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About LinkBacksI have a few old 20GB ATA HDD's that I want to bin but am too lazy to conenct them up and wipe them.
What is the easiest way to damage them so that data cannot be recovered off them ?
Soak in water ? Dip in bleach ?
I have a few old 20GB ATA HDD's that I want to bin but am too lazy to conenct them up and wipe them.
What is the easiest way to damage them so that data cannot be recovered off them ?
Soak in water ? Dip in bleach ?
Drop a Moose on them.
jackvdbuk (09-09-2012),MaddAussie (17-10-2012)
I've heard of people taking drives apart and removing the glass platters then grinding the glass down to a fine powder, but that's possibly an urban myth, I think the moose would always work but might end up getting you arrested for cruelty to animals, but I suppose that would depend on the quality of porn you're destroying.
Hammer time.
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack
off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0x6gkZmqcc
seriously though, use your imagination!
How thorough do you want to be?
A hammer to the PCB will do a good job. It will prevent someone connecting it up and getting the data off. It won't prevent someone removing the damaged PCB, fitting a new one and getting the data. Chances of that happening?
You could always take the top off the drive and hammer at the platters as well. Or I guess just smash at the whole drive with a large hammer or a pick axe if you ave one.
In theory it's possible to get data off really damaged drives, even if it's only partial data, but you have to be reasonable, what are the chances someone with secret-service levels of technology and know how is going to get hold of your drive and want to get the data off?
How paranoid are you?
smack the hammer once about a 3rd of the way in on the top and the platters will smash. once it rattles it's data is destroyed unless your a terrorist and the governments willing to spend several hundred thousand pounds getting it reconstructed.
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack
off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
Magnets?
BBQ anyone?
Yeah, what about magnets guys ? Will a fridge magent help ?Originally Posted by Gunnzie
Drill through the platters in several places then strike with a hammer.
Fridge magnets will probably not help.
Dig a hole and bury them in the back garden.
Time team 2100: And we've just recovered the data from the time capsule.. as you can see they didn't wear clothes 100 years ago.. and.. what's that? They even shaved there??!Dig a hole and bury them in the back garden.
csgohan4 (17-09-2012),MaddAussie (17-10-2012),Phage (09-09-2012),Saracen (18-10-2012),Sputnik (09-09-2012),Terbinator (17-10-2012)
AFAIK - Laptop HDDs have glass platters which smash. Normal HDDs are aluminium.
You need a STRONG field to disrupt the data. A Big-bottomed electromagnet would do it. A fridge magnet would not.
Hammer it good and long. If really worried - dip in the sea for a few days or slag it with Acetylene.
Society's to blame,
Or possibly Atari.
The last ones I took apart were and I just bent the platters up into quarters.
PMSL at this one GOOD LOL
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