How to Destroy a Hard Drive

Erase data and disassemble the hard drive

Back up computer data . It's easy to forget all those MP3s you loved in the '90s, as well as cherished family photos, when all you care about now is erasing the cause of shame and avoiding being in prison. However, you need to make sure that all of your important and legitimate data is backed up because the end result of this process is that everything on the hard drive will be. 'wiped'. .

Wipe the drive clean. Always 'clean' the drive before attempting to destroy it. Although the more elaborate the destruction method, the more effective it is at rendering data irretrievable, nothing can be 100% guaranteed (especially if you have reason to believe that the industries The functionary will be willing to spend months and tens of billions of dong to find out your shocking secret). But, what about wiping your data and causing your hard drive to explode? No one can recover.

Let's be realistic, though: a complete data wipe on a computer can do this, and only someone with truly advanced equipment would have a slight chance of recovery. data. There's not even much evidence that it's positive.

Open the computer case. Open the computer case and find the hard drive. They are often located in different locations depending on the type of case, sometimes inside a metal box. You may have to research your specific model if you are having difficulty locating the hard drive.

Remove the hard drive. Remove the hard drive case. This will be easier to see when you loosen a number of screws that vary in shape depending on the make and model of the hard drive. It's likely we'll have to cut some tape. You need to know that the screw may be underneath the label, so try poking around with a screwdriver.

Remove the magnet. You need to remove the magnet to access the optical disc underneath (our real goal). There will usually be screws inside and this is actually quite easy. You need to remove the magnets carefully because they are attached very tightly and you could get injured.

Seriously, we would have a hard time if this magnet stuck to the refrigerator because they stick so tightly. You can break your fingers with these. And, please do not swallow and do not let pets swallow the magnets (pets, in this case, include small children).

Remove the optical disc. This part looks like a beautiful mirror. You may need to turn a screw to remove the piece holding the circular disc in place, located in the center. This is what stores (at least most of) the data. Our target is this department. Sometimes there is more than one disc, so you need to be careful.

Smash the hard drive

Use a hammer. The fastest and most direct method is to destroy the optical disc with a hammer. Place the disc on a surface that you can smash and clean up easily, put on protective glasses and gloves, then gather all your rage toward your boss and pour it into the optical disc.

Make sure you are the only person in the room when doing this; Smash each part to avoid injuring others with flying pieces of glass and metal, and also so they don't start worrying about your sanity or send you to a mental hospital.

Some types of optical discs are made from metal, others are made from glass and ceramic. The second type is more fragile. The first type will certainly be deformed and will no longer be usable, but if you are not convinced, you can also apply a few more interesting methods below.

Carefully dispose of debris. Once the disc has broken into pieces, you need to carefully collect and dispose of them. You can sell the bottles, or put them in non-degradable trash bags.

Burn hard drive

Experiment by burning. While heat alone may not completely destroy data, turning a hard disk into a molten liquid will be truly effective. Whatever you do, make sure the process is done in a well-ventilated area, because a melted hard drive will give off an extremely noxious smell.

Use standard fire. Place the hard drive in a heater or iron drum (the second option is recommended), a normal fire is hot enough to liquefy the hard drive. Throw the drive in and let it sit as it may take a while. Interest level: 3 stars.

Use soldering iron. Wear some protective equipment, fix the optical disc at a moderate distance with some heat-insulating tool and monitor the melting process. You must make sure that the floor underneath is heat resistant. Interest level: 5 stars.

Use aluminum heat. To make the destruction of hard disks more thrilling, you can boldly fill the container with sand, drop the optical disk in, then light aluminum heat above the disk. This is based on science, a chemical reaction that produces a lot of heat and a small explosion will occur, so you must be extremely cautious. Do not use this method indoors, near woods, yourself or children. Interest level: 11 stars.

Use sugar and potassium nitrate. Mix sugar and potassium nitrate in a can of soda and place the mixture on the hard drive in the sand bucket. It's basically a small bomb, so you need to be really careful about where you install it and where you'll be standing when it goes off. Interest level: 11 stars.

Shoot the hard drive

Experiment with slingshots or slingshots. Stand up the optical disc in a safe place and turn it into a shooting target. Interest level: 7 stars.

Magnetize the hard drive

Experiment with a large magnet. The story of scanning magnets through computers to erase data has become a legend. If you want to destroy data with magnets, you will need a giant magnet.

