Destroying Hard Drive.

Hey Guys,
I got a HD from a buddy, his mother crashed the computer and he wants me to destroy it so his mothers important stuff doesn't fall into the wrong hands(if you will).
So what's the tech community think is the best way to destroy it?
I was thinking of putting a few .30-.30 rounds through it.

 

A low-level format would essentially prevent an ordinary person from getting information on the drive. No need to destroy it if is still functional. If it is an ATA drive, then you could use the internal erase function of the drive with HDDerase.

Edit, if the drive is not functional, then you could disassemble and grind down the platters.

 

Heres a freeby .. burn to disk (as iso) load into rom having set your rom as first boot then follow onscreen instructions. it can take several hours but will do the trick.

http://www.dban.org/

 

I would definitely overwrite the drive using either program recommended before trying to physically "destroy" the drive. From my experience "smashing" a drive is harder then the movies or spy novels would have you believe.

I'm not familiar with guns but if you use that method, I would stand WAY back!

 

This comes up all of the time. Five Pound mini sledge, drill or drill press, .44 auto-mag, Glock. Choose your poison.

 

I would wipe the Drive clean 7 times or more too make sure its clean then it can be reused.

I would use http://majorgeeks.com/Disk_Wipe_d7590.html Disk wipe too completely wipe

 

Hi,

Gtell is correct. A good zero write (Low level format) will do the trick easily. It's not near as easy to get the data off after that as it is on TV.

Jim

 

I'll look into it.
If it isn't functional. I am defiantly shooting it. :-D

 

Once you get the platters out of the case, do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRr-QFggpfU

Wait for the great closing line...

:major

 

And don't forget to keep the magnet. :-D

 

roflmaoroflmaoroflmaoroflmao
There's an Idea.

 

Those methods can all be overcome with modern data retrieval techniques,the only way to destroy the information on a hard drive is nuclear fusion at the heart of a star.:-D

What is everyone so afraid of? If the drive is broken I always take them apart,inside you'll find a neodymium magnet '@Tgell; which are the most powerful magnets on earth,I have a big stack of them to play with I just bin the platters.

No one is gonna rebuild the hard drive,if its not broken just RPF and use it,the chances that the drive will end up in hands of bank account fraudster is about one in a billion,or if that video is anything to go by and you live in the southern US 50/50:-D

 

Aha .. I have often wondered of the term 'Burn To Disk' now I know.. :-D

 

Here is the solution to the problem !! :-D

 

I once had to do this ... I let it rot in water