How I Destroy an Hard Drive

9 years ago

1. Remove HD housing from da computah
2. Clamp in vice and pop top off by hammering a screwdriver into the peripheral crack. This pops the heads off the little screws that hold it together. Pick em up if you can find em.
3. Lay the half with the HD disk over the open jaws of the vice.
4. Pop the disk/spindle combo out with a hammer and punch on the end of the spindle. It'll fall on the floor.
5. Clamp the disk into the vice and bend it forth and back till it breaks. Break it into 8 relatively large pieces. Break each of those in half.
6. Pile the 16 pieces on the desk.
7. Each week throw one piece inna da trash.

This is called the Well Dispersed HD Effect; otherwise known as the Mxyplx Principle.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (15)

stoveguyy
9 years ago
hmm, off your meds i see
Elmer J Fudd
9 years ago
For the next drive you want to obliterate, it can be done with much less time and effort. Delete the sensitive files (if any) and then use one of the free "wipe" programs to clear the space. When that finishes, pull out the drive and let it spend the night in a bucket of water. Drill a hole first in the housing if you want to be sure it gets soaked. DONE!

There's likely nothing on most hard drives that would present a risk if it came into the hands of an evil doer. Translation - you're being more than a bit paranoid about it.
Related Discussions
how do you store pix on the hard drive
Q
Comments (4)
Ken, I actually have 2 physical hard drives in my computer, each formatted and partitioned into logical drives. Wikipedia says the following about it: Purposes for Partitioning * Separation of the operating system files from user files * Having an area for operating system virtual memory swapping/paging * Keeping frequently used programs and data near each other. * Having cache and log files separate from other files. These can change size dynamically and rapidly, potentially making a file system full. * Use of multi-booting setups, which allow users to have more than one operating system on a single computer. For example, one could install Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows or others on different partitions of the same hard disk and have a choice of booting into any operating system (supported by the hardware) at power-up. * Protecting or isolating files, to make it easier to recover a corrupted file system or operating system installation. If one partition is corrupted, none of the other file systems are affected, and the drive's data may still be salvageable. Having a separate partition for read-only data also reduces the chances of the file system on this partition becoming corrupted. * Raising overall computer performance on systems where smaller file systems are more efficient. For instance, large hard drives with only one NTFS file system typically have a very large sequentially-accessed Master File Table (MFT) and it generally takes more time to read this MFT than the smaller MFTs of smaller partitions. Also, ACDSee does the following: Get organized with ACDSee With ACDSee, organize the way that works best for you. Organize your WindowsÂ® file folders, add keywords and ratings, edit your metadata, and create your own categories. Assign images to as many categories as you like without duplicating files. NEW! Use multi-word keywords like ÂTrip to MexicoÂ to make finding images even easier. So, while the file name stays as it was first assigned by the camera, through the use of keywords and categories you can perform easy searches. And yes, I do add the cultivar's name as a keyword and may add more than one to make it show up in more than just a search for its name only. If for example I want to search for pictures of Revolution unfurling I can quite easily do that.
...See More
Can I swap hard drives?
Q
Comments (9)
Maybe you can and maybe you can't. It all depends on what you are trying to do with the operating system. If you are swaping hard drives and starting over treating the upgraded computer as a new system and re-installing everything, it should be ok so long as the hard drive is compatible with the upgraded computer. However, if you are trying to pull a fast one by taking the hard drive with its operating system from the first computer to the second computer, there will probably be problems. If all that you want to do is to swap drives, try the procedure below. This assumes that you have only one hard drive in the second computer, or that the operating system and all installed programs are installed on one drive. It also assumes that we are dealing with s desktop, not a laptop, since we will be connecting two hard drives to the computer. We are going to copy an image of your present system onto the new drive, then physically install the new drive in place of the old one. This requires opening the computer case. 1. You can temporarily install the new drive in one of the empty bays of your computer using only one or two mounting screws to hold it in place, or connect it up with it sitting loose on the table next to the computer. To protect from shorts, tape an insulator across the exposed circuit board (of the hard drive) to keep it from accidentally making contact with the case or yourself. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE LOOSE CONNECTION METHOD EXCEPT FOR EXPERIENCED COMPUTER TECHNICANS. 2. Connect the IDE data cable to both dirves and connect power leads to both drives. Set the jumpers to make the original disk the master with the new disk as slave. (When a computer has only one drive, there may not have been any jumpers on the drive. You will need jumpers when connecting 2 drives.) The computer will boot from the master drive. You may be reqired to format the new disk. You can use the quick format for this. However, it may be a good idea at this time to perform a surface scan of the new drive to head off potential problems with any bad sectors if present. I have seen new hard drives right out of the box that had bad sectors that had not been marked off. 3. Use a utility such as "Drive Copy" to copy an image of your computer to the new drive. (This is more than a simple copy. It will be an image of the operating system and all files on the source disk copied to the destination disk.) After the image transfer is complete, disconnect and remove the original hard drive, and then install the new hard drive. Change its jumper to master and if all went well, it should work. 4. If you can't get it to work, put the original drive back making sure its jumper is set to Master and you should be back where you started. That's the beauty with this method: You can return to the old hardware and system so long as you did not destroy any files on the suorce disk. By the way, the old disk can be installed as a...
...See More
How to back up on WD Passport hard drive?
Q
Comments (1)
Hi Susan, I just got a WD Passport also, haven't done anything with it yet. I just want to use it to back-up my most important files as about a year ago my hadrdrive went and had to replace it, luckily I found someone who was able to recover just about everything that was one it. I don't want to take that chance again. I hope someone answers your post so that I also can find out how to update my files once I save everything. Carol
...See More
How to back up the hard drive
Q
Comments (3)
Acronis is an excellent program, I have it. There are some free imaging programs also. You would be imaging the entire drive including the opearting system so should you have a need to use the image it would put it back exactly the way it was when you did the image, it is just like taking a snapshot of the drive. This site does a good job of explaining how to use it and also you can purchase it from them for a reduced cost. Using Acronis Acronis 8 free software to image/backup/ghost your computer (free alternatives to Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, etc.). with imaging you can back up to an external hard drive, another internal hard drive, a partition, cd or dvd, flash there are many options depending on the product used. I still also keep a copy on a flash drive and online storage of my most important files and pictures etc just to be extra safe.
...See More
mxyplx
Original Author
9 years ago
Snidely my good fellow :-)

