{"id":5027,"date":"2019-02-16T05:52:14","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T05:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/?p=5027"},"modified":"2022-11-30T22:01:22","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T22:01:22","slug":"how-to-properly-dispose-off-your-hard-drives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtechbooster.com\/how-to-properly-dispose-off-your-hard-drives\/","title":{"rendered":"How to properly dispose off your hard drives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Data is valuable. Your pictures, legal documents, chat logs, and even\n saved video games are all things you wouldn\u2019t want to be public.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Today, people generally go to great lengths to protect data, but devices age and don\u2019t last forever. When we need to replace them, we often don\u2019t think about what happens to the data that is still on the drive, and how people might be able to access it.<\/p>\n\n\n

Most computers have a hard disk drive, or HDD, which are disks coated\n with a magnetic metal layer. They rotate similar to a CD or vinyl\nrecord and read by a sensor at the tip of an arm.<\/p>\n\n\n

HDDs are very sensitive, and data can persist on them in various\nways. When disposing of an HDD, it\u2019s important to make sure no one can\nstill access the data on it.<\/p>\n\n\n

Fortunately, we have a variety of options to wipe HDDs, the most\nreliable of which is a combination of digital and physical tools. If\nyour computer has an HDD, make sure to read this guide before getting\nrid of it, no matter if you sell or dispose of it.<\/p>\n\n\n

1. Encrypt your HDD as soon as you buy it<\/h2>\n\n\n

Always encrypt all information on your hard drive. Modern operating systems should do this, but it\u2019s best to double check if your operating system enables disk encryption by default.<\/p>\n\n\n

Check the Mac OS<\/a>, Windows 10<\/a>, and Ubuntu<\/a>\n support guides to see how to encrypt your HDD (the same methods should\nalso work for external hard drives). You could also use Veracrypt, which\n is a cool cross-platform tool to encrypt drives and data.<\/p>\n\n\n

Make sure you encrypt your data with a secure password, one long and\ncomplicated enough that it can\u2019t be brute forced by somebody with a lot\nof computing power.<\/p>\n\n\n

2. Wipe your HDD before you sell it<\/h2>\n\n\n

Additionally, you can wipe your HDD by reformatting it. Nearly all\noperating systems have built-in tools that can wipe your drive, though\nthey all have their own proprietary name: <\/p>\n\n\n