Wow - I did not know you could even do this! Thanks for the tip! Dan
On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 10:26 AM, iamnowonmai<[email protected]> wrote: > Just to let you know - I just shipped a defective drive to seagate and faxed > them a signed "Certification of Destruction for Secure Sites" form that they > provided me. I kept the platters and sent them back the top cover of the > drive, for RMA purposes. If the data is important to you, I would recommend > pursuing that avenue. > HTH > iamnowonmai > > On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Joel Folkerts <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> I strongly agree with Tim. While I trust that Seagate is handling the >> drives appropriately, you aren't guaranteed that they won't doll this task >> out to a sub who isn't as thorough. It's also not clear what they mean by a >> "low-level" format. Keep in mind that the drive tracks which sectors are >> usable and not - if a drive detects that a sector is unreliable, it will >> mark it as bad (leaving the existing data intact) and never read or write >> from it again. When a drive is subsequently wiped, it will skip past these >> sectors leaving the existing data in place. Ideally, they would erase the >> bad sector list and wipe every physical sector on the disk. Again, I >> reasonably suspect that Seagate handles this properly but a degauser is >> relatively cheap insurance. >> >> -Joel >> >> p.s. As a quick after thought, this is a very secure way of hiding data. >> 1.) Erase bad sector listing; 2.) Wipe drive; 3.) Write data; 4.) Manually >> mark those sectors as bad; 5.) Data is now hidden. As far as I know, this >> process requires a some fairly expensive and specialized hardware but it is >> capable. >> >> >> "The path to hell is paved with good intentions." >> >> >> >> On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 5:16 AM, Tim Mugherini<[email protected]> wrote: >> > We recently went through a similar line of questioning with our >> > vendors/manufacturers and received a mix of responses. In the end we >> > purchased a degauser. None of them seemed to care if drives were >> > degaused before sending back. >> > >> > On 7/7/09, Dan Stadelman <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I think I was talking to tkrabec in IRC about how hard drive vendors >> >> handle the data on defective hard drives that were returned under >> >> warranty. So I sent a question off to Seagate to see what they do with >> >> the data on defective drives... >> >> >> >> Obviously if there is something sensitive on the drive, then you >> >> should destroy it - but their response was pretty interesting... >> >> >> >> Dan >> >> >> >> QUESTION: >> >> >> >> Hello, >> >> >> >> I was wondering what happens to the defective drives that are returned >> >> to Seagate. I know you sell refurbished drives - is the data on the >> >> returned drives wiped before you sell them a refurbished drives? If >> >> so, how are the drives wiped. >> >> >> >> I am worried about someone being able to recover data off a returned >> >> drive. >> >> >> >> RESPONSE: >> >> >> >> Thank you for sending your Seagate E-mail inquiry. >> >> >> >> Seagate takes measures to ensure the security of all of our customer's >> >> personal, confidential data. When a drive arrives at our returns depot >> >> facility, it will first be tested. During the first phase of testing >> >> it is low-level formatted which completely wipes it of any and all >> >> data from sector 0 to the last sector. As a returning defective drive, >> >> if the drive is not in a functional state capable of a low-level >> >> format, the drive is disassembled and the platters (where the data is >> >> stored) are recycled. Once a platter is removed from the spindle of a >> >> hard drive, the data is no longer readable by any means. >> >> >> >> Regards, >> >> >> >> Hassan Zouga >> >> Warranty and Customer Support Escalation >> >> Seagate Technology, Inc >> >> 1 800 SEAGATE >> >> ref:00D0hhzl.50036lvP0:ref >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Pauldotcom mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom >> >> Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com >> >> >> > >> > -- >> > Sent from my mobile device >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Pauldotcom mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom >> > Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com >> > >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Pauldotcom mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom >> Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Pauldotcom mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom > Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com > _______________________________________________ Pauldotcom mailing list [email protected] http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com
