Remove data from hard drive without startup CD?

I have an old mac computer Tiger 10.4.1 which I am taking to be recycled. How do I erase or zero the hard drive? I do not have the original disk- the computer is 12 years old! This is just a personal computer but does have some sensitive data (one file only, actually). Cant I just drag the hard drive to the trash and empty it?

As WALTER-MILANO-ITALY indicated above, it is possible to gain access to the hard disk on another computer using FireWire target disk mode (if both machines have FireWire ports). A FireWire cable would be needed for this. See the manual for your computer(s) and the article below for details.
http://support.apple.com/manuals/
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
In order to remove a hard drive, you would have to disassemble the computer. This can be more or less difficult (a quick look at ifixit.com should give you an idea about this) depending upon which model it is.
Once the hard drive has been removed, you can either keep it, erase/use it with another computer, or mechanically destroy it. If you wish to connect it to another computer, something like this example could be useful:
http://www.newertech.com/products/usb3_universaldriveadap.php
You are not supposed to drag a hard disk with an active system to the Trash. Dragging individual files to the Trash (and emptying the Trash) is not going to be sufficient, unless the space is overwritten. It is not wise to recycle a computer without having properly erased or removed the hard disk drive.
Jan

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