Exploding hard drives and your privacy -- How to dispose of old hard drives

Exploding hard drives and your privacy -- How to dispose of old hard drives

I recently read an article about an amazing thing.

We probably all remember the sad events of the Columbia Space Shuttle that tragically exploded upon reentry into the Earth's atmosphere back in 2003. I've been fascinated by space travel since I was a young boy, and what happened to Columbia as well as Challenger back in 1986 had a huge impact on me.

You might be wondering what this has to do with computers; well let me explain.

In the article I mentioned above, I learned that a hard drive was recovered amongst the debris of the Columbia. The hard drive had been used to store valuable information from scientific studies done during Columbia's final mission.

The drive was sent to a data recovery center to see if any of this information could be salvaged, and incredibly **over 90%** of the files were recovered!

And remember: the files were recovered from a drive that had been through a tremendous explosion, and then had fallen *several miles* to hit the ground at high speeds and was burnt and twisted almost beyond recognition.

And they still were able to get more than 90% of the files.

If that's true, think how easy it would be for someone to go to a landfill or recycling center, take the old hard drive from your old computer, and get to the files!

So if you have any personal information on your computer -- including passwords, bank info, social security numbers, and the like, if that drive gets into the wrong hands, it can lead to someone digging into your private affairs or even stealing your identity.

There's a few horror stories I've read about this happening to drives out of computers sold on eBay or left at a repair shop.

So if your computer stops working and you have it in at a repair shop and they tell you it's not worth repairing, you might be wondering should you leave your old hard drive at the repair shop?

Well, I'd suggest you don't -- if you're replacing your old computer and have it in at a shop they will often offer to keep it for you in exchange for waiving or lowering their fee, in hopes that they can use it for a few parts.

This is fine, but I would suggest you ask them for the hard drive back just in case -- it's not that they're going to try to steal your identity, but you don't know what they're going to do with the drive. It could end up in someone else's computer, or in a landfill just waiting for someone to come along and take it.

Not good!

If you're wondering "What can I do with my old hard drive?", well, you can stick it in a drawer or in a box in storage someplace. Wait long enough and the technology will become so outdated that even a technologically savvy and determined identity thief won't be able to do anything with it, or at least not without so much effort that it's not likely they'll bother.

Or you can take a screwdriver to it and open it up (if you're a curious person, it's actually pretty interesting) where you'll find a few metal disks called "platters" -- these are the actual hard disks in the hard drive, and the specific part of your computer where your files are stored.

If you're feeling paranoid (or just careful) you can take a hammer to them and you can then shatter the disks into tiny pieces, and you'll be close to guaranteeing no one will get your files. Save it for a bad day when you need to work off some steam, and you'll even kill two birds with one stone.

Hopefully this article will help protect you, and answer the question of how to dispose of old hard drives.

Tips For Getting On the Internet While Traveling

I recently got a question from a client named Anne Irene who sent me a two-part question about what to do on an upcoming trip to access the Internet.

As a change of pace, I decided to try out giving a video response to her question. I've put the video up on my website for you to watch. You can watch it by clicking the image below:



Please note: if you're using dialup or other slow Internet connection, the video may play sort of "stop and go", or might not seem to play at all. So you aren't left out, I've also made an audio-only version of the lesson.

You can listen to the audio-only version if you click here for the audio answer to Anne Irene's computer question.

Windows 3.1 Computers - Question on old computers "losing memory"

I recently got a question from a newsletter subscriber named John who asks:

"Hello Worth. I have a question. Do computers lose their memory? I had an old one stored for some time. I want to give it to someone but first I hooked it all up - but it gives me this message "Drive nor ready error Insert Boot diskette in A: Press any key when ready" Whats the problem.? {This has Windows 3.1 } Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. John"

Thanks for the question, John. I guess you could say that computers can "lose their memory", so to speak.

Computers store their "memory" (their files) on something called a hard drive. You can think of it as storage shelves, or a filing cabinet, that you're storing information in.

The problem is, the hard drive is part of a machine, and like all machines, it breaks down over time, and can break down even if it's not being used.

If this old computer was running Windows 3.1, it's not likely to be less than 13 years old, since Windows 3.1 was replaced in 1995 when Windows 95 came out. Some computers did get Windows 3.1 installed on them for a while after that, but chances are the computer is at least 12 years old.

Now 12 years old may not sound that old to a lot of people, and it's not if you're talking about a person. But if you're talking about, say, a dog, that's pretty up there in years.

And when you're talking about a *computer* -- well, that's positively ancient!

