On Tue, Jan 01, 2008 at 02:14:53PM -0500, Christopher Linn wrote:
quoted text
> On Mon, Dec 31, 2007 at 12:25:02PM -0600, Marco Peereboom wrote:
> > On Mon, Dec 31, 2007 at 10:25:25AM -0800, Jon wrote:
> > > 
> > >  I see a lot of programs that are available to clean up the disks for
> > > Windows OS. Not wipe a disk but clean up deleted files so they cannot be
> > > recovered.
> > >  Is there any program for OpenBSD that will clean up the disks so that
> > > deleted files cannot be recovered.
> > > 
> > >  (not looking to delete a file securly - but to wipe the disk clean of
> > > deleted file with out affecting the OS)
> > 
> > Grind them up.  There is nothing else you can do to "permanently" wipe
> > disks.  Residual magnetism is always there provided good enough
> > equipment.  If your data is that sensitive there is nothing else but the
> > grinder.
> > 
> put a wood furnace in you garage, get a good hardwood fire going, pop 
> the disk in there, and stoak it again in 2 hours. there you go.

Of course, both the grinder and the fire will have a negative effect on
the OS installed on the drive :)

Note that if you do choose the fire method, that there are components
in the drive that you don't need to burn in order to securely delete
data.  Burning them will have a negative impact on the environment and
perhaps on the stove.  All you really need to do is burn the oxide off
the platters.  If the platters are aluminum, it shouldn't be too
difficult to melt the platters but I don't know if that will render the
oxide coating inoperable or if it just comes off as a sheet that could
be read.

Perhaps you need to grind up the platters into powder, mix in some
powdered nitrogen fertilizer, and explode it with your annual fireworks
:)

Doug.