In Preston there is a company called recycle.co.uk based in Red Scar
Industrial Estate. They process a lot of old computers, recycling the parts
and shipping old but usable systems to 3rd world countries. They have a
degaussing facility that can be used by anyone.
I would never recommend sending a malfunctioning HD away for repair. Such is
the low cost of these things these days that I would (and have) buy a new
one and dispose of the old one. I hit them several times with a large
hammer, then place them in the middle of my patio chimnea thing when we
light a fire. When it's cooled it goes to the tip.
It's all about balancing risks, and I am happy that the data on such a disk
is "wiped" enough to ensure that it cannot be read and that the risk of a
someone (a) wanting to read it and (b) actually going to the lengths they
would have to, to do this is acceptable.
Also, for anyone wanting to ensure that deleted files on working hard disks
are properly deleted then I would recommend a free product called "Eraser"
which I have used for some time and erases disks to US Department of Defense
specifications.
It can be found on the www.download.com site, tiny url =
http://tinyurl.com/dwuz4
Simon Howarth
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