Question: The hard drive of my laptop died, the manufacturer wants me to send it so that they can investigate, but I’m concerned that the drive might contain sensitive information.
When I say the drive is broken, the drive won’t be recognized by my OS (meaning I can’t use standard tools to wipe it) and I keep hearing clicking noises.
Is there something I can do to wipe the data without further damaging the hard drive?
The hard diskdrive is a standard drive, not a SSD.
Answer: Do not return the drive if it contains customer or legally protected personal data.
For what it is worth, you may find that if you explain the situation to the support rep they will waive the return and let you destroy the dead drive.
HP have done this for me in the past.
Just tell them that you don’t want to return the drive because of sensitive data, and you prefer to physically destroy it. The probable reason they want the dead drive is to make sure it really is dead and you aren’t just trying to blag a free one. As long as they believe you they will probably let you keep it.
If they insist, then if your data is important and/or legally protected (most business data is), just take the hit on the cost of the drive.