So John, while the thought was a nice one, to give the computer to someone, it's no surprise that it doesn't work well, and even if it actually still worked and started up into Windows 3.1, your friend would not have gotten much out of having it.

Even if it was working, the computer would not be able to do much more than maybe use it as a word processor, and unless you still had the old printer that came with the computer (and it still worked) they wouldn't be able to print out what they'd written, since modern printers wouldn't work with such an old computer. And they'd be saving their files onto an old, untrustworthy hard drive and may have big challenges moving them to another computer to print, etc. since it wouldn't have a CD burner, has no USB port for a flash drive, and only uses very out of date floppy drive that might not be working anymore.

If your friend wanted to look at web pages and check email, they probably wouldn't be able to view the vast majority of websites, and might not be able to connect to the Internet at all -- the modem (if it has one) would be too slow for most Internet Service Providers, and it's highly doubtful that it came with a network card needed to use cable or DSL, and it'd be nearly impossible to find one that you could add to it.

So basically, trying to use that computer today would be like trying to drive a horse and buggy on a major highway -- *maybe* possible, but probably not a good idea.

So my advice to you would be to take the computer someplace for recycling (don't just throw old electronics in the landfill -- they leak toxic chemicals) and let it rest in peace.

And for anyone who is still keeping an old computer like that (Windows or Mac), if it's still working and you have *any* important files on it, do yourself a favor and get them moved to a more modern computer right away.

Because you never know how long it will keep working, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be to move the files since everything changes so quickly in the world of computers.

Understanding the Hourglass Pointer In Windows and the Spinning Beach Ball on a Mac

As you may know, I just had one of my monthly live computer question and answer call-ins a few days ago. I had friends coming in from the mainland that afternoon, and I ran out of time before I could get to all of the questions.

To be notified about my monthly live call-ins, join my free computer tips newsletter.

In this email I wanted to answer one of the questions I wasn't able to get to during the live event this past Sunday:

"why do I get an 'hour glass' when attempting to 'reply' to some emails? I have to restart to get back into the email area, and regain my 'pointer' The hour glass will not go away by its self.
Thanks, Frank Hublar Windows 2000 (?)"

What Frank is talking about here is the mouse pointer (which is often called a cursor, but Frank is using the correct term here) will sometimes change from an arrow into a little hourglass. Windows users have probably seen this happen before.

What this means, generally speaking, is that the computer is "pausing to think" for a moment. Mac computers do the same thing, except that they show this with a spinning "beach ball" or multi-colored pinwheel.

This is normal if it happens occasionally, but it should always go back to a regular arrow-shaped pointer after a few moments, except maybe when the computer is doing something very hard on the computer like making changes to a large photo or saving a home movie you've been editing, or something like that.

And even in those cases, it should still go back to normal after a few minutes or so, depending on exactly what you're doing.

So in other words, something simple like replying to an email shouldn't cause the hourglass (or beach ball in the case of a Mac) to appear at all, or definitely not for more than a moment or two.

So if you are seeing this happen a lot, it could be something to be concerned about, because it *might* mean that there's something wrong with your computer.
Now in Frank's case, he says he's running Windows 2000, which makes me think he might have a pretty old computer. While it is possible for a newer PC to have Windows 2000 on it, it's not very common, so I'd guess it might be as much as eight years old, which is extremely old in computer terms.

The first thing I'd do is make sure to have a full backup of your important files. This is something *everyone* should be doing regularly, but it's especially important on an old computer, because they're more likely to break down.

Frank has my computer lesson CDs, so he knows that I recommend backing files up onto CD combined with "cloning" your hard drive onto an external hard drive as the best overall way to do this. The cloning process can be done using free software like XXClone for Windows, or Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac.

I cover step-by-step how to use these on my computer basic CDs available through my web site.

When you get the hourglass or beach ball that won't go away, there is something to try first before shutting the computer off -- in some cases it's just one program that has crashed, not the whole computer.

What you can do in this case is hold down CTRL ALT and DEL on a PC, or Command Option and Escape on a Mac (the Command key is the one with the Apple or the "propeller" logo on it).

On a Windows PC this will usually cause something called the task manager to open up. You can then find the problem program in the list in the window, click once on it to highlight it, then click the "end task" button. This can force the program to close and then you can shut down normally.

On a Mac, you'll get a window called "Force Quit Application" that works in a similar way -- you select the program from the list, and click the force quit button to try to force it to close. Then shut down normally.

But if this is sort of thing is happening a lot with any computer -- Mac or PC -- you should probably get it looked at by a professional to make sure there's not something serious going on. Looking at problems promptly can help you avoid them getting worse (and more costly!).

