Drive damage

[LunarMist]

A component came off of the PCB on a very old hard drive and it is kaput. I'm not sure if the drive has data. How do I most easily destroy it? (I'm not the like the late Cougtek with weapons of destruction.) Thanks.

 

[sedrosken]

I'd say a decently powerful drill with a hard enough bit could easily poke holes through the drive with enough care and patience. Alternatively, disassemble the drive (most use T8 screws IIRC) and pull the platters -- if they're glass cores, you can shatter them, if not, I imagine bolt cutters would get through them. Not exactly weapons of destruction.

 

[jtr1962]

A component came off of the PCB on a very old hard drive and it is kaput. I'm not sure if the drive has data. How do I most easily destroy it? (I'm not the like the late Cougtek with weapons of destruction.) Thanks.

He passed away? Or you're simply using "late" to mean it's been a while since he's been around?

 

[LunarMist]

Somehow I thought he was dead, but maybe that was another guy?

 

[Handruin]

Looks like his last post was in 2017. I hadn't heard anything about him passing. I can see his last post was probably in frustration with another person that has since left. @CougTek are you still around?

 

[sedrosken]

Somehow I thought he was dead, but maybe that was another guy?

Are you sure you're not confusing Coug for P5-133XL?

 

[Mercutio]

I like to chuck mechanical drives off my 3rd floor balcony into the parking lot. They have to make the trip one way or other and usually some/most of the PCB doesn't survive the fall intact anyway.

I can email Coug if you guys want.

 

[LunarMist]

I don't think throwing projectiles is a good idea. At the very least won't it damage your surface?
I'm not sure about the guy named after the chipset, but thought the Cougtek was the Canandian body builder.

 

[Mercutio]

I live in an apartment. I'm not that worried what happens to the blacktop.

Coug shares his real name with a well known Quebecois musician but I think I see him on LinkedIn, something I'm not going to actually look at. As I recall, he joined some sort of IT firm after trying to get by on tech work and day trading for a while. Might be that he's just moved up enough in the world. I sent him an email. Maybe he'll even get back to me.

 

[Handruin]

That'll be nice if he gets back to you, thanks for reaching out to him.

 

[CougTek]

I didn't know I shared my name with a musician. I was there first as he looks way younger than me.

Regarding the original post by Mooner, a gentler way to destroy the drive than what I usually do would be to microwave it.

 

[Mercutio]

Good to see you over here again Coug.

I would've bet you'd go in for something a bit more medieval. Something hammer-y.

 

[CougTek]

Well, I wrote "a gentler way than what I usually do". Of course I destroy my drive using a 12lbs sledgehammer. Mooner wanted a less drastic mean.

 

[jtr1962]

Have you ever tried a shotgun or machine gun? That would probably be the most dramatic way to destroy a drive short of explosives.

 

[LunarMist]

And if the bullets crochet?

 

[jtr1962]

Obviously it would need to be done in an isolated area.

 

[Chewy509]

Thermite is the only way...

 

[LunarMist]

WD Green

 

[sedrosken]

I'd say a decently powerful drill with a hard enough bit could easily poke holes through the drive with enough care and patience. Alternatively, disassemble the drive (most use T8 screws IIRC) and pull the platters -- if they're glass cores, you can shatter them, if not, I imagine bolt cutters would get through them. Not exactly weapons of destruction.

I do actually use the drill method to destroy data on drives from machines we take from customers for disposal. Drives are cheap and plentiful, no sense risking a lawsuit for saving them.

 

[LunarMist]

I deconstructed the drive using the T8 drivers. The thickness of the palleters was surprising. The MAXTOR was like this one.

 

[CougTek]

Thermite is the only way...

The guy with the blow torch looks a lot like Howard Marks from Vast Data