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Original poster

Is there anything I can do to destroy a laptop hard drive?

50 replies

BertieBotts · 26/10/2009 10:30

The situation is I am soon to be leaving my controlling partner. He is a computer technician and often is given people's old laptops as he recycles them for parts (he tells them it saves them the hassle of taking it to the electrical items dump at the tip) - the laptop I use was one of these, about 2 years ago, and is now on its last legs. So he has got a newer one which he has sorted out so that I can have it, and says he wants this one for work.

I have a feeling the first thing he is going to do is go through all my web history, documents, etc, to see what I have been up to. He is majorly jealous of the time I spend on mumsnet and other sites - and since I have been moaning about him on here etc I really don't want him to be able to do that. I know I can clear all my history and run CCleaner which will take care of that but I am worried that when I leave, he is going to run recovery software on it and try and dig up everything I have ever done on the computer. I have seen him do this for a client who had lost her University work - and among other files it came up with a load of naked pictures of her which he thought was great I know you can't just recover stuff selectively and it recovers everything. I think it also recovers files from before a computer was formatted - is this true?

I think I have seen software advertised which scrambles everything so that recovery software will not work - do these work? If not, is there a virus I can intentionally catch which will render the hard drive unusable? Or can I scratch it somehow without it being obvious straight away what I have done? I don't want to damage the entire laptop as that seems a waste to me, I just want to get rid of the hard drive (which is small and old anyway so pretty much worthless)

OP posts:
said · 26/10/2009 10:31

Can't you just smash it up??

stuffitllllama · 26/10/2009 10:32

i think you can have the hard drive taken out and replaced completely

this could be useful as you could take it with you and have everything put on your new pc

chopstheduck · 26/10/2009 10:32

just reformat it, you don't need to destroy it at all physically.

morningpaper · 26/10/2009 10:32

Just take the old laptop with you and let him keep the new one. It is daft to try anything else.

stuffitllllama · 26/10/2009 10:33

if he's a computer technician don't leave it there -- just don't

I have had everything recovered on a laptop harddrive after being told everything was lost

Blackduck · 26/10/2009 10:36

If you have the time/inclination/software it is possible to recover files from a computer even if the disk has been reformatted. If you think he is likely to do this you need to physically destroy the drive, or use magnets (powerful ones) to destroy the data... I'd 'lose' the laptop

chopstheduck · 26/10/2009 10:38

if you reformat it, you are wiping the disc clean - NOTHING can be recovered.

Turn the pc off, turn it on and hold f8. Instead of loading windows, you will jsut get a command prompt. Type format c:

It will wipe off EVERYTHING, you will have a completely blank hard drive, without even windows on it.

TheDevilEatsBabies · 26/10/2009 10:40

stuffitllllama's right: any computer technician can find anything that's ever been on a harddrive: it leaves ghosting on the system.

the only safe way is to completely remove the hard drive. (it looks like a metal box with a tiny fan on it and slots in the back: about the size of a DVD case)

(reformatting will not delete anything by the way, it will just compress it and hide it: it works on floppy discs, but not on hard drives)

Blackduck · 26/10/2009 10:43

"Note that reformatting a disk does not erase the data on the disk, only the data on the address tables. Do not be panic, however, if you accidentally reformat a disk that has useful data. A computer specialist should be able to recover most, if not all, of the information on the disk. You can also buy programs that enable you to recover a disk yourself."

Original poster
BertieBotts · 26/10/2009 10:51

Thanks, sounds like I do need to destroy it physically - that was what I thought, how annoying.

I need to find somewhere to go before I can leave (which is taking weeks and weeks) and he wants this old one ASAP - he has just given me the new one this morning. TBH I would have preferred a new hard drive in this laptop because it has an inbuilt card reader which I use all the time and will miss - but it needs formatting as it has a (mainly harmless) virus and the hard drive is full up.

Basically I need to format it before he can go through my documents now but destroy the hard drive just before I leave, unless I can destroy it while making it look like an accident. He doesn't know I am going. I do have a toddler... maybe I could "spill" a sticky drink on it or something. Though I don't know if that would destroy a hard drive, just the rest of the laptop, which seems a shame!

