[wplug] degaussing tapes and hard drives

[Duncan Hutty]

Poyner, Brandon wrote:
> Does anybody have suggestions on degaussing SDLT media and hard drives 
> without buying a $2,000+ unit?  I'm looking to get it done locally.  I 
> don't want to destroy the tapes for warranty reasons, and I don't want 
> to send them far offsite for security reasons.  The drives I'm willing 
> to destroy and/or degauss.  It looks like I need something with at least 
> a 4000 gauss field strength.
>  

Would you elaborate a little on the "warranty reasons"? I think it's 
generally considered that trying to remove data from (lots of) old tapes 
is not worth the expense and that destruction is the way forward.

Duncan Hutty