Disposing of old hard drives - Page 2

**pharoahegypt** · June 30th, 2013, 08:31 PM

That explains why the local scrap dealers who pass by the shop in their vans literally fight it out twice a week over what we throw out...?? WE strip the internals out of PC towers, but just toss the old circuit boards and casings out.... maybe we'll have to start charging them to take the trash out from now on...he he.

**rlg118** · June 30th, 2013, 10:52 PM

Nobody argues with Ma Deuce.

immatell · July 2nd, 2013, 05:37 AM

I took an axe to mine. Cut it in half, and put a hole in the lawn at the same time.

**Darth Joules** · July 3rd, 2013, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweatyhat

How do you do it?

My method is similar to Sweaty's, sanding is done with a vice and electric sander. Though my final destruction stage is different. The object is to make the platters unusable.

First though, whether the hard drive is to be reused or destroyed the data is properly wiped first using a hard drive eraser utility such as those found on Paragon Hard Disk Manager or free ones like KillDisk. Though it is time consuming as it can take over 24hrs for a larger drives to be sanitized.

The destruction stage involves reassembling the hard drive with the sanded platters minus the top cover. Using a spare PSU to fire up the hard drive, the platters are struck whilst they spin with a strong metal hammer. This causes them to shatter explosively!!

Which is why I always wear safety gloves and glasses, and cover the drive with an empty wooden box (with one side missing) to catch the fragmentations.

Remaining components and tiny platter fragments are then disposed of responsibly.

**Mace** · July 3rd, 2013, 05:01 PM

Shot mine with a 45 at about 30 feet. Amazingly, the slug didn't go through the metal platter(s) but it made a hell of a divot. Probably unreadable now.

yamotto · July 19th, 2013, 02:17 PM

Another way is to open up the hard drive & cover the platters in super glue ( use the really strong stuff)

**knobby109** · July 19th, 2013, 08:05 PM

Nothing that a small tactical nuclear weapon won't do.
Recommend you do it outdoors.

yamotto · July 19th, 2013, 11:32 PM

There is a small amount of gold in hardrives & cpus too loads of vids on youtube about how to extract it

**Retro_XXX_Buff** · July 26th, 2013, 08:47 AM

So far, I've left mine submerged in chlorinated water for a few hours and it's now outside in my backyard "weathering".

I was wondering what effects of .30-06 would have on it from one of my Garands and plan on putting some rounds thru the whole CPU.

Then soak it down and let it weather some more.

June 30th, 2013, 08:31 PM	#11
pharoahegypt Vintage Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Middle England Posts: 4,491 Thanks: 10,176 Thanked 43,617 Times in 4,154 Posts	That explains why the local scrap dealers who pass by the shop in their vans literally fight it out twice a week over what we throw out...?? WE strip the internals out of PC towers, but just toss the old circuit boards and casings out.... maybe we'll have to start charging them to take the trash out from now on...he he. __________________ Arguing with a intelligent person is hard; but arguing with a stupid person is impossible!

June 30th, 2013, 10:52 PM	#12
rlg118 Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Land o' Lake-Effect Posts: 5,348 Thanks: 5,911 Thanked 113,474 Times in 5,360 Posts	Nobody argues with Ma Deuce. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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July 2nd, 2013, 05:37 AM	#13
immatell Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 71 Thanks: 357 Thanked 2,507 Times in 72 Posts	I took an axe to mine. Cut it in half, and put a hole in the lawn at the same time.

July 3rd, 2013, 05:01 PM	#15
Mace Vintage Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 318 Thanks: 11,184 Thanked 14,237 Times in 284 Posts	Shot mine with a 45 at about 30 feet. Amazingly, the slug didn't go through the metal platter(s) but it made a hell of a divot. Probably unreadable now.

July 19th, 2013, 02:17 PM	#16
yamotto Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 20 Thanks: 37 Thanked 86 Times in 14 Posts	Another way is to open up the hard drive & cover the platters in super glue ( use the really strong stuff)

July 19th, 2013, 08:05 PM	#17
knobby109 Vintage Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,736 Thanks: 144 Thanked 14,338 Times in 1,702 Posts	Nothing that a small tactical nuclear weapon won't do. Recommend you do it outdoors.

July 19th, 2013, 11:32 PM	#18
yamotto Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 20 Thanks: 37 Thanked 86 Times in 14 Posts	There is a small amount of gold in hardrives & cpus too loads of vids on youtube about how to extract it

July 26th, 2013, 08:47 AM	#19
Retro_XXX_Buff Vintage Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 659 Thanks: 5,298 Thanked 16,081 Times in 638 Posts	So far, I've left mine submerged in chlorinated water for a few hours and it's now outside in my backyard "weathering". I was wondering what effects of .30-06 would have on it from one of my Garands and plan on putting some rounds thru the whole CPU. Then soak it down and let it weather some more.