You might think that hard drives have a shelf life—and that’s partially the case. However, an old hard drive probably has a ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Even when an old computer won’t start up anymore, the hard drive ...

You can just toss that old hard drive in a drawer, which is the cheapest way to be sure nobody will access it, but if you’d just like to be rid of it, I’d recommend destroying it. Jim Rossman / TNS I ...

If you have hard drives that no longer serve you, maybe due to limited storage or finicky operation, it might be time to finally get rid of them. First, if it does still work, consider ways you can ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- So, you think you've cleaned all your personal files from that old computer hard drive you're selling? A pair of MIT graduate students suggest you think again. Over two years, ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Your old solid state drive (SSD) has a lot of files on it that you probably don't want ending up in a ...

Deleting a file on a computer rarely means it is gone. On traditional hard drives and many solid-state drives, what disappears from view often lingers in the background, recoverable with the right ...

Got an old computer collecting dust in a closet or tucked under a desk? You're not alone. Many people hold on to aging desktops and laptops, either as backup machines or because they still run "just ...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best decisions a PC or Mac user can make. It gives you the option of backing up your data in a ...

A bare drive dock like this one from Cirago is used to quickly move files to and from your computer via USB. Jim Rossman / TNS This week I got an email from a reader who asks, “I have a stand-alone ...