Tech Table Monday, July 7, 2014
July 7, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise it’ll be easy to digest.
Diana: Well hello, and we are just back from a weekend.
Justin: We are, and it’s Mail Monday here at the Tech Table, where we look into our inbox. What do you see in our inbox, Diana?
Diana: Well, we get questions. We get suggestions. They’re always nice, though.
Justin: They really are. They really are.
Diana: Yeah, people are very nice.
Justin: Yeah, so you can send those questions in to…
Diana: questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: That’s right. So today’s questions, you know, we get this pretty often in different forms. So, what does it mean to format your computer?
Diana: Mm-hm.
Justin: Boy, I haven’t even thought about formatting a computer since I was much younger. I don’t know why. We used to reformat, format all the time.
Diana: Right, right. I think, you know, maybe it’s because we just don’t keep computers as long anymore.
Justin: Right.
Diana: We don’t have the need.
Justin: True.
Diana: I don’t know.
Justin: Donnie, at the front desk, who answers a lot of these questions for us, he says; people have watched all those police shows and see how data is accessible even when it’s deleted. So we get asked if there’s a safe way to keep your information out of people’s hands. So in other words, how do you really, really hide your…
Diana: How do you hide your stuff?
Justin: How do you hide your stuff, even from the police, apparently, is what they’re talking about.
[LAUGHTER]
Justin: I’m not sure who’s asking this.
Diana: That was kind of a strong lead-in there, wasn’t it?
Justin: I’m not sure who’s asking this. Yeah. So in most cases what people are referring to is older computers that they are getting rid of and they want to make sure that any banking records and personal information is gone.
Diana: Oh yeah, well that’s really important.
Justin: Well it is, because you don’t want to just toss your computer out with the garbage.
Diana: Right.
Justin: Because there could be a ton of stuff on there.
Diana: Stuff on there that you may not even know is on there.
Justin: And even if it’s deleted, it’s not really deleted.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: And so that’s where the reformatting comes from.
Diana: Yeah. So first, let us explain the most common way of, quote unquote, deleting your data. Most cases people simply put items in the Recycle Bin and then remove it from the computer.
Justin: Right.
Diana: Or you might also format the hard drive so that information you had is no longer available. But…
Justin: Interesting. For the standard computer user, you know, if you format the hard drive, it’s essentially gone. However, all formatting the hard drive actually does is tell the computer it is empty, then overrides the data that was once on it. But…
Diana: So it’s really not.
Justin: Right, but some software programs can actually locate that formatted data, making it accessible again. Interesting. So the best thing that you can do when disposing of a computer, to make sure your information is really destroyed, is to actually destroy the hard drive itself or remove it from the computer.
Diana: Yes, and keep that safe. I mean, you know, some people put it in the fire safe lock box.
Justin: Right, exactly. How do you destroy a hard drive, Diana?
Diana: We should ask John.
Justin: A hammer?
Diana: [LAUGHS]
Justin: Yeah, maybe we should go back to John’s 4th of July advice about a cannon fuse and aluminum foil and sparklers. I don’t know.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: But, no, I mean, I’ve seen people just smash them with hammers and things like that.
Diana: Yes, I have seen that as well.
Justin: So yeah, I mean really, when you’re disposing of a computer, I think, really, removing the hard drive is probably a good thing, but you can also just smash it to pieces.
Diana: [LAUGHS]
Justin: And that probably will do it. Then I guess you could take, like, a Bunson burner to it and melt everything, and then…I mean, I’m sure there’s a lot of things you could do.
Diana: My, my.
Justin: Well, you know.
Diana: Getting quite descriptive.
Justin: [LAUGHS] Well I’m sure that you could probably, really…I don’t know. I mean, I’d want to really destroy it. Make sure it’s really destroyed.
Diana: True.
Justin: So, yeah, and additionally, there are some paid software solutions out there that you can use to help make sure that no one else gets a hold of your information. But yeah, I would say take it out or destroy it. Or take it out and destroy it.
Diana: yes.
Justin: Either way…so there you go. Send your questions in to…
Diana: questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: That’s right. Until next time…
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table was brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at askmpa.com.
Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com
Justin: And thanks for listening!
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