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What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of?

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  What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2024-01-21 16:17 +0000
    Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-01-21 11:47 -0600
    Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> - 2024-01-21 19:55 +0100
    Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2024-01-21 14:28 -0600
    Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2024-01-21 20:12 -0700
    Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> - 2024-01-23 15:32 -0600
      Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2024-01-23 17:23 -0600
      Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-01-23 20:30 -0600
        Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> - 2024-01-24 15:14 -0600
    Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2024-01-24 16:49 +0000
      Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-01-24 11:53 -0600
        Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2024-01-24 18:30 +0000
          Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2024-01-24 20:39 +0000
            Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-01-24 16:11 -0600
              Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2024-01-25 00:05 +0000
                Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-01-24 18:33 -0600
                  Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2024-01-25 16:34 +0000
            Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2024-01-24 23:58 +0000
              Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2024-01-25 01:51 +0000
                Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-01-24 23:35 -0600
    Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? bilsch01 <usenet@writer.com> - 2024-02-04 06:58 -0800
      Re: What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-02-04 10:41 -0600

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#8463 — What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of?

Hello,

What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., 
old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at 
home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive 
shredders (can't find many around my location)?

Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)
-- 
"See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." --Deuteronomy 1:21. Tired too. RIP, old WD Purple 2 TB HDD fried by a SATA power connector. :(
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  /\___/\   Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
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#8465

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., 
> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at 
> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive 
> shredders (can't find many around my location)?

Drill out the screws holding the plate onto the case (although I do have
small Torx screwdrivers that will also work).  Same for the screws
holding the platters onto the spindle.  Use a drill-mounted wire brush
to burnish off the platter surfaces.  Of course, just bending the
platters make they useless.  I'm not so paranoid that I'm worried some
trash picker is going to pay for restoring data off the bent platters.

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#8466

Am 21.01.2024 um 16:17:42 Uhr schrieb Ant:

> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives
> (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically
> destroy them at home and toss the pieces into trash?

If they are broken, they are useless, so I can destroy them with a
hammer.

If the drive still spins, putting a cent between the platters and
switching it on is rather funny.

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#8468

On Sun, 21 Jan 2024 16:17:42 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>Hello,
>
>What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., 
>old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at 
>home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive 
>shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>
>Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)

I open them up, scavenge the magnets, and trash the rest.

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#8469

ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) writes:

> Hello,
>
> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., 
> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at 
> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive 
> shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>
> Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)

Sadly, I've got a stack of drives I know I need to destroy...

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#8470

On 1/21/2024 10:17 AM, Ant wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g.,
> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at
> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive
> shredders (can't find many around my location)?
> 
> Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)

Screwdriver through the air vent, scratch the disks.

Lynn

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#8471

On Tue, 23 Jan 2024 15:32:09 -0600, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 1/21/2024 10:17 AM, Ant wrote:
>> Hello,
>> 
>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g.,
>> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at
>> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive
>> shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>> 
>> Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)
>
>Screwdriver through the air vent, scratch the disks.

Fine for the topmost surface of the topmost platter. What about the rest? :)

I don't really think it's a problem, but just saying. 

That reminds me that the new Seagate 30TB drive is made up of ten 3TB platters.
I didn't think they could fit 10 platters into that form factor.

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#8472

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

> Ant wrote:
>
>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g.,
>> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at
>> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive
>> shredders (can't find many around my location)?
> 
> Screwdriver through the air vent, scratch the disks.

Never thought I'd have the strength to push a screwdriver, or even a
small awl, through the cinter filter in the pressure equalization port.
A drill and bit might work.

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#8477

On 1/23/2024 8:30 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Ant wrote:
>>
>>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g.,
>>> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at
>>> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive
>>> shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>>
>> Screwdriver through the air vent, scratch the disks.
> 
> Never thought I'd have the strength to push a screwdriver, or even a
> small awl, through the cinter filter in the pressure equalization port.
> A drill and bit might work.

A hammer works just fine.  The screwdriver distributes platter 
scratchings all over the other platters.

Lynn

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#8473

On 2024-01-21, Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., 
> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at 
> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive 
> shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>
> Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)

There's a local non-profit company here that takes hard drives and
destroys them for you. If they are operational, they securely sanitize
them, overwriting all data multiple times and then repurpose them for
free or low cost to the community. If not, they physically destroy
(shred) and recycle them.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#8474

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:

> Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
>
>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives (e.g., 
>> old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically destroy them at 
>> home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place that have drive 
>> shredders (can't find many around my location)?
> 
> There's a local non-profit company here that takes hard drives and
> destroys them for you. If they are operational, they securely sanitize
> them, overwriting all data multiple times and then repurpose them for
> free or low cost to the community. If not, they physically destroy
> (shred) and recycle them.