Time? Effort? Let's see-

Comp was unused for a year so it would have to be re-hooked up. This means unhook current machine monitor etc and rehook to old comp and triple check it all before firing up. Next it's XP Pro so It would prolly run then I'd have to find a drive wipe program. Then download that. Then install. Then run it. Then I spose slick off the HD for good measure. Then dismantle the whole bloody mess and hook up the current comp again. Triple check etc. Monitor. Then pull out the HD. Then drill a hole in it. What size drill bit? Is the case or contents hardened or mild steel? Maybe I should grind the hole into it - dig out the grinder, find the disks, clamp the HD to a bench outside so sparks don't catch the garage on fire. Goggles, ear plugs.....

Then draw water into a container and submerge the HD in that. I'm not convinced water would attack that disk so maybe add some HCl acid. So there'd be fumes from that which might attack various surfaces nearby (voice of experience don't cha know). Not sure the HCl would attack that disk surface either. Maybe maybe not. Put the whole thing in the back yard to difuse the fumes (kill some grass prolly). Rinse the acid off. Find some rubber gloves so not burn my hands. Wear a mask to not breath the fumes. All of that stuff I have (except the HCl which I have Muriatic Acid which as I recall is 1/10 normal HCl) and it has to be got out (if I can remember just where to look) then put back away.

