Hard drives an essential component of computers or laptops. It does not matter what brand or company a computer belongs to; it will always have a hard drive attached to it. A hard drive is that component of a computer that stores all the data and information. Nowadays, some external hard drives and USBs can store more data on them. Every passing hour, data is increasing rapidly around the world. Every taken picture, each created document, or just any activity performed with a little bit of information requires storage space. All this becomes a part of the hard drives.
In 2020 alone, 296.22 million hard drives were shipped and received throughout the world. This staggering number can only give us a vague idea about the amount of information present in the world. But what happens when the hard drives stop working? Or when you want a different kind of hard drive for your PC, what do you do?
You definitely cannot throw it in the recycle bin and get rid of it. This is because hard drives contain a lot of sensitive data. There may be pictures, videos, and personal content on the hard drive you would not want to share with anyone. Moreover, people may misuse your information and turn your life into a nightmare. This is why you need to follow an appropriate procedure when getting rid of your hard drives. Let us discuss a safe method to dispose of a hard drive in this blog.
1. Create a Backup
Utilize the services of cloud services made available by Amazon, Google, or Apple (whichever one you feel comfortable with). Pick any of these services and create a backup on the cloud. Make sure you use the services of a well-known cloud storage provider. Many frauds are conducted by cloud services regarding this matter. Data is often stolen or leaked to different organizations. If you are choosing services, ensure that there are no loopholes and then make the final decision.
Ensure that you have created a backup of all the data present on the hard drive.
2. Install Software
There are many different software programs available to completely erase your data from your hard drives. It completely overrides the hard drive and overwrites every piece of data that it finds on it. Once you execute the program, you have minimum chances of recovering that data. There are many options of different software available in the market for destroying data. DBAN is a data destruction program. It is available for free. Once you run this software on your hard drive, you are safe to get rid of the hard drive.
3. Physical Disposal of Hard Drive
If you are unsure about using software to dispose of all the information on a hard drive, you can utilize break it apart piece by piece. Or you can render it utterly useless by bringing a rare-earth magnet near it. This will cause the wires and parts of the hard drive to stop functioning. The metal disks will be deformed and become entirely useless for any purpose.
If the magnet is too extreme for your taste, you can always use a screwdriver to dismantle the hard drive. Make sure you use the screwdriver carefully and slowly take out one piece after another. Once each one of the components is separated, you can destroy the significant portions with the help of a hammer.
By physically disposing of a hard drive, there is absolutely no chance of getting your data stolen and misused.
4. Re-install Operating System
If you want to dispose of the hard drive within your computer, reinstalling the current operating system is a good option. Just purchase the Operating System and then install it on your computer without making any changes. This way, you get to keep the hard drive but dispose of all the data present on it.
Conclusion
Even though disposing of a hard drive may seem like a trivial and unimportant task, it is absolutely crucial. The procedure to get this task accomplished is mentioned above and is quite simple. It may seem to an ordinary person with a simple life that their data holds no importance and cannot be misused, but that is not the case. Even the most ordinary data can be exploited and misused to blackmail you and your loved ones. Keep yourself safe, and make sure to dispose of your hard drive with great care.