Photo credit: mike73 from morguefile.com Have an old computer that you are ready to give away, sell or dispose? Most likely you will have sensitive information on that machine.. maybe emails, passwords, financial records, tax returns? What can you do to keep this information from getting into the wrong hands? A word to the wise: You cannot just delete your files and empty the recycle bin. You cannot just format the hard drive. You cannot just format and reinstall the operating system. In each of these cases, your files can be recovered. There are four ways to make your hard drive files completely unrecoverable and your data safe from being compromised. You can remove the hard drive and physically destroy it. You would need to completely destroy the individual plates and not just the hard drive case. It is amazing what can be recovered on a hard drive by experts. This requires power tools, chemicals or you can purchase a kit called DiskStroyer: Hard Disk Des