On gadget recycling

Staples was willing to recycle an old desktop computer of mine for free. So, while in the midst of moving to our new apartment, I stuck the old PC in the trunk of our zipcar, and headed over to the shop.

While filling out some of the necessary forms, the woman behind the counter launched into what was obviously a legal-department-required spiel about how "we won't be accessing your hard drive's data at all, but we can't be held responsible if that data is lost or stolen..."

The fact that I hadn't switched that machine on in over four or five years notwithstanding, I asked the Staples rep if she wouldn't mind loaning me a phillips head screwdriver and waiting five minutes while I lobotomized the machine before they took it away to a farm where it could play with other old PCs.

She agreed and found me a screwdriver, and I got to work. Five minutes and countless dustbunnies later, I emerged from the store, hard drive in hand. My near-archaeological private information is safe...

Safe even from me, since my current PC is new enough that it lacks the proper connectors to even access the old hard disk. I couldn't even reformat the darned thing even if I wanted to!

So, anybody out there have access to a bulk HD eraser?

On gadget recycling

Staples was willing to recycle an old desktop computer of mine for free. So, while in the midst of moving to our new apartment, I stuck the old PC in the trunk of our zipcar, and headed over to the shop.

While filling out some of the necessary forms, the woman behind the counter launched into what was obviously a legal-department-required spiel about how "we won't be accessing your hard drive's data at all, but we can't be held responsible if that data is lost or stolen..."

The fact that I hadn't switched that machine on in over four or five years notwithstanding, I asked the Staples rep if she wouldn't mind loaning me a phillips head screwdriver and waiting five minutes while I lobotomized the machine before they took it away to a farm where it could play with other old PCs.

She agreed and found me a screwdriver, and I got to work. Five minutes and countless dustbunnies later, I emerged from the store, hard drive in hand. My near-archaeological private information is safe...

Safe even from me, since my current PC is new enough that it lacks the proper connectors to even access the old hard disk. I couldn't even reformat the darned thing even if I wanted to!

So, anybody out there have access to a bulk HD eraser?