Some cities have shredding events, and include drives (HDD, SSD, USB).
These are events, so you have to wait until the next one.  Considering
how easy HDDs can be dismantled, I wouldn't bother waiting.  Plus, as
Char mentions, you get a plus on the strong magnets inside.  Nice to
have something than nothing.  Plus the platters can be used as shiny
coasters.

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#8475

On 2024-01-24, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>> Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
>>
>>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives
>>> (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically
>>> destroy them at home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place
>>> that have drive shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>> 
>> There's a local non-profit company here that takes hard drives and
>> destroys them for you. If they are operational, they securely
>> sanitize them, overwriting all data multiple times and then repurpose
>> them for free or low cost to the community. If not, they physically
>> destroy (shred) and recycle them.
>
> Some cities have shredding events, and include drives (HDD, SSD, USB).
> These are events, so you have to wait until the next one.

Luckily, this organization lets you drop off items whenever you want.

> Considering how easy HDDs can be dismantled, I wouldn't bother
> waiting.

It does take time away from doing other things though, so for me
dropping off a bunch of drives every once in a while is more convenient.

> Plus, as Char mentions, you get a plus on the strong magnets inside.
> Nice to have something than nothing.  Plus the platters can be used as
> shiny coasters.

I've been using and discarding hard drives for far too many years for
that to be attractive. I already have plenty of fridge magnets, and
would need yet another a box just to keep all of them in, and I'm always
trying to downsize as much as I can anyway. 🤣

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#8476

In comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
> On 2024-01-24, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
> > Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
> >> Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
> >>
> >>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives
> >>> (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically
> >>> destroy them at home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place
> >>> that have drive shredders (can't find many around my location)?
> >> 
> >> There's a local non-profit company here that takes hard drives and
> >> destroys them for you. If they are operational, they securely
> >> sanitize them, overwriting all data multiple times and then repurpose
> >> them for free or low cost to the community. If not, they physically
> >> destroy (shred) and recycle them.
> >
> > Some cities have shredding events, and include drives (HDD, SSD, USB).
> > These are events, so you have to wait until the next one.

> Luckily, this organization lets you drop off items whenever you want.

> > Considering how easy HDDs can be dismantled, I wouldn't bother
> > waiting.

> It does take time away from doing other things though, so for me
> dropping off a bunch of drives every once in a while is more convenient.

For me, I can't due to my disabilities. I don't mind paying a little to 
shred them. Some places are crazy expensive like $25 per drive.
-- 
"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy ??? to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." --Jude 1:24-25
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
  /\___/\   Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
 / /\ /\ \                      Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o   o| |
   \ _ /
    ( )

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#8478

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

> In comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>> On 2024-01-24, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
>>> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>>>> Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives
>>>>> (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically
>>>>> destroy them at home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place
>>>>> that have drive shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>>>> 
>>>> There's a local non-profit company here that takes hard drives and
>>>> destroys them for you. If they are operational, they securely
>>>> sanitize them, overwriting all data multiple times and then repurpose
>>>> them for free or low cost to the community. If not, they physically
>>>> destroy (shred) and recycle them.
>>>
>>> Some cities have shredding events, and include drives (HDD, SSD, USB).
>>> These are events, so you have to wait until the next one.
> 
>> Luckily, this organization lets you drop off items whenever you want.
> 
>>> Considering how easy HDDs can be dismantled, I wouldn't bother
>>> waiting.
> 
>> It does take time away from doing other things though, so for me
>> dropping off a bunch of drives every once in a while is more convenient.
> 
> For me, I can't due to my disabilities. I don't mind paying a little to 
> shred them. Some places are crazy expensive like $25 per drive.

Are these non-functional drives, so you cannot run wiping tools on them?  

Over 40 years of using PCs, I maybe have had 2 non-functional units.
Typically they get replaced with bigger or faster drives, but they are
still functional.  My workplace would have a lot more dead units that
cannot be erased, but then having them shredded would be part of their
operating costs.

Jolly doesn't mention this "company" that will shred drives for free in
order to see if there are other branches that'll do the same work, or if
they accept mail-ins (so the cost to you is the shipping cost).  An
unindentified "company" is of no use to anyone except Jolly.

https://www.recordnations.com/hard-drive-shredding/

That's one of the places I found in an online search for doing drive
destruction.  Looks like they are an overseer for many participating
providers.  They get a quote from a participant, and you can determine
if the cost is okay, including how to get it to them.  You can stockpile
your dead drives, and then submit them at once to see if a bulk order is
cheaper per drive.