Internet Service Providers For Mac OS 7 - A Word of Advice

Internet Service Providers For Mac OS 7 - A Word of Advice

I recently learned, to my amazement, that there are people out there looking on search engines every day, trying to find Internet service providers that work with Mac OS 7 (which, if you want to get technical, is actually called Mac *System* 7 since Apple stopped using the name "System" many years ago and switched to "OS" starting with OS 8 -- short for Operating System 8).

The reason this amazed me was that it's really pretty surprising that there are that many computers old enough to run System 7 even working still, let alone enough of them for there to be enough searches being done to even make a blip on the search engine trends.

On the off chance that you're one of those people who is looking to find Internet Service Providers for Mac OS 7 (System 7), I've written this article for you.

First I'll briefly try to answer your question, and then I strongly suggest you read my article on the hidden dangers in keeping old computers. Mac System 7 was replaced over 11 years ago, in 1997, which is a *very* long time ago in computer terms.

It's really a very very bad idea to try to keep using computers that old, and I go into more detail in that article.

So here's the thing. If you still have a working computer running System 7, in theory you might actually be able to use it with most ISPs (Internet Service Providers).

Maybe.

Now if your computer only has a dialup modem, then you may be out of luck. Most ISPs have an absolute minimum speed requirement of a 28.8kbps modem, which your computer may or may not have, depending on exactly how old it is.

If your computer has a network port built into it, which a fair number of Apple's early to mid 1990s-era Macs actually had (which was fairly unusual at the time), then you might have a little more luck.

But the thing is, either way, you're not going to get any tech support from the ISP, and you'll basically have to lie to them about your computer's "specs" and tell them it's something more modern, or they'll tell you it won't work.

Several years ago, I was hired by a client with a mid 1990s Mac running System 7 or OS 8 (I forget now, it has been a few years) and they wanted to get DSL.

The phone company had told her she couldn't do it, but when she called me and told me the exact computer she had, I said it'd theoretically be possible to do, since she had a built-in network port.

I was able to hook up the DSL connection and go into her Control Panel settings and set the TCP/IP control panel to use DHCP, which is really the only setting that has to be made. The computer connected, and was able to check email and browse *some* websites.

But don't get your hopes up *too* high -- again, this was probably 5 years ago, and 5 years is a long time in computer years -- the Web has moved on a lot since then, and while she may have been able to visit a fair number of websites then, the number has been dwindling year after year as web sites move on with newer technology.

So the basic answer here is yes, it *may* be possible, but it will work poorly at best, many websites will just not work or may even crash your computer, and in my opinion, it's really not worth it.

It's like trying to drive an old and rickety horse-drawn carriage on the Autobahn -- theoretically it might work, but in practice it's probably not a good idea.

And I'm not exaggerating with that comparison, either; it's all due to something called Moore's Law, which I talk about in my article on the dangers of keeping old computers for too long.

So again, if you're still using an old computer from the mid or early 1990s that's running Mac System 7, get a new computer now.

I'm serious, and I really mean this as genuinely good advice that I really hope you'll follow: a computer that old will break down soon; it's only a matter of time. And while it's working, you won't be able to do most of what a modern computer can do, and what you can do will work slowly and poorly.

If you have any important files on the computer, you're already going to have trouble moving them to a modern Mac, and if the computer breaks down, you might have no chance of saving your files at all.

I don't want to end this article on a down note, but please do read my article "The Hidden Dangers of Keeping Old Computers For Too Long" to learn more about this, and please heed my advice or you will end up regretting it.

I really do hope you listen.

How Does Wireless Internet Work - A Simple Explanation

In this article I'll help you understand the answer to a computer terminology question I find a lot of people asking: "How does wireless Internet work?".

Before I can answer this question, I have to mention that there are two basic types of wireless Internet: a wireless Internet connection through a device called a router (this type of wireless Internet is called WiFi), and then there is wireless Internet access through the cell phone network.

Wireless routers are very common in homes, offices, and "wireless hotspots" like you find at coffee shops, airports, and elsewhere. These are basically just small electronic "boxes" that hook up to your Internet connection so you can share the connection between several computers, or simply to give you the freedom to place your computer wherever you want, and not just next to the cable or phone outlet.

The cell phone data network (wireless Internet through the cell phone network in other words) of course is very widespread -- pretty much everywhere where you can get a cell signal -- and can be used not only with a cell phone but also with a growing number of computers.

Now if you want to get really technical, these two types of wireless Internet work differently. But in a general sense, if you simplify things and explain them in a basic way that will make sense to the average person, they both work along the same general lines.

So how does wireless Internet work? One way to think of it is by comparing it to a portable phone.

