HDD Degaussing Service

[Allen]

Anyone know of, or has used, a UK based company that provides hard drive degaussing on a one off basis?

TIA,

Allen

[Splash]

Not used them myself (we have a degausser of our own. Nearly gave myself a hernia when I tried to move it...) but http://www.degausser.co.uk/ offer a rental service which might fill your needs.

[Allen]

Unfortunately that's not cost effective, I only need to degauss 1 drive every now and then so would preferably need an on-site service or somewhere to courier the drives to that will do it.

[Splash]

You mean like http://www.degausser.co.uk/degauss/service.htm ?

[mikerr]

I like the idea of the HDD destroyer:

http://www.degausser.co.uk/destroyer/destroyer.htm

[mycarsavw]

If it's an infrequent service you require could you not dismantle the HDD yourself and scratch the platters with something sharp and pointy?

[Allen]

You mean like http://www.degausser.co.uk/degauss/service.htm ?

I called them and it wasn't a service they were willing to provide to me. Maybe they only do it in bulk?

[Allen]

I like the idea of the HDD destroyer:

http://www.degausser.co.uk/destroyer/destroyer.htm

If it's an infrequent service you require could you not dismantle the HDD yourself and scratch the platters with something sharp and pointy?

Whilst those are fun options (having done the second myself before with a screwdriver - those platters take a surprising amount of force to break!), it's not me who wants the drive degaussed but a client who I'm assuming is worried about data retrieval.

[killie99]

doesn't take more than a couple of minutes to disassemble a drive and smash the platters.

[Rob_B]

Get the Black & Decker out?

[watercooled]

For anyone considering degaussing, they are probably aware of the hammer method and are probably avoiding it because it still leaves huge chunks of data on the disk. They also probably consider erasing/overwriting the drive insufficient and that's theoretically more secure than smashing the platters. It depends what on the disk, but for someone who insists on degaussing, the only sufficient alternative would be melting the drive.

[jim]

It's surprisingly difficult to destroy hard drives... I tried to do it last year at work with a sledgehammer and it was pretty tough.

I had a fairly big crowd by the end though

Angle-grinder + fire definitely sounds like the best method!

[watercooled]

Home-made thermite?

[Terbinator]

Can't you just write a good few TB's of '0's to the drive then smash it up as well?

[jim]

Home-made thermite?

Now that's an even better idea.

A huge stack of hard drives with a big pot of thermite at the top

[watercooled]

@Terbinator: Yeah I think that should be sufficient for most people, unless you've done something to get on the wrong side of the NSA...

@snootyjim: It's more fun than a bonfire on 5th November.