How to wipe 4-8 drives at the same time in a Windows PC?

[timeshifter]

Based on a recent discussion about hard drive hoarding I decided to build a machine to wipe all the drives I've got lying around. I've also got a decent GPU that I wasn't using so I figured I'd let it mine in the same box, since I'll be running this PC 24/7 anyway. I put in (4) of these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00834SJ8K/

Each device can run two drives at once, one 2.5 and one 3.5. I could have a total of (8) drives running on this setup, except my on-board SATA controller only has (6) ports. So for now I've got one of the 2.5's running my Windows OS, one 2.5 is available then the other (4) SATA ports are connected to the (4) 3.5 drive bays.

I was going to use Active Kill Disk for this purpose. But only after I got it built did I realize that the freeware version only supports two simultaneous or parallel cleanings at once. I don't mind paying for a license, but it seems that I would need (4) $40 licenses to to do four disks at once, or $160.

My preference would be to keep this machine running Windows. I plan to run NiceHash miner for the GPU. I could use a bootable DBAN disk and do the same thing but then I couldn't mine at the same time. Maybe some other Linux variant, but I'd not great with Linux, so prefer Windows.

Having said all that, here are some questions I hope someone can help clarify:

1) Is Active Kill Disk really $160 to simultaneously four drives at a time?
2) Can you recommend a free or inexpensive Windows program for wiping drives?
3) Any recommendation for a reliable and hopefully inexpensive SATA card with 4 SATA ports?

 

[Diggs]

The question I've always had is if you are wiping multiple drives at once, at what point do you saturate the SATA bus and the write process slows on each drive. You can load up more drives and walk away and since a 1 TB drive takes about 4 hours to write this may be a way to wipe during the night. I also struggle with SATA hot-swap on my Dell bench machines which is why I mostly stick to USB.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Usually you're wiping older drives, which frequently struggle...performance wise...I wouldn't lose too much sleep over worrying about performance.

What counts for us is being able to "document"....(print out)...appropriate info for certificates of destruction. Date/Make/model/serial number/level of wipe used/success or not of that wipe.

 

[Diggs]

Which isn't an issue in the residential market. As stated in another thread my "final" solution for old drives is a 1/2" hole with my drill press. Takes seconds when set up. I have most of these drives from performance problems and it's just not worth it to me to try to find them another life.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yeah we don't re-use (another life) any old drive anyways....to the metal recycle place they go, along with other boneyard stuff from old computers and servers. We still use our Drive Erazer for drives we're not documenting, it's cleaner, quieter, easier. Don't want drills and their scrolling pube hair metal scrap messes or 9mm casings all over the office.

 

[britechguy]

Is there any reason not to use the clean all command of diskpart?

There's not much that's more thorough than clean all, which, and I quote: "Specifies that each and every sector on the disk is set to zero, which completely deletes all data contained on the disk."

As far as physical destruction goes, I've never encountered a drive that will survive a direct hit from a 4-lb hammer. It doesn't have to "blow apart" or even be erased if the mechanisms that allow access to any data on the drive are destroyed. We're not generally talking about DoD level security.

 

[Diggs]

I've never encountered a drive that will survive a direct hit from a 4-lb hammer.

Really? - I used to use a 5 lb sledge and seen it bounce off drives. They may (or may not) still be operable but there was no way to tell and since they are rated to 300 Gs parked - sometimes I wondered. The drill press method is easier and less effort for me but as @YeOldeStonecat says above, there is some shrapnel involved but that's why I do it in the garage shop.

 

[britechguy]

I used to use a 5 lb sledge and seen it bounce off drives.

As have I, in the vast majority of cases. Try plugging it in afterward and see if it works. I haven't seen one that does after a direct, hard blow.

But I'll admit that I don't do tons of drive disposals, either. Another option (kinda) is dropping from at least a one story above height onto concrete or rock.

It comes back to what are the actual destruction requirements. For my client base, "good enough," is "cannot be plugged in by your average Joe/Jane and having any hope of the drive just working." A very great many will just toss a drive that would require data recovery after its been determined that's what would be required. The probability of a disk drive found in the trash, particularly if it's been in the dump for a while, even being recoverable by a data recovery company is pretty slim. Close enough to zero as to be, effectively, zero. If they wanted to be more thorough a couple of firm hammer hits before the toss seals the deal.