With a portable phone, something most of us have in our home, the phone has two parts: a handset and a cradle.

The cradle gets plugged into the phone line -- the connection to the phone network -- and takes that connection and broadcasts it via radio waves more or less in all directions.

If the handset is within range of the signal, it picks up this signal and relays the telephone connection so you can make or receive a call.

Wireless Internet, whether its via a cell network or a wireless router, works the same basic way: you have a connection to the Internet, which is sent out wirelessly to a receiver of some sort, very much like a portable phone cradle sends out the telephone connection to the handset.

The broadcast can come from a wireless router hooked up to a cable or DSL Internet connection, or the broadcast can be from a cell phone tower hooked into the cell phone network and relaying the Internet connection.

On the other end you have a "handset", which is a receiver in a computer, smart phone, or other device. This could be a WiFi card in a laptop or desktop computer for the one type of wireless Internet, or a receiver in a cell phone or laptop using the cell data network.

So that basically answers the question "how does wireless Internet work".

Connecting With People through Computers

Connecting With People Through Computers

Back in the eighties, it wasn't that usual to have a modem in your computer, if you even had one. These days, there are different kinds of modems - cable modems, DSL modems, and dialup modems like I used to have.

Even though dialup modems seem incredibly slow these days, compared to "broadband" connections like DSL and cable, they are amazingly fast compared to the ones you could get back in the 80s.

I remember that when I got my first dialup modem for my first computer. Back then, most computers didn't even have modems; modems have been standard in most computers for years now, but are starting to get phased out because they're so out of date.

The dialup modems you get now, while much much slower than "broadband" (high speed) connections like DSL or cable, are incredibly fast compared to what you could get in the mid '80s.

Back then, the modem in my PC ran at "1200 baud" (as opposed to current dialup modems which are about 50 times faster). Some of my friends had 300 baud modems. They were so slow, that if I went to read an email online, I could actually read faster than the words would appear on the screen, letter by letter, line by line.

Later, when I shelled out over $200 for a whopping 2400 baud modem, I was amazed that the words appeared too fast to read!

Of course, it was still so slow by modern standards, that if I'd tried to download even a picture like you'd find on a website of today - even a very small picture - it could take hours.

And a dialup modem these days costs less than $20.

So times change. Especially when it comes to computers.

Of course, the great thing about that is all the cool stuff you can do now that would've seemed like science fiction back in the '80s.

But really, I think the best thing about the technology we have today is how it can bring people together. These days we think nothing of sending an email across the world and have it arrive in moments. Back in the '80s, it was possible to do that, but it was a lot harder to do, and much more expensive.

And of course most people hadn't even heard of email back then.

One of the best ways people can connect, either for business or with friends or family, is video chats. Video chats have been around for years, but only fairly recently have gotten good enough to be like the video phones on the old Jetsons cartoons.

I moved out to Hawaii in 2001, about five thousand miles from where I grew up, in Ithaca, NY. My parents still live there, and while my brother is a little closer, he's still a long way away in California.

One of the ways we keep in touch is with video chats - if you don't know what I'm talking about, you've probably been in an electronics store where they have a camcorder hooked up to a TV so people can wave at themselves when they come in.

With a good chat program, a good quality web cam, and a fast internet connection, the picture can look almost as good as that.

So it's about the next best thing to actually being with friends or family, when they're a long way away. It's almost like I get to visit with my parents, or hang out with my brother.

Plus in the winter, my parents can point the camera out the window and I can see the snow fall, and I can make them jealous by showing them my view of the sun shining off the deep blue sea.

It also doesn't cost a thing, so if you talk long distance a lot, it can really save a lot of money.

There are a lot of chat programs that let you do free video or audio chats (audio chats are like regular phone calls, and in some cases you can even call from your computer to a regular phone).

You can use programs such as AOL Instant Messenger, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger for audio and/or video chats. There are versions of these programs for both Mac and PC, but the majority of Mac users use iChat AV (which is what I use to talk to my family and friends), which comes on all Macs made in the last few years.

One of the best choices overall, in my opinion, is Skype. While I personally think the program is a bit of a "resource hog" (in other words, it can bog your computer down while it's running) it does let basically any type of computer -- Mac, Windows, or Linux) talk to each other without compatibility problems. Other programs either only work on one type of computer, or don't work as well between computer types.

Skype also has some other nice features, like "Skypeout" that lets you call regular phone numbers, not just other computers running Skype.

But the main thing is, computers give us amazing possibilities to connect with others, more quickly, easily, and inexpensively than ever before.

It's a pretty amazing time we live in.

Until next time, enjoy,

Worth Godwin