If you can use a torx screwdriver (it'll be a small one) or a drill with
bit, you should be able to disassemble your drives to destroy them.
Hell, you don't even need to take the case apart.  Use a 1/4" drill bit
to drill several places through the case.  That level of destruction
will probably even deter the NSA from bothering to reap anything off the
damaged platters.  A sledgehammer, if you can wield one, is sufficient
for anyone picking through the piles at the dump site.  If you have a
strong large vise, crush the drive.  Use a pneumatic nail gun, or a .22
caliber powder actuated nail tool.  Or a hammer and some very strong
nails that are unlikely to bend.  A sawsall with a metal cutting blade.
An angle grinder.  A hydraulic press, like using a floor jack with drive
atop to jack up your car (pick a lift spot on the car with small surface
area, like a tow hook).  Use a large strong vise with long handles to
give you leverage.

If you're an old-timer doing TV repair, or you wanted to wipe your old
VHS or cassette tapes, you might have a degausser.  You'll probably
still have to remove the top plate off the drive enclosure to ensure the
magnetic flux penetrates through the platters.

With your disabilities, we don't know what tools you can handle.  Maybe
not even a drill and bit, or screwdrivers, and why you need someone else
to destroy the drive.  You could do an online search on "hard drive
destruction" to see what someone charges in your area, or farther away
where you pay for shipping.

Just unscrew or pry off the PCB attached to the HDD.  A hacker would
need to find a replacement for that brand and model to salvage for use
with your HDD, but then the bad sector map wouldn't match.  There are
shops that will find and test a replacement PCB, but they cost money.
How is your data worth to someone else?  Programs can be obtained
anywhere, and they're not unique to you, so it's your data you need to
protect.  If that data is really that sensitive and not obtainable
elsewhere (your file drawer, other paperwork, your postal mail), you
might consider to start using encrypted containers (e.g., TrueCrypt) or
use Bitlocker (or other whole-disk/partition encryption, again Truecrypt
is an alternative).  Secure before rather than after.

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#8480

On 2024-01-24, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
>
> Jolly doesn't mention this "company" that will shred drives for free
> in order to see if there are other branches that'll do the same work,
> or if they accept mail-ins (so the cost to you is the shipping cost).

That's because they are a small, local company that serves my local
community. They don't take donations via mail, so you'll have to find
your own. Sorry.

> An unindentified "company" is of no use to anyone except Jolly.

Not only did I not claim otherwise, but you're wrong in that the idea
that such organizations exist might just clue someone in to the
possibility that they can find one that is local to them. But by all
means, do cry harder. Your salty tears are somewhat nourishing, if not
entertaining. 🤣

> https://www.recordnations.com/hard-drive-shredding/
>
> That's one of the places I found in an online search

Well, look at that.  It was helpful after all. 🙂

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#8481

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:

> On 2024-01-24, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
>>
>> Jolly doesn't mention this "company" that will shred drives for free
>> in order to see if there are other branches that'll do the same work,
>> or if they accept mail-ins (so the cost to you is the shipping cost).
> 
> That's because they are a small, local company that serves my local
> community. They don't take donations via mail, so you'll have to find
> your own. Sorry.

That's what I did to find my city has shredding events, and includes
hard drives.  They're free, but they occur only on a few days during the
year.

>> An unindentified "company" is of no use to anyone except Jolly.
> 
> Not only did I not claim otherwise, but you're wrong in that the idea
> that such organizations exist might just clue someone in to the
> possibility that they can find one that is local to them. But by all
> means, do cry harder. Your salty tears are somewhat nourishing, if not
> entertaining. ������

You didn't identify.  So no one but you would know they don't have
branches elsewhere, or they don't accept mail-ins.  I specifically
prodded you to see if your "company" was usable to the OP, or just a
diary entry of yours here.

>> https://www.recordnations.com/hard-drive-shredding/
>>
>> That's one of the places I found in an online search
> 
> Well, look at that.  It was helpful after all. ������

No, *I* was helpful, not you.  You don't get to take credit for effort
by others.  Somehow I think you're still living with your parents
considering your attitude.

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#8484

On 2024-01-25, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>> On 2024-01-24, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
>>>
>>> Jolly doesn't mention this "company" that will shred drives for free
>>> in order to see if there are other branches that'll do the same
>>> work, or if they accept mail-ins (so the cost to you is the shipping
>>> cost).
>> 
>> That's because they are a small, local company that serves my local
>> community. They don't take donations via mail, so you'll have to find
>> your own. Sorry.
>
> That's what I did to find my city has shredding events, and includes
> hard drives.  They're free, but they occur only on a few days during
> the year.

Somehow I think others can do that too.

>>> An unindentified "company" is of no use to anyone except Jolly.
>> 
>> Not only did I not claim otherwise, but you're wrong in that the idea
>> that such organizations exist might just clue someone in to the
>> possibility that they can find one that is local to them. But by all
>> means, do cry harder. Your salty tears are somewhat nourishing, if
>> not entertaining. ������
>
> You didn't identify. So no one but you would know they don't have
> branches elsewhere, or they don't accept mail-ins.