 

[Markverhyden]

The only time I'm going to actually wipe a drive is if I plan to re-purpose the drive. Otherwise I'll just give a couple of good whacks with a 3# ball peen. Or I'll take it apart to pull the magnets and toss the rest loose in a box for recycling.

A lot of the commentary about data recovery and wiping come from an era when the physical space a bit actually occupied was 100 or even a 1000 times larger than today. But old habits die hard.

 

[Blues]

I have only destroyed drives once for a medical office where I disassembled every drive and cut each platter into pieces. These drives fell into a grey area with regards to compliance as they were not the actual storage drives for any patient data but were part of an couple machines used to interface with the system where patient data was and so to avoid any potential exposure we destroyed however no certification was required as part of this disposal.

Back to OP I unfortunately have never looked into mass wipe applications to have a recommendation there and it has been years since reviewing SATA cards that I remember little about them.

 

[DRPCNZ]

I wipe data then do a full physical dismantle. Magnets get used for all sorts platters get used for all sorts bodies is stripped clean and ends up getting full clean aluminium prices at the scrappy, anything not used is into mixed metal recycling

 

[britechguy]

I wipe data then do a full physical dismantle.

Which, I must say, is overkill (but you're free to do it). The physical dismantle, with just the slightest rubbing of the disks on something like fine sandpaper, would be enough, and way faster than a data wipe.

 

[timeshifter]

Is there any reason not to use the clean all command of diskpart?

There's not much that's more thorough than clean all, which, and I quote: "Specifies that each and every sector on the disk is set to zero, which completely deletes all data contained on the disk."

That's a possibility, but a little plain. I like that Active Killdisk will also check the drive's health and report on it and any issues.


Also, can we keep the discussion toward my initial questions. I know there's lots of other ways to discard, destroy drives, etc. All that has been discussed in depth here:

My Hard drive hoarding is out of control

So I've got about 400 hard drives that I pulled from various systems over the last couple of years with the intent of wiping them and destroying them but i've fallen so far behind that it's going to take me days of work to properly wipe these things and then hammer them do death. I've called...

www.technibble.com

 

[britechguy]

That's a possibility, but a little plain. I like that Active Killdisk will also check the drive's health and report on it and any issues.

But that's adding a wanted feature, not that there's anything wrong with wanting that.

It seemed to me that the initial query was aimed at quick, inexpensive/free methods for wiping a hard drive. That was the only reason for my previous offering.

 

[timeshifter]

But that's adding a wanted feature, not that there's anything wrong with wanting that.

It seemed to me that the initial query was aimed at quick, inexpensive/free methods for wiping a hard drive. That was the only reason for my previous offering.

Well, it's a minor feature of Active Killdisk. Not an extensive test of the disk, might be no more than reading the SMART values and reporting those. For definition purposes, let's say inexpensive is around $100 or less.

 

[DRPCNZ]

Which, I must say, is overkill (but you're free to do it). The physical dismantle, with just the slightest rubbing of the disks on something like fine sandpaper, would be enough, and way faster than a data wipe.

I tell ALL my clients dont come to ask me for any recovery off your disk as it is nigh on IMPOSSIBLE. I get good money each year from my scrapped HDDs

 

[lcoughey]

Run multiple instances of Victoria.

 

[timeshifter]

Run multiple instances of Victoria.

Thanks! Never heard of that before. Looks like a nice, simple utility. Do you think it's "Erase All data" command is thorough enough?

 

[NETWizz]

Depends on how you want to wipe them. You can get hdutil or hdparam for Windows, too and use that and call the drive’s secure erase or enhanced secure erase.

You can also just fire up a live boot Linux fool like nwipe in hyper-v or VMWare player …. Can make as many VMs as you want and connect the drives to them that you want.

 

[NJW]

2) Can you recommend a free or inexpensive Windows program for wiping drives?

Not a Windows program, but shredos is a bootable nwipe .iso. Easily customisable for default nwipe options, local or remote log recording and other enhancements.

Maybe not so useful if you want to use an existing always-on machine, but it doesn't need extensive hardware resources beyond the drive ports. Also includes hdparm for ATA Secure Erase.