I agree with Sky. There used to be 'low level format' available on cheap IDE controllers that worked pretty well.
The best I remember seeing that kept the drive useable was an old dos/windows program that did a 'distructive disk test' that I used several times on different disks that were otherwise un-recoverable anyway. I wish I could remember its name. You could build a small sh script to use dd to write some pattern till it filled up a drive using different patterns on various passes, but that is kind of a pain. If you are discarding a UNIX derivative, just do a fresh install with a different type of file system. A good way to physically demolish one is to take it to your local neighborhood blacksmith (I had one across the street when I lived in Houston) and go with him to his forge. Melt the drive to a nice pool of silicon and aluminum sludge. It is very satisfying. It is really hard to recover data after that. Pouring the sludge into a nice paper weight, door stop, etc is also fun. ... Actually a good coal fired BBQ of old disk drives behind the HC one weekend could be a nice community support project! :) ... Then cast them into trophies for 'worst security' to be handed out to folks at the next Phreaknic --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
