Robert Klute wrote:

If you are paranoid about the disk being examined by a data recovery
firm, there are standard pattern sequences for wiping disks completely.
Programs such as Norton's WipeInfo, Cybercide, and other freeware
programs are capable of doing this. Look for references to Schneier's
Algorithm.

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda can work fine as well if you boot Linux.

Ultimately, if you think that there are people with electron microscopes
waiting to look at your disks the industrial degausser, followed by the
sledgehammer and incinerator is the way to go.

It indeed depends on the value of the data. Someone brought a used PC
here - with barely working drive - but working enough to boot and read.
It was a lawyer's, and I think they should have been more careful.


Thomas