LEAST violent way to destroy a harddrive?

[DeadlyNinja]

FORGET THE TITLE. We'll settle for most creative ways to destroy a harddrive!

I'm throwing away an old computer and I heard some people can recover stuff from your harddrive even after you've erased it. Now I know taking a hammer to it should do the trick, but are there are non-violent ways to do it?

Will a magnet do the trick?

 

[Richard]

Unless you have state secrets in there, a zero-write delete ought to do it which many, many free programs out there can do. If you want to nuke the thing from orbit, so to speak, try this.

I'm not responsible if you erase all your drives, usb pens, firmware, xbox360, your tv, etc. though. Handle with care.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Hit it with a stun gun real quick, does wonders.

 

[DeadlyNinja]

Unless you have state secrets in there, a zero-write delete ought to do it which many, many free programs out there can do. If you want to nuke the thing from orbit, so to speak, try this.

I'm not responsible if you erase all your drives, usb pens, firmware, xbox360, your tv, etc. though. Handle with care.

The PC doesn't work, so the harddrive itself can't be turned on. Besides, I've bought stuff online and there might still be some credit card or SS numbers in there. They may not be state secrets, but they're valuable to us average joes too.

Hit it with a stun gun real quick, does wonders.

Hell, I'd shoot it with a gun if I could. I don't want to damage my floors though. That's why I'm looking for non-violent solutions.

 

[Bludd]

The LEAST violent way would be to have it corrode or something. Submerse it in water for 50 years or something.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I don't want to damage my floors though. That's why I'm looking for non-violent solutions.

Up for a bit of disassembly? Open it up with a screwdriver and physically deform the disks with a pair of pliers.

Oh, and grab the magnet when you're in there...I always do.

 

[DeadlyNinja]

You know what, forget least violent. It's Halloween. Let's come up with some of the most creative ways to destroy a hard drive.

Can a mod please change the title for me?

Up for a bit of disassembly? Open it up with a screwdriver and physically deform the disks with a pair of pliers.

I tried, but the screw heads are weird. I never seen any like it before.

I tried scrubbing my feet on the carpet to build up static electricity to shock it, but so far no dice. I couldn't build up enough static.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Got an oven? :|

 

[Bludd]

Got an axe?

 

[digitalwanderer]

No, bake it in the oven at 425F for 1 hour and then pull it out and dump it into a bucket of ice water.

That should do the trick nicely.

 

[Davros]

Give it to digi, ask him to copy a text file onto it for you

 

[DeadlyNinja]

I might as well dump it into a nuclear reactor.

 

[Neb]

Reverse the 5 and 12v pins and start... poof

 

[Kurt]

Reverse the 5 and 12v pins and start... poof

That may fry the PCB, but not the platters

 

[Blazkowicz]

linux distros come with the shred command, it can be used on a file, partition or whole disk.
http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/52258

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Open it up and take your sand grinder for a spin over the platters. That would pretty much destroy any possibility to get any data back.

As for all the software options, are they really 100% safe? I read that even after multiple complete re writes it is still possible to get data back because of magnetic levels. I dont remember very well and I dont know if its really true but if I ever need to get rid of a hdd I wont use any software solution and I dont even have any really important data.

 

[Grall]

Pretty much all of the suggestions given so far are vastly, VASTLY overkill.

With today's extremely high density harddrives, all that's needed for foolproof erasure is a full reformat (IE, not just zeroing out the FAT or similar). The idea that data can be recovered even after several rewrites is basically 100% bunk, and you'd have to pay through the nose to have a data recovery center do it for you anyway - which NOBODY is going to do anyway.

If you're totally paranoid and never intend to use the harddrive again, just take a hammer to the thing (remove the PCB first tho to avoid creating a mess), then put the remains in an electronics recycling bin. If you're more sane, just snap the PCB in half then recycle it, that'll stop EVERYONE from using the drive for anything.

Otherwise, just reformat it, then put the drive in your spare parts bin for a rainy day.

 

[Humus]

Got an oven? :|

That's for hardware repair you silly!

 

[eastmen]

I just use a drill bit and go through the damn thing. Takes 2 mins

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Hell, just take it to a local scrap metal yard.

Many metal recycling yards have dedicated HD destruction services. They'll even let you watch as they destroy your HD.

Regards,
SB