If anyone had asked, I would have gladly provided that information.
Instead, you got a hair up your ass, and here we are.

>>> https://www.recordnations.com/hard-drive-shredding/
>>>
>>> That's one of the places I found in an online search
>> 
>> Well, look at that.  It was helpful after all. ������
>
> No

Yes. Mentioning that there are local organizations that will destroy
hard drives is all that is needed to prompt others to look for local
companies that will do the same.

> *I* was helpful, not you.

Sure, kiddo.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#8479

On 2024-01-24, Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
> In comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>> On 2024-01-24, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:
>> > Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>> >> Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> What do you do with your personal home dead/broken storage drives
>> >>> (e.g., old HDDs) that you want to get rid of? Do you physically
>> >>> destroy them at home and toss the pieces into trash? Go to a place
>> >>> that have drive shredders (can't find many around my location)?
>> >> 
>> >> There's a local non-profit company here that takes hard drives and
>> >> destroys them for you. If they are operational, they securely
>> >> sanitize them, overwriting all data multiple times and then repurpose
>> >> them for free or low cost to the community. If not, they physically
>> >> destroy (shred) and recycle them.
>> >
>> > Some cities have shredding events, and include drives (HDD, SSD, USB).
>> > These are events, so you have to wait until the next one.
>
>> Luckily, this organization lets you drop off items whenever you want.
>
>> > Considering how easy HDDs can be dismantled, I wouldn't bother
>> > waiting.
>
>> It does take time away from doing other things though, so for me
>> dropping off a bunch of drives every once in a while is more convenient.
>
> For me, I can't due to my disabilities. I don't mind paying a little to 
> shred them. Some places are crazy expensive like $25 per drive.

If I were in that situation, I'd just use a screwdriver to remove the
platters and bend and/or sand them with sandpaper.

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#8482

In comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
...
> If I were in that situation, I'd just use a screwdriver to remove the
> platters and bend and/or sand them with sandpaper.

I'd have to find someone to open up the drive then. It is easier just to 
throw the drive into a shredder. Ha, I was pondering in buying a drive 
shredder. Yikes, those prices.
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#8483

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

> I'd have to find someone to open up the drive then. It is easier just to 
> throw the drive into a shredder. Ha, I was pondering in buying a drive 
> shredder. Yikes, those prices.

Yep, $6K, $25K, $35K.  They are very pricey.  Pricing reflects low,
medium, and high volume units.  They have to be well built to survive
shredding thousands of drives; else, no one would buy them if they died
quickly.  They're meant for purchase by professional and commercial
shredding services.  It would take you shredding 300 to 1800 drives to
recoup the cost of a shredder.  If you had that many, you're something
very wrong and very cost ineffective regarding hard drives.  So, you use
someone else's shredder that charges by drive.

It's like company jets.  Very rarely does a company own its own jet.  It
leases a jet along with several other companies leasing the same jet.
The one owning the jet uses all those leases to pay for the jet.  You
probably don't want to buy a bobcat to dig a ditch around your house to
put in French drains.  You rent one.  However, I don't recall seeing
drive shredders at equipment rental shops.  A lot of tool don't take
much expertise, but I suspect a drive shredder would, plus there are
inherent dangers in using one by the untrained.

Have you yet contacted any pro/commercial drive shredders to see what
prices they quote?  I've seen prices mentioned around $20 to $40 per
drive.  If they're not local, you'll have to mail it to them.

If you are averse to shipping the drives to elsewhere, and doing the
destruction using the aforementioned methods, there are drive crushers
(e.g., https://purelev.com/videos.php).  I was thinking of using a vice
with long handles to give you leverage in bending the drives, but this
one using a long handle to leverage an arm into the case to bend it.
Drive crushers aren't super cheap ranging from $400 to $450.  For that
amount of money, I'm sure I can find a really big vice with really long
handles to crush the drive between the jaws, or crush a small pipe into
the middle of the drive.

If this is still too much for you to handle, got any friends that would
enjoy destroying drives?  Give then googles (not just safety glasses), a
sledgehammer, and a construction block to smash your drive.  Or bribe a
neighbor's kid to do it.    

There are hydraulic vises that could crush the drive.  Here's how to
make one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw_uRNQe3cs

Yeah, right.  You can buy them, but prices are high, like over $1K, and
much higher.  You won't find that at your local hardware store.

If you, or a friend, have a heavy-duty vise attached to a heavy
workbench, you could vise the drive, and use a large pipe wrench to bend
the drive.  Most methods would cost you more in tools than what it would
cost to send your drive to a professional drive destruction service.

Are you concerned about a forensic lab reading data off the undamaged
portions of the platters?  Or just anyone happening upon your undamaged
drive who tries to repair it to make it usable to get your data off of
it?  Who is going to repair your smashed drive to get data off of it?
And is your data really that sensitive?

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