Does anybody have any suggestions on how to destroy data on a hard drive. This hard drive crashed and we couldn't retrieve data using any conventional means. The user does not want to pay to have the data retrieved. He opted to have the data destroyed. Will running a magnet over the drive simply do the trick?
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need to destroy hard drive 3
- Thread starter hdsupe
- Start date
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No. The housing is designed to protect them.
A drill with a 1/4" bit drilled through the housing and into the platters near the outer edge will destroy the heads if it is ever powered up again.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
A drill with a 1/4" bit drilled through the housing and into the platters near the outer edge will destroy the heads if it is ever powered up again.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
jimbuddy
Technical User
- Aug 1, 2003
- 54
I agree with edfair, but, put those old platters to use as I do. WIND CHIMES take your older 5 1/4 platter and drill 4,6 or 8 holes around the edge. this is the holder for the other platters and drill a hole in some 3 1/2 platters and connect them with fishing line (i use 50lb) makes great sounds and everyone will want one. I have made close to fifty of these. work best indoors.
Jim
Jim
- Thread starter
- #4
Depends on the way it crashed. If the hard drive powers up and the manufacturer's diagnostics can run you could zero fill the drive.
There is a debug based sequence that will overwrite data at the beginning of the drive but leaves scrambled stuff at the back end.
If the drive doesn't spin there isn't any way to overwrite it.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
There is a debug based sequence that will overwrite data at the beginning of the drive but leaves scrambled stuff at the back end.
If the drive doesn't spin there isn't any way to overwrite it.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
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- #6
If the drive is not functional....
Actually hard drives ar not protected from magnet flux, as the aluminium is paramagnetic, and will allow magnetic fux through. Tried with strong magnets a few times but they had no affect, to erase a hard disk you need massive magnetic flux. Perhaps you can call a local company which has a
bulk eraser such as one of these.
........................................
Chernobyl disaster..a must see pictorial
Actually hard drives ar not protected from magnet flux, as the aluminium is paramagnetic, and will allow magnetic fux through. Tried with strong magnets a few times but they had no affect, to erase a hard disk you need massive magnetic flux. Perhaps you can call a local company which has a
bulk eraser such as one of these.
........................................
Chernobyl disaster..a must see pictorial
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Auger282
MIS
- Sep 27, 2003
- 978
RadioShack Magnetic Bulk Tape Eraser
Catalog # 44-232
...they make handheld ones that arent horribly costly
here is a site with pix...
Catalog # 44-232
...they make handheld ones that arent horribly costly
here is a site with pix...
Auger282
MIS
- Sep 27, 2003
- 978
If the data is so valuable that you are this worried about it, then forget about the manufacturer's credit. It is possible to retrieve data from "demagnetized" surfaces using advanced techniques. It's also possible to retrieve data from disks that have been overwritten once or even twice with zeros, and even in some cases when overwritten with random data.
When I was a "spy", we disassembled disk drives and sanded the oxide off the platters. That met government requirements for destruction of data. Then we'd play with the magnets for amusement. Too bad about the $3000 of technology that got wasted, but the data was far more valuable.
When I was a "spy", we disassembled disk drives and sanded the oxide off the platters. That met government requirements for destruction of data. Then we'd play with the magnets for amusement. Too bad about the $3000 of technology that got wasted, but the data was far more valuable.
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