I have known RAM retain data for a few seconds without power. I even designed a system using extended refresh DRAM to run as a backing store using battery backup in the days when you could only get small static RAMs and no NVRAM. They retain data for longer than most people expect.
And if a certain location within memory always ends up storing the same value the cell tends to "stick" so that when powered up it goes back to remembering that number rather than being random, however with virtual-memory based O/S it's far less likely that the same location will always be chosen for e.g. encryption keys.
Hmmmm, that's quite impressive. I frequently test equipment that has BITE and perform power cycles to test it as well as "unexpected" disconnections of power. To date no such problem but I think next time I may well have a closer look at what's in DRAM.
Blimey. Do they use the Tardis to get then to Africa?
But they can only do that because of the millions of naive poeple who fail to take basic precautions when disposing of a hard drive.
By all means have some fun with the brick acid or a lump hammer but it's really not neccessary.
MBQ
It's bloody annoying actually. I often see decent hard drives at the tip that have been 'wiped' with a lump hammer. In some cases the entire computer has been attacked ( heaven only knows what sort of 'data' a graphics card is going to contain! ). It's sheer waste. I know an 80Gb drive might be a bit out of date these days, but they're perfect for backup use with a caddy - and it isn't as if there aren't any number of freeware tools to enable the owner to wipe the drive effectively.
Regards,
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