I have a number of DVDs containing computer backup information of a sensitive nature. I plan to throw away the older ones, but first I want to render the data on them irretrievable. Can anyone here recommend a quick, cheap, easy way to do that? I've heard that drilling 2 or 3 1/4" holes in them does the trick, but that is just a rumor to me. What about placing them, one at a time, in a vice, half clamped tight and the other half then struck hard with a hammer - hoping to break it in half?
My new shredder handles CDs, but before that I used a sharpie to scribble all over the CD. Remember that CDs aren't like old records, they are recorded from the inside out, so be sure to mark over the center area of the CD. scratching with a nail of knife would add an extra level of security..
With my new shredder, I still scribble on them before shredding - paranoid maybe, but rather be sure I don't lose my personal data!
I wrap CD's in heavy duty foil, put in oven for about 15 min at 425. Take em out, mash up the mess and put in garbage when cool. None have burned or given off smoke :o)
I was going to suggest that. Try one first. It really gives some kewl visual effects. (Google for it; for some reason, there are *hundreds* of web pages out there dealing with the subject of nuking CDs.)
For yourself, or for a client? If there is HIPPA info on them, your client's insurance company/lawyers may prefer you take them to a commercial destruction facility, so they have a report in the file if they get audited. But if it is your own stuff, a metal container and acetone or even gasoline, should work fine. Production destruction of DVDs, with audit trail, is done by disk duplicator from hell. It has a cutting head, and shaves down the metallized side, but leaves the s/n of disk on the hub legible, so it can be logged as destroyed, by 2 people. Costs a whole lot of money, but works very fast on a couple hundred disks per hopper load. I wouldn't run them through a consumer-grade shredder. Sure, it'll do a few, but it is a hell of a stress on the teeth. If you only have a few, get out the tin snips, but wear gloves and goggles. Those shards are sharp.
Me, I just scratch them and snap them. But then again, the stuff I throw out, every 5 years or so, isn't likely to interest people who can reconstruct quarter-circle sections of the data tracks with a laser scanner and reassemble the whole pile into meaningful data.
I take a pair of bandage shears (or compound action tin snips). Cut at radius to the disk, take about 1/3 of the disk out. Throw out the 1/3 of the disk in this weeks trash. Throw 1/3 in next week's trash. Throw the other third in the trashbin when you stop to gas up, next time.
With all due respect to everyone, why does anyone think he is important enough that someone else would go out of their away to retrieve his data from dvd's that have not been mutilated enough? It's not going to happen.
True! But I generally keep those in my workshop and not my computer room! Bottom line - any way you can destroy the surface of the CD or DVD will render it useless.
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