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Close Topic OptionsWiping Dead Usb Drive
Wiping Dead Usb Drive - Computer Issues, Video Gaming - Posted: 8th Feb, 2008 - 3:49am
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Wiping Dead Usb Drive
Wiping Dead USB Drive
I cam across this because I was thinking about doing the same with my crapped out USB drive now dead. I paid a lot of money for it and it did not last long. What would you do?
| QUOTE (ml.osdir.com/security.forensics/2004-09/msg00020.html) |
| Anyone have any idea how to wipe a solid state, lipstick sized usb drive before returning it to the manufacturer for a replacement? The drive stopped responding while performing a complete file encryption of the data using the manufacturer's software. I have no reason to believe that everything was actually encrpyted before we hit a nonresponsive state. The drive still shows up when plugged into any usb port, but browsing gives an error and a notice that the drive must be formatted to continue - which doesn't work, either. This usb drive holds company data and two credit card numbers, and although we can no longer access the information, it is still seen by the OSes, which forces me to infer a potential security risk if the manufacturer can still read the data. It's not worth the $100 loss for a new one if I can't be reasonable sure it's unreadable. That said, is there a decent option to wipe such an inaccessable device? Magnets won't work on eeprom chips that I'm aware, and microwave seems kinda questionable, so I'm open for suggestions. Thanks. Joel |
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Drive Usb Dead Wiping
I did an experiment which I hope ensures the info is dead, but I am not sure since the USB stick cannot be accessed anyway. I took some lead wire and placed a 1.2V (AA) battery on top of it. Then I placed the metal part of the drive on top of the battery and the other end of the lead wire on top of that. The result is a complete circuit that heats up - hopefully it heats up the guts of the stick. I did not want to destroy it physically because I paid too much for it. It did not leave visible marks. I am not very worried since the data was already encrypted.
| Rather off topic, but... I did take it back today and got a replacement - unfortunately same brand. I am pondering if I can sell it or keep it just as a backup instead of a current USB Drive. |
Wiping Dead Usb Drive (Hover)
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