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Resolved Old hard drives

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Spanner, 2013/09/08.

  1. 2013/09/08
    Spanner

    Spanner Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have a number of 'no longer used' hard drives, that have been removed from PC's that had larger GB's fitted.
    Is there a way I can format them without going thru an OS system installion, I am thinking of having one or two of the best as slaves, perhaps, or emergancy drives, etc;. shame to waste them.
    Spanner.
     
    Spanner,
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  2. 2013/09/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Simply connect the drives temporarily to a computer via the EIDE cable secondary connector (set as slave) or via SATA cable if SATA whichever is appropriate and format from the computer.

    Alternatively mount in an external USB case and format as usual.

    Bear in mind that a really old drive - i.e. a small drive od say < 100 GB is going to be well used and not to be trusted for critical data.
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2013/09/08
    Spanner

    Spanner Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks Peter C, I should have thought of those options, fairly obvious really, but then driving a car is, until it is tried.
    Thanks, calling this solved.
    Spanner.
     
    Spanner,
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  5. 2013/09/09
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    That is actually why I bought a drive docking station. Much easier than an enclosure or messing with cables (besides the one-time connection for the docking station).

    Then from there is simple to run a "wipe" program on the drives (CCleaner has a good wiper) to ensure there is no personal data on the drives before disposing of them.

    There are several types for SATA, EIDE, or both.
     
    Bill,
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