Bad Hard Drives: What to do with them?

[Mayfriday0529]

I got this 40 Gig Hard Drive that a few months ago that failed. In order to get the data out of it I had to freeze it over night (which worked by the way)

It will crap out about after 3 hours of use after being frozen, so what I did was do a low level format but I?m still not quite satisfied enough to just toss it away.

What could I do to make sure no one could get any data out of it? I was thinking opening it and just tossing it away piece by piece?

I also have this other Hard Drive from a laptop that I think head crashed few years ago which I was never able to access again, I don?t remember what kind of data was in it but would taking be my best solution?

 

[Alex]

nuke it

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: franguinho
nuke it

I'm trying to stay away from anything that includes flames, bullets or hammers.

 

[bwnv]

Pop it open, take out the magnets (very strong), have a look see inside. The platters make for interesting coasters. Drop it onto the sidewalk from about 6 feet, on it's side. That will knock the platters out of alignment. power it up and it should wobble like a vibrator across the desk.
Enjoy.

 

[ty1er]

Harddrive + Repetive hits with a Hammer = Nonrecoverable data.

 

[theMan]

all you have to do is break the platters, or melt them, as long as you have the platters, data is recoverable. take out your platters, and drop them from very high onto something hard.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: theman
all you have to do is break the platters, or melt them, as long as you have the platters, data is recoverable. take out your platters, and drop them from very high onto something hard.

Ok i'll give it a try.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Dead hard drives make for good skeet shooting.

 

[fstime]

Throw it away in the garbage can?

 

[Dr X]

Take the platters out and use them for decoration. Dont get fingerprints on them.

 

[wchou]

do you have sentitive information that you have to make sure that is cannot be retrieved by anyone??? the world has gone from paranoid to freak paranoid

 

[CrispyFried]

I take em apart and use them as ashtrays.

 

[fierydemise]

What is with these people this is the second one in about a week who doesn't want anyone to see their data

 

[CrispyFried]

1st dude wanted to rma it i believe, this one doesnt.

 

[Dr X]

The odds of someone finding your hdd in the trash, taking it home and plugging it in, then having the expertise to recover data (lets face it, these people going through your trash probably arent IT experts) is pretty slim. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[ShadowBlade]

i had an old dead hard drive
i screwed a platter to my shower wall as a mirror....works effectively

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: fierydemise
What is with these people this is the second one in about a week who doesn't want anyone to see their data

Credit Card numbers, bank statements.. naked pictures of ex etc etc things like that.

again i did a low level format on one of them not sure if that helped, but the laptop hard drive i was never able to access the data again.

Edit: what if i put the hard drive under the tire of my car and run it over.. you think that should be good enough to break it.

 

[bocamojo]

You could degauss the drive by running it over a powerful magnet. Otherwise, removing the platters and incinerating / pulverizing is probably the safest and most effective solution.

 

[airfoil]

What brand/model is this drive? I may want to buy it's controller board from you if it is intact.

 

[EULA]

I second for the magnets... they're awesome!

 

[farmercal]

Use a sledge hammer and pound both hard drives to almost flat. The laptop disk will shatter when you do this as they are made out of glass.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

You would need a VERY powerful magnet to get that effect. Speaker magnets arent even powerful enough to erase the date

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: airfoil
What brand/model is this drive? I may want to buy it's controller board from you if it is intact.

Maxtor 40 gig drive i believe, i would have to check it again.