Originally posted by r0gue: If you drive a nail through it, you'll typically shatter the platters to very small shards.
This is the way to guarantee the data is gone.
I used to support the IT dept of a very large retailer. When we upgraded the POS devices at our stores, the old devices had customer information, PHI, and credit card data on them.
So, for the vendor who did the deinstall of the old stations, we wrote into the contract that each drive had to be removed from the device and have four screws drilled through it. This had to be done in the store in the presence of the store manager.
_____________________________________________________________________ “Civilization is not inherited; it has to be learned and earned by each generation anew; if the transmission should be interrupted for one century, civilization would die, and we should be savages again." - Will Durant
April 29, 2017, 10:18 AM
Sig2340
quote:
Originally posted by Tailhook 84:
quote:
Originally posted by r0gue: If you drive a nail through it, you'll typically shatter the platters to very small shards.
There are better tools for this task. I have a .22 tool, a .223 tool, and a .308 tool specifically made to fix stuff like dead hard drives, stubborn Keurig coffee makers and other recalcitrant items that refuse to work properly. Discovering what tool is the right tool for the job is part of the fun.
.73 caliber 1 oz slug. A few times.
Nice is overrated
"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government." Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
April 29, 2017, 10:31 AM
0-0
Been said before, removing the drive is simple and usually only involves a few screws and a connector or two.
It is practical and cheap to buy a case and reuse the drive as a backup drive or dedicated drive for other purposes. While at it, recover the laptop ram, you never know, it might turn into someone 's happy karma.
0-0
"OP is a troll" - Flashlightboy, 12/18/20
April 29, 2017, 11:41 AM
Rey HRH
Great replies. And in less than 24 hours.
I have some time on my hands these days (after what's already in my queue), I'll consider which options I'll take. Ensigmatic's proposal that it might be just a bad battery sounds plausible, also.
It's also interesting to learn SSD's have a higher data latency which is counter-intuitive to me.
Using bullets is out of the question although the thought reminds me of playing Hickok while doing so.
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
April 29, 2017, 11:46 AM
PASig
quote:
Originally posted by mbinky: I used a program called DBAN before. It would boot from a disk and overwrite a drive as many times as you wanted. Even with three passes it would take forever so I just physically destroy them now.
That doesn't help the OP, he stated he's got a dead laptop with a bad motherboard.
April 29, 2017, 11:54 AM
whanson_wi
First thing to try is to pull the battery and try to fire the laptop up that way; I've had a laptop with a battery so bad and an adapter so wimpy, it could either charge the battery or run the laptop, but not both. If it works, you can snag whatever data you want, then decide whether to obliterate the drive.
=== I would like to apologize to anyone I have *not* offended. Please be patient. I will get to you shortly.
April 29, 2017, 12:28 PM
Rinehart
Any 2.5" (laptop) SATA drive can be accessed with the adapter back from a external similarly sized drive like Seagate or Toshiba and others.
Many portable external USB SATA drives have a SATA adapter/connector that plugs into the drive inside the case and it fits right into a bare drive. That's how I set up and repair drives in similar situations.
As detroit192 mentioned, you can also buy a cheap adapter on ebay that will allow you to connect older IDE or SATA and other type bare drives.
April 29, 2017, 01:46 PM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH: It's also interesting to learn SSD's have a higher data latency which is counter-intuitive to me.
That's because SSDs have spare blocks and do "wear levelling" by swapping which blocks are actually in use at any given time. So, when you erase or overwrite data, a copy of that data may still be on blocks that have been swapped into "spare" space at the time.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
April 29, 2017, 02:23 PM
arfmel
I did mine by removing the hard drive and erasing it manually with a 2lb engineer's hammer.
April 29, 2017, 05:48 PM
sjtill
If you're squeamish about killing hard drives, you may be able to find a place like this:
_________________________ “ What all the wise men promised has not happened, and what all the damned fools said would happen has come to pass.”— Lord Melbourne
April 29, 2017, 09:41 PM
Rictafer
call Hilary! shes good at that
April 29, 2017, 10:45 PM
DMF
quote:
Originally posted by Rictafer: call Hilary! shes good at that
___________________________________________ "He was never hindered by any dogma, except the Constitution." - Ty Ross speaking of his grandfather General Barry Goldwater
"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want." - William Tecumseh Sherman
April 29, 2017, 10:52 PM
scratchy
15 rounds of 338 Lapua followed up by a sledge hammer to fold it will discourage most data thieves.
_________________ This space left intentionally blank.
April 29, 2017, 11:04 PM
SigSAC
You can get an adapter for the drive to connect it to your other system. Pull anything you want off it.
If you're able to connect it directly (SATA, IDE, etc.), you can then boot up several USB bootable programs to run an erase. It is what I did on numerous servers at work. Email me if you want additional information.
April 29, 2017, 11:13 PM
Sgt Neutron
I have disassembled them to remove the discs, then shattered the discs. There are some small, but very powerful magnets in the drive that I've recovered.
May 01, 2017, 10:33 AM
jimmy123x
Just dunk it in saltwater for a day. It will be ruined beyond any recovery.
May 01, 2017, 10:50 AM
Bigboreshooter
I test fired my new P320 on some old hard drives I wanted to dispose of.
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. Luke 11:21
"Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." -- George W. Bush
May 01, 2017, 11:37 AM
JimTheo
They look bullet-proof
I should be tall and rich too; That ain't gonna happen either
