how to destroy a harddrive (1 Viewer)

Jun 29, 2015
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Hi can anyone tell me if this will do it?
DSC_0271.JPG
 

Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
You need to destroy the IC board on left of picture and bend and distort all the platters not just the two top ones. Then your done.

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TheBig1

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many many years! since I was a kid
a decent sized magnet will destroy the data

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Apr 27, 2008
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I've had to get rid of a few in my time. \i found the easiest way is a bench drill press, just drill through the platters and ICs a few times, doesn't need any dismantling first.
 
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****

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Paranoia setting in?

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mid4did

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started in a minivan 1970's when I could fit into it.
I,ve had to replace thousands,not all at the same time.The most was 90 in a live system.Most are left on site these days as customers are too security concious to let them go,they are then dealt with by a specialist firm .In the rare case when they are allowed to be taken away the hard drives are degaussed in a degausser .and issued with a security stamp or certificate quite a noisy operation sometimes and the drives get quite hot.Not for the average home user though so a sledghammer gets my vote :)
http://www.datasecurityinc.com/security/degausser.html
 

Shrimp

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We had to do one a few years ago, hubby took a big axe to it! Wasn't a lot left in the end!

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Minxy

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At work the technicians had a big magnet, which came out of a massive speaker, which they used to plonk on the hard drives to erase the data.
 

magicsurfbus

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These days whenever I swap the home PC I remove the HDD from the old one, add it to the new one as a backup drive and remove the Windows folders. Any HDDs left from previous swapovers either get made into external HDDs or are demolished. You can still sell driveless PCS or their key components on eBay to hobbyists who build their own systems.
 

Minxy

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These days whenever I swap the home PC I remove the HDD from the old one, add it to the new one as a backup drive and remove the Windows folders. Any HDDs left from previous swapovers either get made into external HDDs or are demolished. You can still sell driveless PCS or their key components on eBay to hobbyists who build their own systems.
How do you go about making an internal HDD into an external one?

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magicsurfbus

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How do you go about making an internal HDD into an external one?

Buy a protective case off eBay for a few quid - just make sure it has the right type of interface sockets (IDE, SATA etc) for the HDD in question. No more complicated that removing a few screws and unplugging and replugging a couple of cables.
 
Feb 27, 2011
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Total destruction of the platters is the only 100% method.

That said, it depends on the value of the data. If it is just personal data then spending £1,000's to recover it is just not going to happen.
If however your data is prime commercial data worth millions or is state secrets then total destruction is necessary.

There is a cost benefit analysis needed. Drilling a hole in the platters is enough for personal data as it would prevent the platters being put into another drives body for recovery. If however your data is extremely valuable drilling holes in the platter is not enough as the platters could be rebalanced and the data recovered.
Fire is a hard disks worst enemy though but it has to be very hot. Magnets come second but you have to be extremely thorough.

My experience stems from having to destroy hard disks that contained client data including card details. I have also had to deal with data recovery companies and I have been surprised at what they could recover from. Receiving a box full of 200 DVD's in the post with recovered data is demoralising like you wouldn't believe.
 

Geo

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Not quite right Karl
a much simpler and 101% guarantee is to let me have for a project I will make it FUBARin one

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Jenben

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I used to work for a large American computer manufacturer. Our Military/Government agency customers used to basically shred any old disks into very tiny pieces to ensure confidentiality......
 

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