[DrAlvarez]

In computer technology, many components are used that are easily changed when broken. In some cases, due to the obsolescence of the device, you have to look for where to put the old computer. It is unacceptable to throw it in the trash because of different groups of materials that can harm the environment: metals, plastic, glass, rubber. The choice of methods for delivery depends on the performance of a personal computer (PC): to transfer to repair organizations, shops, reception points, to charity, to sell. Or you can contact the [link redacted].

[Drako]

Wipe the HDD/SSD with a program that can overwrite everything with ones and zeros, like DBAN. There's a difference between formatting and overwriting. Formatting a drive just removes partitions. It doesn't actually remove any data from the drive. With a program like DBAN, it overwrites every byte of the drive with either a 1 or a 0. This will make anything that was previously on the drive unreadable and unrecoverable.

After that, you should take the laptop with the battery to a Staples, Best Buy, or other e-waste center. They'll take the laptop and battery free of charge.

[ConcernedCitizen]

^ DBAN is good. Three passes of random data with a final zero write is enough for DoD standards. 6 passes is paranoia sufficient protection. Degauss and destroy/disintegrate the drive, performing a memory wipe by rebooting, then degaussing while it is running. This ensures destruction of theoretically fixable sectors and blocks.

Deguassing and destroying a single 3.5” server hard drive takes less than 7 seconds.  Disintegrating an SSD to the 2mm requirement should take 10 minutes. That's the standard DoD destruction method that is imposed during destruction of sensitive compartmentalized intelligence.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) MEDIA SANITIZATION GUIDELINES 5220.22M:

https://www.destructdata.com/dod-standard

"The DoD 5220.22-M standard for erasing or wiping data from a hard drive emerged early on in the evolving electronic data destruction business. A classic case of echo chamber knowledge distribution, the de facto adaption of this process was more of a marketing phenomenon than it was the result of any official policy supported by the Department of Defense.

DoD 5220.22-M specifies a process that overwrites data on a hard drive with random patterns of ones and zeros. The fact that the DoD 5220.22-M protocol required three overwriting passes made it seem all the more secure, as did the implied Department of Defense imprimatur. At some point, this pseudo standard took on a life of its own as third-party computer recycling and refurbishing companies, IT asset disposition (ITAD) firms and other types of organizations asserted DoD compliance on websites and marketing collateral.

DoD 5220.22-M was never approved by the Department of Defense for civilian media sanitization, and even more importantly, the DoD never intended for it to be a standard for classified data. The DoD is not in the business of certifying data destruction standards and has no mechanism for policing any given company's procedures. For its own classified data, the DoD requires a combination of wiping, degaussing and/or physical destruction.

Over the past several years, the National Institute for Standards and Technology's (NIST) Special Publication 800-88: Guidelines for Media Sanitization has become the real world reference for data erasure compliance. Originally issued in 2006 and revised in 2012, SP 800-88 spells out preferred methodologies for wiping hard drives and other media under Minimum Sanitization Recommendations in Appendix A (see our summary of this document here). These methods include both over-writing and Secure Erase, a protocol built into the hard drive. This document has replaced the DoD standard in terms of regulatory and certification practice, and yet DoD 5220.22-M continues to hang on in marketing statements."

If you work in a government facility see your supervisor and ask for one of these:
https://www.destructdata.com/storage-decommissioning
https://www.destructdata.com/physical-destruction/

They are extremely effective in my workplace. They involve, usually, a combination of degaussing then destroying, or wiping then degaussing then destroying. Also, I highly recommend using the thermite method after degaussing periods for a little fun, if applicable.

[Onyxia]

Just destroy it with a hammer. Easily done. and then just into the trash.

[Vonkrumm]

flash is impossible to recover.
if you want to open up a HDD and put the disk into a microwave, youre free to be that paranoid.

[Dismas]

If you're planning to sell it, you could just DBAN the hard drive. For anything sensitive you'll probably want to follow DoD standards (3-7 passes). You can also just outright destroy it.