Data Wiping a Damaged Drive

[Glenn9999]

A question out of curiousity more than anything...

Is there a way to wipe the data on a damaged drive that you intend to RMA to a company? Like for example, if something happens to a drive and you had sensitive data on it that you don't want anybody else to see? I know the obvious answer to get the data wiped (strong magnet), but I'm wondering if there's a way to do it without voiding a warranty?

How do most companies generally handle such a situation, especially in the face of some of the data protection laws that are now in place? Avoid RMAs on hard drives?

 

[NoCalAdmin]

we use the product GDisk, it'll wipe all the data. IF the drive is dead, magnet it or drill it...

Tom

 

[G0AOZ]

On a completely dead drive there's little that can be done to wipe data. If a company's data protection policy forbids information on a hard drive to go out of its control, then they will have to forgo their RMA and fork out for a replacement drive. You're unlikely to get a sympathetic hearing from the supplier if you present a dead drive with holes drilled through it!!

ROGER - G0AOZ.