Tonight it was the turn of Jonathan's old Windows laptop to come under the scrutiny of the 100ItemChallenge. Jonathan switched to Mac some time ago (I've been a Mac user for a million years, ever since my days in graphic design) and the laptop is surplus to requirements, so it's time for it to go.
Before disposing of a piece of computer hardware it is important to remove any sensitive information from the hard drive (like shredding documents before putting them into the bin) otherwise personal information could fall into the hands of identity thieves.
It is easier said than done, as simply putting files into the Recycle Bin isn't good enough, as it is very easy to recover files deleted in this way. Reformatting the drive (permanently erasing all the data) isn't foolproof either, as there are commercially available "unformatting" utilities that can potentially recover data.
The best thing to do is use "military strength" data destruction software that will securely overwrite all the data on a disk. PCWorld offer the service for £30, but I opted to use Active Kill Disk Hard Drive Eraser. This utility (a free download) overwrites all of the data with zeros, leaving a drive free of personal data. It takes a little time, but if a computer is being left out for the dustmen, given to charity, or being sold, it's time worth investing to save a whole load of hassle.
Specialist charities will often erase all the data using professional software before refurbing equipment.
Anyway, one less item in the 100 item inventory!
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