ms. Sciuto from NCIS could recover a single byte of the previously saved data, because it would be totally gone! 

But to make the drive itself unusable and unreadable - forever - it has to be destroyed, or damaged beyond repair.

Note you don't even have to use wipe programs. You can delete all files which of course, only marks the space as available. Then totally fill the drive with miscellaneous songs, images, or video files which WILL overwrite the previously saved data. Then delete all those files to free up the space again and fill the drive with miscellaneous files again to overwrite the disk again. Do that a bunch of times and your drive will be "wiped" beyond recovery. 

That is exactly what wipe programs do - only instead of 1s and 0s representing songs, images or videos, they just use random 1s and 0s to do the same thing - rearrange the magnetic particles a bunch of times so they make no sense (represent no data).


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## LMiller7

> No and yes. "Wipe" software can easily, effectively, and conclusively ensure ANY and ALL residual magnetism representing the data previously saved on a drive is totally gone and irretrievable - and still allow the drive to be used (readable) for future data storage. Not even Ms. Sciuto from NCIS could recover a single byte of the previously saved data, because it would be totally gone!


A single pass with a disk wipe program is secure beyond all known threats. There have been claims that even then data might be recovered but they remain unverified. At the very least it would require special equipment and highly advanced methods. Multiple passes are just extra insurance.

Many organizations do mandate physical destruction of a drive before it leaves the premises. But the reasons have nothing to do with the potential unreliability of a disk wipe. A disk wipe requires time and time is money. The results of physical destruction can be quickly and easily verified by physical inspection. Not so with a disk wipe. The risks of an unwiped drive "falling through the cracks" is too great.

Unlike hard drives, RAM storage is volatile. Milliseconds after power is removed ALL data it may have contained is gone. There is no possibility of data recovery because there is nothing to recover. That may change with some future storage technology.


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## Bill_Bright

> A single pass with a disk wipe program is secure beyond all known threats. There have been claims that even then data might be recovered but they remain unverified. At the very least it would require special equipment and highly advanced methods. Multiple passes are just extra insurance.


I would not go as far as saying a single pass is good enough for "all known threats" but I do agree it is plenty for the normal user who just wants to ensure their passwords, banks accounts, and credit card information is safe when donating computers or discarding old hard drives. One pass is certainly enough to thwart the efforts of anyone who connects your old drive to his computer and attempts to recover anything with recovery software. 



> Many organizations do mandate physical destruction of a drive before it leaves the premises.


True, but not even the DoD does that anymore with drives that previously held "sensitive" or FOUO data (they do still destroy drives that held "classified" data, however). 

That said, you are also correct that verifying destruction is much faster (thus cheaper) (and more fun to watch! :wink than verifying a wipe was effective. But more and more companies want to recoup their investments as much as possible by donating older computers to schools and other non-profits and writing the donations off as deductions in their taxes. So they wipe, not destroy.

I also note that as soon as those schools or other recipients of used drives start using those drives, old data will start to be overwritten as well.

Good discussion but we may has lost the OP.


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## Superion

I always enjoy a good read from Bill


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## Bill_Bright

Well, I try to be correct and informative first. If it entertains in the process, then I guess its a win/win.


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