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The hard drive of my laptop died, the manufacturer wants me to send it so that they can investigate, but I'm concerned that the drive might contain sensitive information.
When I say the drive is broken, the drive won't be recognized by my OS (meaning I can't use standard tools to wipe it) and I keep hearing clicking noises.
Is there something I can do to wipe the data without further damaging the hard drive?
The hard diskdrive is a standard drive, not a SSD.
The problem with encrypting your drive is that it's not exactly convenient to have to enter a passphrase every time you boot, especially if the machine is often unattended in a secure enough building. As of today there are no HDD encryption programs which don't require a password, unfortunately, as the only use case for that is basically this: secure warranty returns.
– RomanSt – 2014-10-22T13:15:51.367If you've got a Torx driver, someone uploaded a video on how to service some common hard drive problems. Consider it as a last-ditch resort if you can't send it back to the manufacturer or something.
– ecube – 2016-02-27T19:23:28.07316Well, in future, consider encrypting sensitive information. If you're hearing clicking noises, there's a good chance that the drive is physically damaged, and if you're lucky there should be nice long scratches on the platter – Journeyman Geek – 2012-02-02T00:06:53.120
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definitely related, but closed: http://superuser.com/questions/343198/destroy-a-hard-drive-without-proper-equipment of course destruction is not the preferred way in this case
– Jeff Atwood – 2012-02-02T00:37:43.0631The clicking problem can sometimes be overcome temporarily by freezing the drive. However the affects last only a few minutes per freeze cycle (not long enough to wipe the drive.) – Chris Nava – 2012-02-02T05:30:15.237
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Related question: http://serverfault.com/questions/74716/how-can-i-destroy-data-on-a-failed-hard-disk-without-voiding-warranty/74748#74748
– sleske – 2012-02-02T11:00:17.610See this question as well.
– Alex – 2012-02-02T21:24:14.833