Is it safe to donate old computers?

[TAB]

Well the most they would get out of my PC is a bunch of old invoices and a bunch of pics.

I have zero personal info on it and I never will.  When I buy stuff online, I call the company,  if I can't talk to a person, I don't buy.

[MikeBjerum]

TAB, You and Tim are naive about this.
TAKE PATH'S ADVICE !!!Then wipe it with a LARGE  magnet, like for picking up nails in the hardware store.
How do you think the Govt. recovers data from terrorists computers after they have been killed by a Predator strike as was reported several times in Iraq.
If the G can do it any talented hacker can do it,fifth grader can do it and people who engage in fraud can certainly afford a talented hackeran average fifth grader.

You were close, so I tweaked it 

[tombogan03884]

Well the most they would get out of my PC is a bunch of old invoices and a bunch of pics.

I have zero personal info on it and I never will.  When I buy stuff online, I call the company,  if I can't talk to a person, I don't buy.

In YOUR case the Pics would make it worth doing 

[TAB]

In YOUR case the Pics would make it worth doing 

you could find more porn on the net in 5 seconds then is on this computer.

[tombogan03884]

Dude, Don't BS me, I've been seeing your avatars for almost 3 years now. 

[Sponsor]

[jnevis]

Our requirement is to overwrite the entire drive three times before they are declassified/removed.  Basically it writes over ones and zeros three times to completely destroy all data on the drive.  formatting will only remove data but won't do it completely.  It's pretty easy to recover data if the drive is only formatted once.

BTW an 8G CF card takes about 20 min to declass so I could imagine a 100G drive taking FOREVER.

[Big Frank]

I saw some guys on TV getting rid of computers and they drilled a few holes through the hard drive. I guess the disc inside it  doesn't play when it's damaged.

[Ichiban]

I've always pulled the HD and taken it apart.  There are some very strong magnets in there that come in handy for all sorts of stuff.  Once you have the actual disk in hand it is very easy to fold, spindle and mutilate it.

[sledgemeister]

I recycled one of my old pc's, try and recover data from this!

[billt]

It's not just computers. There was a show on last year about companies that take old copiers in trade for new ones. Most all of them have hard drives, and it was unbelievable what they were able to download from these traded in copiers. Most everything that was ever copied was able to be recovered and reprinted.

Don't buy into all of this, "Reformat with all zeros", stuff. There are many people in jail because police were able to recover damaging evidence from hard drives people thought were "erased". There is only one way to erase a hard drive, and that is on a sidewalk with a hammer, or else as sledgemeister has demonstrated.   Bill T.