Old HDD questioning

[Cybran]

Long ago, I replaced the old hdd with a new one because Windows notified me of failing sectors and before replacing it, it had 20 sectors left as CrystalHDD said. Now, to the actual point, I can't remember if I cleaned the HDD thoroughly. Should I worry about my private data and smash the HDD or be gentle and erase things on it, or has it probably failed already and poses no danger whatsoever to my information?
Its very stressful and I'd love some actual answer on this and POVs.

 

[tejayd]

I'm not an expert. I've had 3 hdds go bad. Of the 3, 2 stopped working shortly after. The 3rd started about 5 years ago. I stuck in my old parts pc and has been readable since (it's not used much, but was set up and running until about a month ago). So I would say format it if you can. Smash it if you want. I usually just format and toss them (even working old ones). My first 2 made a whopping noise and I knew where going to die. This one didnt. Just gave me the notification all the time. So I was kinda just testing it to see if it would die and it didnt.

 

[USAFRet]

Long ago, I replaced the old hdd with a new one because Windows notified me of failing sectors and before replacing it, it had 20 sectors left as CrystalHDD said. Now, to the actual point, I can't remember if I cleaned the HDD thoroughly. Should I worry about my private data and smash the HDD or be gentle and erase things on it, or has it probably failed already and poses no danger whatsoever to my information?
Its very stressful and I'd love some actual answer on this and POVs.

If it has failed, and you're not going to use it anymore, 2 options.

Dismantle for the fridge magnets and toss the rest of it
or
Smash it.

In truth, no one is going to attempt to resurrect it to discover your personal secrets.

Me, I have a bunch of fridge magnets...:lol:

 

[smorizio]

there are a lot of disk wiping software on the internet that wipe data off so that it cant be pulled off the drive. if you dont want your data back look for a local recycler that turns hard drives into aluminum fries. there no getting the data off a drive that been shredded.

 

[JeckeL]

Me, I have a bunch of fridge magnets...:lol:

FRIDGE magnets? Your fridge must look like someone's been hacking at it with a machete... I use them on a large metal cabinet and from moving them around a lot the surface of it has huge scrapes/divots

 

[aquielisunari]

Long ago, I replaced the old hdd with a new one because Windows notified me of failing sectors and before replacing it, it had 20 sectors left as CrystalHDD said. Now, to the actual point, I can't remember if I cleaned the HDD thoroughly. Should I worry about my private data and smash the HDD or be gentle and erase things on it, or has it probably failed already and poses no danger whatsoever to my information?
Its very stressful and I'd love some actual answer on this and POVs.

I'd plug it in and see if it is seen by Windows. If it is then I would wipe it clean with Ccleaner(35x overwrite) to offer some peace of mind and you can then toss it.