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Selling old computer equipment

So, we have some old kit that needs selling and ditching.

Obviously its now costing companies to dispose of old equipment (WEEE).

In terms of selling, there must be some reputable companies out there that buy old equipment.
Anyone recommend any business that do this in the UK?

Does anyone (as a business) use ebay?

Thanks

We usually donat to schools or sports clubs in the area

Have to make sure you wipe the hard drives first to comply with data protection laws

ASKER

how about servers, switches, tape devices?

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OK, do you remove all traces of TAG/Serial Numbers?

No...TAG and Serial numbers should remain on the unit.
So that they are easily identifiable, and when redeployed easy to catalog.

Plus, if you remove the TAG / Serial Numbers, a lot of people won't accept them because they can't tell if they are stolen or not. Thieves try to remove serial numbers.

^^ that too! :)

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ASKER

Can you recommend a good software to wipe and guarantee the wipe is successful?

Some good information on how to really erase a hard drive.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/how-to-really-erase-a-hard-drive/129

It's a long read. But will give you quite a bit of info, and also depending on how securely you want to erase the data from the drive.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/completely-securely-erase-hard-drive-windows/

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I have been recommended blancco! Bit pricey tho

Dban, Boot and nuke....free alternatives...

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How good is dban in comparision to blancco?

dban is shareware, blancco is professionally written & supported. Isn't that enough?

ASKER

if they essentially do the same thing then im happy

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Opps I missed my 2nd ZDNet Article, with the informative information:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/storage/how-to-really-erase-a-hard-drive/129?tag=mantle_skin;content

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So what tools are there to recover data from HDD's? Ultimately, i will have to test these out....

ASKER

And according to what people are saying there are two requirements: Desktops and Servers/RAID

Well Many levels of Software data recovery can be had.
If you are a hacker a barrage of TORRENTED/HACKED recovery tools.
I have a friend who is a DATA Recovery specialist. He has hardware/Laboratory equipment to do data recovery on drives.

So not exactly sure what kind of answers you are looking for. But depending on the person who acquires your drives/systems you may/may not be susceptible to someone trying to gain your data.

Two requirements for what? For Data recovery? Drive wiping? Other?

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Requirements - for different levels of wiping i guess, i.e. server/desktop or sensitive/non-sensitive...

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Its looking like we will (because of the extreme costs) a) store the desktop HDD's and wipe/reuse and b) dismantle and dispose of the server HDD's.....

Totally understand! Both are good ideas for sure.

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Will go route of keeping all desktop disks and resuse when required. Server disks will be dismantled and disposed of...

Just so that other people who may be interested, a few more articles popped up for the Drive eRazer Ultra,

http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2012/04/25/securely-erase-hard-drive-driveerazer-review/

http://gizmodo.com/5905223/wipe-your-hard-drive-the-way-the-dod-does

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/one-in-10-secondhand-hard-drives-contain-recoverable-personal-information/20048

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Yes it looks good for desktop drives, however my main concern is the server drives....

ASKER

Update: Just to add, we are now going the route of free collection by 3rd party company to dispose and wipe using PD wipe and dban.

Its free for us for collections.

ebay is not always as good as it used to be - possible bad reputation shoudl something go wrong, plus u hear kit isnt selling at 99p....

We plan to dban before the leave the building also...

Comments?

http://www.dban.org/faq/certification

DBAN is not certified.

So...that's the only issue I see. Also 3rd party company. Make sure they are respectable? reviews?
I've seen a few bad stories about sending drives to third party companies for wiping etc.
I am not certain about PD Wipe. I have not seen/heard about this software before.
But as far as I know not many software will clean/wipe an HPA/DCO.

Other than that...free is a good price. DBAN's not a BAD program.
If you don't have to do the rest of the work, then that's not bad either.

ASKER

Would a 7pass wipe of a disk really be re-storable?

7 Pass should be fine.

I'm just talking about incompetent workers, and ethics.
I work for a company in the securing of data and erasure methods.
So I see/hear/know of incidents.

I also used to work in a computer store environment, and as you can see above the discussion on which/what method differs among the "specialists/techs"

So the biggest question is, what is going to give you the peace of mind knowing your data is clean/clear and that you are happy with.

Options:
1. 1 pass 0's 1's or whatever.
2. 7 pass?
3. Secure erase?
4. 35 pass?
5. Destroy the drive.

Also do you need the option to erase/remove HPA/DCO?
Most of the software is not capable of doing so. If so, then you may need a hardware solution or destroy the drive.

The only other thing to consider is if you need it to be certified. Some software are capable of cleaning a drive well enough, but may not be certifiable.

Of course there are other options in between or added to these as well.
The decision is up to you. And if you think it is enough.

ASKER

Cheers. Well wdban 7-pass wipe here locally then the 3rd party co will take it away and do the same.
any dban that doesnt work then we will keep or dismantle disks.