Hard drive disposal

FeFiDoh · 30 Jul 2020 at 19:59

Good day all,
Just wondering what you fine folk do when you have hard drives to get rid of? I have no means of destroying them myself and obviously don't want to just through them in the bin.

Thanks

koolpc · 30 Jul 2020 at 20:04

Hammer....simples

vcl_X1 · 30 Jul 2020 at 22:15

Dismantle them then use the platters as coasters. You probably do have all the different bits/drivers in your (Wo)Man draw/cave

postmanfw · 30 Jul 2020 at 22:32

Dismantle and get free magnets out of them.....platters are nice and shiny but dont try to bend them to destroy as some are not made of metal and shatter in a violent way.....

bremen1874 · 30 Jul 2020 at 22:57

Nothing like a carpet full of shiny glass confetti

megatron · 31 Jul 2020 at 21:43

Take them to the local Comet and see what they say. I know Sainsbury's take use batteries. I believe there is a rule that if you sell a product that you must also accept people's used product (of the same type). Either that or go to the local recycling center. I collect batteries and light bulbs (have a defective torch too), have yet to actually follow through yet.

BluesFanUK · 31 Jul 2020 at 21:59

Run DBAN on it, then pass on to your nearest recycling centre

bremen1874 · 31 Jul 2020 at 22:26

DBAN isn't as useful as it once was

1. AFAIK unless you use the paid version you need to run it from a CD which many people don't have any more
2. With the capacity of many modern drives, it'll take a long time to complete

Dismantling drives to destroy them can be tricky and time-consuming as they often have very small and tight Torx screws holding them together.

For a drive that just needs killing I'd put a couple of holes through the drive in the platter area with a drill.

The_Arbiter · 31 Jul 2020 at 22:33

I suppose you could also bury them. Do HDs contain anything that could contaminate the land? If so, dismantle and then recycle.

MrFunex · 1 Aug 2020 at 20:03

Just drop it onto a hard surface.

BongoHunter · 1 Aug 2020 at 20:12

I'm sure I read somewhere recently some UK scientists have figured out how to reclain the neodymium magnets back out of HDDs cheaply in powder form using hydrogen or helium gas I think it was.

Ah found it, here we go:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/l...ect-launched-at-University-of-Birmingham.aspx

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52701851

Ive got about 20 HDDs in a draw that I really need to get rid of as well...

Gray2233 · 1 Aug 2020 at 20:13

Drill the drive but make sure you go through the platter.

Justintime · 2 Aug 2020 at 02:19

Just hammer it to death, you don't even have to penetrate to the insides, denting the case alone will smash into the heads and lock/damage the platters from ever spinning. I doubt the russians are after your data so no ones gonna take the platters out and try to recover it.

Dalandius · 2 Aug 2020 at 03:12

Hammer a few 6 inch nails through it

EsaT · 2 Aug 2020 at 11:00

postmanfw said:
Dismantle and get free magnets out of them...

Free very strong neodymium magnets.

Justintime said:
Just hammer it to death...

No need to buy hammer, any suitably heavy object will do the trick.

Silicon Si · 3 Aug 2020 at 23:30

Put it on ebay .. EX Clinton mail server drive

jsmoke · 3 Aug 2020 at 23:43

Yeh I think they use torx screws, just unscrew the platters and do whatever, melt, break, acid, magnets as said.

darael · 4 Aug 2020 at 11:17

Wipe drive, disassemble, then smash/bend platters. If anybody is desperate enough to recover a few of my files after that, they deserve them.

Haze · 4 Aug 2020 at 14:13

OP has no means of destroying a hdd.....

OP does not own a hammer? Not sure if being serious

aardvark · 5 Aug 2020 at 12:50

i always take the magnets out as they are useful - after that just a good hammer and chuck in the bin.