Buy a large quantity of rare earth magnets (a type of permanent magnet) that are large and heavy. This large magnet is enough to damage the data left after rubbing on the drive (interest level: 4). And in fact, who wouldn't want to own a super large magnet? Surely you will discover many other uses (interest level: 9 stars).

Or, if you live abroad, you can take your hard drive to a scrapyard or car 'graveyard'. wherever you can find the giant magnetic crane used to lift cars and other large pieces of metal debris. Watch your drive perform a masterful acrobatics in the air and your data become completely unrecoverable. Interest level: 5 stars. However, many modern drives are resistant to magnetic fields. Therefore, structural destruction is best.

Crush the hard drive

This is very easy - find a 5-10 ton hydraulic press, press and crush the drive with a bang between the rotating shafts. This only takes a few seconds, but the effect is significant.

Melt the hard drive

Experiment with acid. Imagine that the optical disk of the hard drive you are holding in your hand is a hunted little witch and that you are executing him by dipping 'him' in a basin containing an electrolyte solution or similar strong acid. You can monitor the process of hard drive decomposition. Then, remember to dispose of the acid appropriately (pouring the liquid into the yard is not a proper way, you should know that). Interest level: 6 stars.

Experiment with microwave. Microwaves aren't powerful enough to destroy data, so don't expect the next explosion to put an end to this. We just make the optical disc hot enough to melt or damage and that will make the data unrecoverable.

Buy or take advantage of an old microwave, you should use one with a button to open the door. Hook a rope outside and let the oven rotate for 10 minutes. Move far back (glass optical discs shattering in these conditions is very dangerous). Open the microwave remotely with a broom handle, pull the cord to open the door, then use a long stick to completely destroy the optical disc if it has not melted or damaged itself properly. Interest level: 6 stars.

Use hardware tools for hard drives

Experiment with sand blasting machine. Rent a sandblaster from a hardware store, remove the optical disc from the drive, and sandblast the disc's mirror surface. This will destroy the layer of material that stores data on the disk. You will be very 'cool' when holding a sandblasting gun, and you can also take advantage of the time to clean many other things besides the old hard disk. Interest level: 5 stars.

Experiment with a saw blade. You should not use a saw (because it is not very effective). Instead, use an angle lathe, which is similar to a saw but louder. These types of machines are easy to rent in hardware stores. Use a cheap 'C' fixed table vise to hold the hard drive's optical disc on a suitable surface and cut straight down the middle. In fact, you will have to cut more than once because sparks will fly everywhere like fireworks in a garage. It's okay, as long as you have fun. Interest level: 7 stars.

Just make sure you do it safely with appropriate eye protection. You should look at pictures of lathe injuries. You'll wish you hadn't seen it.

Experiment with a drill. This is a common, practical but no-less-exciting way to destroy a hard drive. Take a drill (you'll need a very stiff drill bit) and drill a hole in the hard drive's optical disc. You may want to drill multiple holes of different sizes, in different locations, to ensure that the data cannot be recovered. Besides, be creative in an artistic way. These can be used as Christmas tree decorations. Interest level: 4 stars.

Crush the hard drive

Experiment with industrial shredding equipment. Have you ever seen an industrial shredder? You should research it now. Rent an industrial shredder and throw your hard drive in. With the jaws, the machine will crush everything possible. However, you should only release what is necessary and spare your cat. Interesting level: increases progressively depending on the number of items you crush.

Applying electrolysis to decompose hard drives

Get a plastic container large enough to soak the hard drive in water. Add one packet of sodium bicarbonate. Do not use salt foam as it will produce toxic chlorine gas!

Find a large pencil. Carefully peel away the wooden bark, leaving the carbon core intact. The graphite part will be the negative (-) electrode (the electrode must be higher electrochemical compounds than aluminum). Besides, prepare two additional large electrical wires.

Prepare a car charger. Do not use a car battery because it is too powerful. Connect one end of the wire from the hard drive optical disk to the positive + terminal (reducing electrode) and another wire leading from the graphite to the negative terminal (additional electrode).

Soak the hard drive completely in water. Turn on the power. You will see the water start to bubble and froth, oxygen and hydrogen are being released – you should open a nearby window to let it air out!

After 24 hours, the hard drive optical disc will lose its mirror coating (oxidize). The disc will decompose somewhat into metal powder and brine.