Page 2 - The best way to destroy a hard drive

Put it in the microwave and see what happens...
*pling*

you cant beat a good old sledgehammer

Not sure if this will destroy the data or not but sure as heck make the drive inoprable for the average user. I just purchaed an 80 GB hard drive and when I got home and opened it I realized there was no book, software, or cable but I went a head and put the drive in anyhow it was late and I had been working on this computer for a very long time. Well when it kept not working I took it out and noticed a strange hole punched in the top.. then Later I realized it went all the way through to the back side of the 1 gigabyte dos 6.1 hard drive even shattered the circuit board on the other side..

I have heard of people doing this before but can find NOTHING on the internet related to this being done.

hi guys....



i always heard that data can be recovered by crashed or burned disk but

never believed it....but i had to believe it....

when i lost my data due to burning of my pc....and i went crazy....and

wanted my data recovered....

but thanxs to diskdoctors

they recovered my data.....


PS: wel guys if u really want to destroy ur disk...u need to have

technical knowledge of it..and still if u can't u can check the site

above.

*** Edited by Nicat23 ***

Please don't include url's in your posts for outside pages...

Thanks

This is actually what I am interested in, is it possible to destroy data by drilling holes in the hard drive? My dad says that it is and wants a drill bit that will pierce metal for christmas. Now me being less computer saavy than say a "trained ape" I don't want to do that if it is not going to work. Is this going to work or am I going to have to call upon a professional to do the job for me. Don't get me wrong, I would love to punch a bunch of holes in the hard drive, but I don't want to have to pay someone overtime while he recovers the data and then destroys it. Aaaight, let me know.

I figure for most purposes, physically destroying the hard disk is generally productive...
If your dad is extremely concerned about any vital confidential information being recovered, hiring a professional may be your best key...

I figure for most purposes though, that's fairly extreme... I'd stick with the fun ways... =)
[don't forget to keep it safe... spongy, i'd advise against metal in the microwave]

A shotgun, perhaps?

drop it out of a building, run it over, or use a sleghhammer

I'm thinking something involving a Gamma ray... =)

Howbout black powder and jumper cables

Hi,

I recommend using free KillDisk software to erase your drive. KillDisk erases the whole HDD, it is impossible to recover any data after using it. KillDisk also supports some highly secure erase algorithms such as DoD M5220 and Guttman's. After using KillDisk you should re-partition and re-format your drive to use it from scrath. Head to www.killdisk.com for more info and download.

I still prefer the shotgun.

I use Dban, pretty cool.

It doesn't matter what software you use, though, if you have a decent sized hdd, hell will freeze over long before it's done being wiped.

Just throw it over a bridge into the ocean, hopefully they won't know where to look....


P.S. No, I have never done that....

I have read that it is possible to even recover data from a platter using a rather powerful microscope of some sort, so in theory the platter could be in bits and you could recover data from it.

Although I wouldn't recommend smashing up your new hard disk full of important data to test out my theory...!

That is true (an electron microscope, IIRC), but the question of the moment would be "what is so important that one would go to such lengths to retrieve that data?"

Also, (and this is my first post....interesting stuff here...) some of us Geezers (note cap G) wear nitroglycerin patches to keep our hearts pumping somewhat.

Don't jostle a Geezer!
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Can someone post more about simply holding the old c-drive close to or onto a good, strong magnet ?...seems that would eliminate the techno-jiz and be effective, too.....why techno-overkill when Neanderthal methods have been useful in the past?