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How to destroy a computer harddrive??


SWing'R

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Cheap and easy way - sledgehammer until the platters either physically deform and scratch all to hell (in multiple places, a little dent's not going to do much) or shatter (best case scenario) If you're ZOMG paranoid about the data, it might be possible for someone who really, really wants SOMETHING off that drive to snag something off the tracks that werent hit by the drill (the ones closest to the center and farthest away)

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tannerite? C4?

Pack C4 between platters on the spindle and cover with blast-resistant dome. I think that data's pretty securely gone.

Could make your own thermite and just cut the hard drive in pieces...

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This. I had a blast filling an old CPU with .22lr

If you hit the drives, it won't go all the way through. It literally cakes up with lead.

Makes sense, multiple pieces of metal would stop a .22. Didn't stop my 7.62x54R though... :)

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Pack C4 between platters on the spindle and cover with blast-resistant dome. I think that data's pretty securely gone.

Could make your own thermite and just cut the hard drive in pieces...

Thermite could be fun. :cool:

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it's called google, you should try it some time

Standard DoD 5220.22-M, US DoD 5220.22-M

http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/500/d522022m.pdf

http://www.killdisk.com/dod.htm

I don't think S'wing'er is bumping Top Secret.

But you never know...

I use a DoD software wipe for high security items at work.

Then they get drilled or used somewhere else.

Degaussing at home can't be done. Expensive powerful equipment.

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I had a friend who gave me a computer from her workplace years ago and discovered all of their software was still on it. When I bought a new computer I took the hard drive out and beat the heck out if it with a hammer until it finally cracked into a few pieces. I wish I had a drill LOL.

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Ive been waiting to see how this thread turned out..

Kinda sad actually considering not one person said the obvious which is.

No one gives a shit about your hd enough to forensically recover it!!

Youre paranoia is probably associated with the fact that you have pronz of some sort on your drive that could get you in trouble.

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No one gives a shit about your hd enough to forensically recover it!!

Youre paranoia is probably associated with the fact that you have pronz of some sort on your drive that could get you in trouble.

I was completely thinking this but I've been too much of a dick to him in the last year so was gonna give him the free pass

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Ive been waiting to see how this thread turned out..

Kinda sad actually considering not one person said the obvious which is.

No one gives a shit about your hd enough to forensically recover it!!

Youre paranoia is probably associated with the fact that you have pronz of some sort on your drive that could get you in trouble.

^^^This

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Ive been waiting to see how this thread turned out..

Kinda sad actually considering not one person said the obvious which is.

No one gives a shit about your hd enough to forensically recover it!!

Youre paranoia is probably associated with the fact that you have pronz of some sort on your drive that could get you in trouble.

Lol yep still a dick.

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I'm strong enough that after I pull the disks off the inner spindle I normally just bend them into a taco. You just palm the disk, drive your hand into the edge of a desk and then squeeze. It bends the disk into a completely unusable piece of art. I keep the magnets off the read head to use on the fridge and around the house. You can usually hang a full size calender on your fridge with just one side of the magnet from inside the drive. Those things are ungodly strong.

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Ive been waiting to see how this thread turned out..

Kinda sad actually considering not one person said the obvious which is.

No one gives a shit about your hd enough to forensically recover it!!

Youre paranoia is probably associated with the fact that you have pronz of some sort on your drive that could get you in trouble.

Nope.. Just stating facts.. Not meant to be mean in any way..

Thanks Flounder, for the dick attitude instead of useful advice like most everyone else gave.

No porn or anything even remotely bad on the drives, just personal information that I'd rather not see in someone else's hands.

Identity theft is real, it happens everywhere, just trying to take a little extra step to make sure it doesn't happen to me; thanks for caring.

:bigfinger:

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Thanks Flounder' date=' for the dick attitude instead of useful advice like most everyone else gave.

No porn or anything even remotely bad on the drives, just personal information that I'd rather not see in someone else's hands.

Identity theft is real, it happens everywhere, just trying to take a little extra step to make sure it doesn't happen to me; thanks for caring.

:bigfinger:[/quote']

The point is that no one is going to forensically recover your drive to the point you need to drill it. That type of analysis is extremely expensive and requires hi tech equipment and facilities. Dban and kill disk are good enough for govt and classified docs as well as most corporations. Shooting it for fun sure. Drilling it because of data theft risk. Not even close. That's the only point I was trying to make. I really wasn't trying to come off as an ass.

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The point is that no one is going to forensically recover your drive to the point you need to drill it. That type of analysis is extremely expensive and requires hi tech equipment and facilities. Dban and kill disk are good enough for govt and classified docs as well as most corporations.

The harddrives were all inoperable, I couldn't use kill disk or whatever other software program you are referring to,

which is why I wanted to know how to make the disks unusable. The drives all failed, I was able to recover

some data from a few of them but most of them were complete loses.

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The harddrives were all inoperable' date=' I couldn't use kill disk or whatever other software program you are referring to,

which is why I wanted to know how to make the disks unusable. The drives all failed, I was able to recover

some data from a few of them but most of them were complete loses.[/quote']

What flounder is saying is that the people that have the seriously expensive equipment and software to recover data from the drives you describe do not give a shit about your data. They wouldn't bother, they have far bigger fish to fry. Drill them if it makes you feel better, certainly no harm in being anal about it. But you are not going to accomplish anything because they are already toast. All you are doing is turning the toast into crumbs.

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What flounder is saying is that the people that have the seriously expensive equipment and software to recover data from the drives you describe do not give a shit about your data. They wouldn't bother, they have far bigger fish to fry. Drill them if it makes you feel better, certainly no harm in being anal about it. But you are not going to accomplish anything because they are already toast. All you are doing is turning the toast into crumbs.

Ok, riddle me this... if the drives were inoperable for mechanical reasons,

couldn't the disks be removed and put into a working drive??

That's all I was really trying to prevent.

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Ok' date=' riddle me this... if the drives were inoperable for mechanical reasons,

couldn't the disks be removed and put into a working drive??

That's all I was really trying to prevent.[/quote']

Sure they could be.

If I jump off my bike at 80 mph on the 480 bridge (in full gear of course) and it goes over the side and hits the bottom can I put it back together.

Sure I could, but would it be worth it?

Flounder is in IT, as am I. We look at things differently. We quantify it in terms of Risk. Risk is typically defined as

R = L X I

L equals likelihood and I equals Impact. The likelihood of anyone doing all that work on your hard drives is zero. Therefor your Risk is zero based upon the above equation. So throw the damn things in the trash and go ride your bike man!!

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