OP posts:
MmeGoblindt · 26/10/2009 10:54

Maybe it could be "stolen"?

stuffitllllama · 26/10/2009 10:57

bertie he's not at home with you all day, surely?

prepare the ground: go to a computer shop, say you will want a new hard drive put in the lap top (or just the old one taken out and destroyed)

make an appt: so that when you slip the laptop out of the house for an hour when he's out you can get it done quickly -- he won't notice until you've gone

I'm frightened for you: sounds awful

Original poster
BertieBotts · 26/10/2009 11:03

The thing is anything as drastic as completely wrecking the laptop or having it "stolen" (which would have to involve a break in as I never take it out of the house and can't drive) is going to make him go off on one and I am really trying to avoid any big arguments, or at least avoid pissing him off any than necessary. He's not violent, just a complete PITA to live with when he is in a mood.

He's not at home with me all day, no. That sounds like a good plan. Do you know how much it is likely to cost? I don't have access to a lot of money (I have got some savings but need them to put towards deposit for a rented house)

Or would it be possible to just swap the hard drive for a friend's or something? I don't think they are universal, are they?

OP posts:
GypsyMoth · 26/10/2009 11:06

Can you not call womens aid? You sound very scared. I have got out with help before, believe me, it's so worth it!!

Go to a comp place this is only way

stuffitllllama · 26/10/2009 11:11

it's not cheap, I know that. having everything recovered cost me fifty quid in belgium but i've no experience in the uk

a computer place may have a hard drive from a second hand or abandoned laptop which you could put in there

do go and ask for advice from a computer shop and if there's a woman behind the counter all the better. your local comp shop will know what is available locally

Original poster
BertieBotts · 26/10/2009 11:14

I have called women's aid but they can't help as there isn't violence in the relationship and I am not homeless. If I had to leave suddenly then I could get help but at the moment it's down to me to find somewhere... which is proving difficult. Letting agents are very suspicious/wary of housing benefit recipients

I don't feel scared, I am just trying to cover my bases as I'm quite an open person and it doesn't come naturally to me to cover my tracks etc. So I am probably being over-paranoid as I try to think like him with his control-freaky ways I have been happily plastering stuff all over the web/this laptop thinking that I'd be taking it with me when I left, but I don't want to make him suspicious by insisting on keeping it. I am thinking I may be able to get him to put me a new hard drive in instead and then I will just have the old hard drive to "lose" which should be easy as his office is a tip, or I could ask to keep it as backup for photos of DS etc.

OP posts:
stuffitllllama · 26/10/2009 11:17

but if the comp shop says you can reformat it don't accept that you do need to get rid of your old drive tell them he's a technician and they will take you more seriously

GypsyMoth · 26/10/2009 11:18

I think he might be suspicious of asking about a new hard drive and he would then change it and hang onto it

Local council may be able to help? They have lanlords who take hb

MaMight · 26/10/2009 11:21

I slammed my laptop shut (in a big strop) and everything was wiped...

... but then a nice chap at dh's work recovered it all for me.

Shorting it might work? Put a metal pin in it?

stuffitllllama · 26/10/2009 11:22

don't ask him about it

Original poster
BertieBotts · 26/10/2009 11:23

Well he works in the most local one and his friend runs the only local one that I would trust with my data - the rest are known as rip off merchants, or there is Curry's or PC world.

I am going to have to go fairly soon as he is not working today but has gone out and said he would be back around 12.

I don't know if he would be suspicious of asking for a new hard drive if I point out the card reader in this laptop, which I do use a lot. If he hangs on to it I will take note of what it looks like, find it when he is at work and either get rid of it or scratch it badly or something. Unless he took it to work... oh this is stupid

I have been to the council, going back on Wednesday as am having no luck finding places, they have a shortage of houses too but hoping for some advice at least

OP posts:
pipWereRabbit · 26/10/2009 11:29

The only safe way is to smash up the hard drive - literally, get a big hammer. Put it beyond use....

My DH sometimes buys second hand PCs to recondition - he enjoys fiddling around with electronics and this is his hobby.

The number of times he has recovered private and confidential information from PCs which the person selling had failed to remove properly, is ridiculous. Luckily for them he is completely honest and has some specialist software to remove it all - but if you need to be 100% sure, a hammer is the quickest and most reliable way.

LuluDanceOnMyGrave · 26/10/2009 11:30

Do you know anyone else at all who knows about computers, and could get hold of a new hard drive for you and install it for you, and then give you the old one to smash with a hammer? Wish you were closer to me, I could help. Maybe post something in Geeky Stuff asking if someone here could do it for you?

VineGruesomeTits · 26/10/2009 11:32

As an interim measure, can you ask MN to delete all of your previous posts?

morningpaper · 26/10/2009 11:35

I think you should just say: "No, it's okay, I don't want the new one, I want to keep this old one because it's got all my photos/settings on it and setting up a new one is a pain."

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