Nuking backups

luckat

Not specifically a Mac question, but I'm hoping the creative minds of Mac people will help.

I've just given myself a shocking wound trying to scrape the surface of a 2004 backup DVD with a fork to render it unreadable before putting it in the bin.

I'm also rich in floppies and Zips which probably have all kinds of names and addresses and bank accounts and private letters on them. At the moment they're rescued from the bin and sitting in a plastic bag on the remaining (want it, anyone?) telly, in the hopes that the loudspeaker's electromagnet will kill them, as promised by Nurse in my wayward youth.

Is there any easy way of killing floppies, Zips and CD/DVDs to protect your private information? Not that my information is that exciting, but I don't really want to share my letters with the bank, for instance, with all and sundry if A&S happen to be trawling the rubbish tips for credit card info.

I tried putting a couple of old backup DVDs on the gas burner, but the resulting fumes were like something out of the worst excesses of the Great War's trenches.

Gordon

I usually just chop them in two with scissors. If you are extremely paranoid then cut them in half and place one half in your normal trash bin and the other half in a different bin not in your house.

Tony H

http://www.disceraser.com/how.htm

that looks like it would do the job , looks like you would have to order from the US though

dont know about the zips and floppys

maybe this

Ham'nd'egger

fitzdragon wrote: »

http://www.disceraser.com/how.htm

that looks like it would do the job , looks like you would have to order from the US though

dont know about the zips and floppys

maybe this

To be honest, that disc eraser is a bit of a fools errand getting it. That is banking on somebody finding your disc, sticking it together, smoothening out the crack of a fragmented disc and then somehow not losing a few lines of binary at or around the crack; this is almost impossible to ensure. I do recall in college using massive magnets called bulk erasers to wipe tapes, floppy's and VHS tapes clean but that was with intent to reuse same.

These people would be a start if it's any use to you and it will only cost you postage to same.

http://www.thelaundry.biz/cds

luckat

Thanks - I'll try the scissors; have to see if I can open up the floppies and zips.

K.O.Kiki

Scissors won't work too well on ZIP discs -- mind you, you could always play Zip Roulette (hope that the next user of the disc suffers Click-of-Death)

Hugh_C

physical destruction in yer only man. lump hammer and eye protection in a confined space.

luckat

Oh, I like the microwave one.

A friend who's a tech support pro suggests opening up the floppies and zips with a knife, then dancing on the magnetic part on a nice rough patio, and also doing a slidey dance on the patio with the CD backups.

Probably all unnecessary. I don't suppose the criminals of Ireland are trawling the dumps to find my bank account numbers and personal letters anyway. But sure we have to do something.

Type 17

bedlam wrote: »

Put your CD/DVD in a microwave for a couple of seconds.

Can't see how the microwave energy would disrupt non-magnetic data which is burnt into the CD media? (Sounds like a fun Brainiac segment, though)

440Hz

Fro zips and floppies - just stick em near your mobile phone for long enough!! That always did the trick when you didnt want it to

Type 17

Wow, I was right about the Brainiac bit!

Very effective (and a good souvenir disc), but surely it shortens the life of your microwave? - think I'd stick to swirling them under my foot on concrete.

deevey

Just buy mini blowtorch in maplin for a few euro, it will do the trick .. just bubble the surface a bit .. trust me they wont read again.

WizZard

Crushing or a furnace will render them unusable in general. if you don't have access to either then a lump hammer and an anvil is your best bet.

How you destroy them really depends on the value of the data.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Type 17 wrote: »

Very effective (and a good souvenir disc), but surely it shortens the life of your microwave? - think I'd stick to swirling them under my foot on concrete.

Leaving a glass of water in the microwave with the cd should ease the strain on the magnetron

Creamy Goodness

who backs up to cd/dvd these days anyways?

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Cremo wrote: »

who backs up to cd/dvd these days anyways?

Well it's probably one of the cheapest ways to do it in terms of price per megabyte.