On 11/28/11 18:48, matthew sporleder wrote:
On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 6:24 PM, Perry E. Metzger<perry%piermont.com@localhost> wrote:On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:18:49 +0900 Curt Sampson<cjs%netbsd.org@localhost> wrote:On 2011-11-28 16:06 -0500 (Mon), Metzger, Perry E. wrote:I have a bunch of old backup tapes. I want to get rid of them but I worry about what data might be on them.... Failing that, does anyone have any other good ideas on how to dispose of the things? Breaking the cartridges by hand etc. is a non-starter, there are too many of them.Hand-held tape degaussers are made specifically for the purpose of erasing tapes for re-use. They were pretty common in the audio and video recording worlds a couple of decades ago, and I do seem to recall having seen ones for computer backup tapes as well.Modern ones capable of dealing with vaguely recent media cost in the thousands of dollars -- far more I'm willing to pay for this purpose. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/Tape-Degaussers-Erasers/N/4268019507A professional shredding company can usually handle that kind of stuff on-site with a special truck. I saw one a few months ago with a monitor on the side where you could watch your documents being destroyed.
Cool.I dealt with a large quantity of DLT tapes recently, that could not just be dropped in the garbage either.
Someone gave me a powerful magnet that I ran over the tapes a few times. I wasn't going to recheck each one to confirm it worked, but then I used an electric drill with a 1/4" bit or so and drilled holes across the tape a few times.
From what I hear, you need to keep the magnet over the tape for a bit, but haven't confirmed it.
g