Ideas on how to destroy old hard drives

[DotComGuy]

Here is something that I did successfully destroy . . . .


http://www3.telus.net/m1000/folder%201/1/gifs/mouse%20burning%2001.avi


I case you didnt recognise it . . . .

 

[sheep]

I'd install Windows on it... that would destroy all your data.

Why do you suppose they took so long to create Vista?

 

[cozmik]

I always like to take a screw driver and a hammer, place the screw driver above the platters in a couple places, and give it a good whack with the hammer. The platters in hard drives are actually glass, and while very durable, with a good, sharp, whack, will shatter into a million pieces. Ain't no one gonna take that apart and recover anything!

(or at least most hard drives use metal platters, the ones I've come across)

 

[DotComGuy]

I guess karma is a bitch

I was up town and spent 20 minutes trying to unlock my bike lock. I had to call for a ride to get home. I spent one hour cutting through the cable using wire cutters. I guess thats what you get when you destroy hard drives ;-)

 

[trawler69]

^ Nah that's what you get when you don't look after your bike lock!

 

[andysayshi]

You sure seem to break a lot of shit...

 

[Jimboy121]

 

[sheep]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite

another approach. In many data sensitive situations highly refined thermite powder is encased in a layer in contact with with the disks containing the data. A trigger mechanism causes the ignition of the powder. Temperatures almost immediately reach in excess of 1000 degrees burning quickly through the specially designed encasement and physically destroying the platters within seconds.

Once the reaction is initiated the powder becomes white hot liquid and burns even in the complete absence of oxygen, (because it is present in the oxide) and no extinguishing attempts can be made.

Would that be exothermic or endothermic? Only a Fyre expert knows for sure.

 

[trawler69]

^ Exothermic and I am not an fryer but I do mend fire alarms!

 

[SamsDad]

I'd install Windows on it... that would destroy all your data.

Wrap it in foil and put it in the oven, 1.5hrs. @ 400 degrees.

 

[versatastic]

How strong of a magnet do you need to erase the data? What if you run a current through the metal plate?

 

[DotComGuy]

Wrap it in foil and put it in the oven, 1.5hrs. @ 400 degrees.

a good and simple idea

 

[sheep]

Wrap it in foil and put it in the oven, 1.5hrs. @ 400 degrees.

a good and simple idea

add to that.... basting every half-hour with used SAE 90 lubricant with a high level of metal filing contaminants.

 

[DotComGuy]

a good and simple idea

I realised after writing this that I thought I smelled some kind of chemical when I opened the hard drive.
So its probabky a bad idea, and potentially explosive
Do not try at home


But I liked the idea

 

[Paws]

______

 

[hotatlboi]

a low level format/zero fill is not sufficient to wipe out data. You have to either use software that overwrites it like 10 times with varying patterns (which will take a long time) or disassemble/destroy it (quicker).

 

[hotatlboi]

I remember having to dispose of a drive for a server at work and I was walking down the stairs and dropped it and it bounced down an entire flight of stairs and I laughed and thought, "Well...that's taken care of."

If the drive was still intact and not bent or broken, the data could probably still have been recovered (from at least the places where the head had not contacted the platter).

 

[hotatlboi]

Unless you are trying to hide secrets from the CIA I really don't understand the purpose here.......I don't (maybe YOU do) know anyone important enough that ANYONE would give a shit what might be buried on a junk hard drive.......

You would be surprised. There have been several studies where people bought a whole bunch of used hard drives on ebay and they were able to recover a ton of valuable information like credit card numbers and corporate data and such.

 

[hotatlboi]

a simple, SINGLE zero wipe will put the data well beyond the reach of any script kiddie, hacker, and even tech savant with access to some 'nice' equiptment. While the data is theoretically recoverable after only one pass, the hardware required is probably only owned by the CIA, NASA, and a few electrical research facilities.

That's a fair assessment. Basically, it will not be impossible but very hard to get.

Basically, it's just a good idea to take at least decent measures to erase the data if you are junking your hard drive, because you never know what data you might have left on it or if anyone else will see it.

 

[hotatlboi]

Not to go on the offensive but PLEASE take your fingers out of your ears.

uh, I was trying to agree with you. What I said agreed with your last post. why the attitude?