Consider my original post. Process took approximately 8 minutes. 8! Make that 8.5 minutes if you add up the 2 seconds it takes each week for 15 weeks to deposit each remaining pieces in the waste basket.

Gotta think these things out.

As for the assumption of paranoia the word supercilious comes to mind. Not unexpected considering the source.

:-)
aufin
9 years ago
Drill'n......Bang'n.........Cutt'n Too much like work. Fire pit, cooler with a few beers, couple friends sitting around telling lies, and, joila, toasty unuseable HD.
mikie_gw
9 years ago
They contain a secret refrigerator magnet. It almost shameful to throw those away.
jean_mi_z5
9 years ago
we just destroyed 4 hard drives and have lots of magnets...just don't get your fingers caught between two of them....
stoveguyy
9 years ago
I worked at a small company that did contract design work for energy products. We got all sorts of nuts. I assisted on the design/ build of a perpetual motion machine using super magnets arraigned in a cylindrical mounting frame. Oh, the waste of time and money. Yes the investors got nothing for some crazy idea but at least I got to build an interesting device. The magnets were pretty cool though. I had all the cad files for the machine but my computer died and I made no effort to save the hard drive.
CA Kate z9
9 years ago
I found this thread on the side bar and hope you can help. I have a older Mac that totally died. There is no chance of ever doing a wipe. I refuse to toss it with the existing hard drive intact. So, how do I get the frame apart to even get to the hard drive?
mikie_gw
9 years ago
Search the model number on youtube. Might find someone showing how to replace or take it apart for something.
lazy_gardens
9 years ago
Westelle - A sledge hammer?

Look for screws, often on the bottom in little wells or pockets and start unscrewing them ... sometimes you have to pry a bezel loose or pop a cover off, but they will come apart.
DA_Mccoy
9 years ago
As I reported last year, I like pounding my old H/Ds with a hand sledge. Only takes a couple of minutes, and it gets some stress out of me in a very short time.

DA
mxyplx
Original Author
9 years ago
West: Read and Weep.
21 Essential Tools For Taking Apart All Your Macs

Here is a link that might be useful: Dunno to Laugh or Cry
mike_kaiser_gw
9 years ago
I have a friend with an old iMac that died so the drive can't be wiped. There's some personal stuff on there, emails and pics but no financial information. It seems like some work to take the thing apart. When I get a couple of minutes I'm going to locate the drive within the chassis and then drill a couple of holes right through the whole thing. That should do enough damage that the average person won't be able to recover anything.
DA_Mccoy
9 years ago
Mike,

For the life of me I never gave a thought to pulling a H/D and placing it under my drill press. The concept has possibility. Of course, if I go that route and miss the stress relief I might one day go off the deep end, and that wouldn't be pretty. :-)

DA
PRO
kbarb - San Francisco - Z10a
9 years ago
For those of you with the dead computers, just take the drive out and attach it to another computer, then wipe it using the common Darik's Boot And Nuke (DBAN) or any other wiping program. Try not to wipe your current working drive though.

For the drillers - I'm not sure that would really make the non-drilled portions of the discs unreadable, using fancy data recovery methods.

And for those resorting to sledge hammers and the like, I really wish I could get my hands on your drives - what the hell do you have on there anyway, that DOD 3-pass or RCMP TSSIT OPS-II multipass can't destroy ?

Maybe it's for the stress relief.
If so, I'm all for it.

How I Destroy an Hard Drive

Comments (15)

stoveguyy

Elmer J Fudd

Related Discussions

mxyplx
Original Author

aufin

mikie_gw

jean_mi_z5

stoveguyy

CA Kate z9

mikie_gw

lazy_gardens

DA_Mccoy

mxyplx
Original Author

mike_kaiser_gw

DA_Mccoy

kbarb - San Francisco - Z10a

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

How I Destroy an Hard Drive

Comments (15)

Related Discussions

mxyplxOriginal Author

mxyplxOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

mxyplx
Original Author

mxyplx
Original Author