Please note the important qualifier: For
truly sensitive information, TilDeath's method leaves a lot to be desired. Note too that we don't really know why the brother wants to wipe the drive. Is it because he doesn't want anyone to read his email, or browse his vacation pictures? Or is it because it contains confidential financial information for a client base of several thousand customers?
The 2 hole method described leaves a lot to be desired for truly sensitive information because while it ruins the drive as a functional device, unless it shatters the platters themselves as has been mentioned, most of the data on the platters will remain intact. And while you or I would be able to estimate where to drill the holes to do the most damage to the platters, not everyone is necessary going to do so. And while a typical recovery company may not generally be able to recover it because they are geared toward recovery of a failing (but otherwise undamaged) drive at a cost effective price point, the fact remains that most of the data is still there. In fact, depending upon where the holes end up, ALL of the data on the platters could still be intact.
Again, if you are just trying to prevent someone from picking the drive out of the trash and reading the data off of it, it's fine.
But if the information is truly sensitive, given that it takes only a little more effort to totally destroy the platters, that's what I'd suggest. And if it's really important that the destruction of the data be guranteed, use gyrenes method (smash the drive until you hear it rattle when you shake it, or dismantle it and specifically destroy the platters then send the remains to a professional service that will destroy the them in a shredder like this one (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd_O7-rqcHc ) - and then (typically) subject them to heat to further render them unusable.
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