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Computer equipment surplusing at NC State

NC State is obligated to remove confidential data and certain software applications from surplused computer equipment in order to maintain data security, be compliant with various federal and state regulations, and fulfill licensing agreements. To ensure due diligence, the university has implemented new procedures for surplusing computer equipment.

All NC State computer equipment to be surplused must now:

  • Have the hard drive completely erased or removed and destroyed
  • Have a label attached to the computer equipment signed by an NC State employee that certifies that the hard drive has been erased or removed
  • Have the newly revised Materials Management surplus forms completed

Hard Disk Drive Erasing Guidelines and Tools

  • For Intel compatible (PC) computers, the university has purchased an enterprise site-licensed software for Active@Kill Disk which is available for download. This software will work regardless of the operating system installed on the machine (Windows, Linux, etc.)
  • For Macintosh computers, instructions for proper data removal are provided online
  • For Unix computers, software and instructions will be made available soon.

Labeling instructions

Once the hard drive has been erased a verification label must be attached to the computer equipment. Labels are provided in Word format and may be printed on Avery 5963 labels, any 2" x 4" label, or printed on a plain sheet of paper and simply taped to the equipment.

Only university employees may verify that computer equipment has been erased. Printed name, signature, date and serial number are required for each label. The serial number must be included both on the on-line surplus disposition form and again on the 2"x4" label, otherwise the computer equipment will not be picked up for surplus.

For further information about the new procedures, contact the Materials Management Surplus Property unit: Bill Haynes, 515-5525 or Sarah Denig, 515-8568. For help with the proper cleaning of hard disk drives, contact the NC State Help Desk, help@ncsu.edu.