Easiest way to destroy platters from old hard drives?

November 12, 2024 1:58 PM

For years, whenever I replaced an external HD, I took it apart & lied to myself, saying I'd get around to destroying them later. I don't drive, so I'm not going to drive somewhere to recycle them, and I don't have access to the kind of tools to drill through them. There's nothing terribly secretive on them, but still, in this age of identity theft, I don't want someone to be able to recover old data, y'know? What's the easiest way to destroy them?
posted by 2oh1 to Computers & Internet (30 answers total)

You say you don't have access to drill-type tools. Do you have access to any tools at all? You can always smash it to bits with a hammer (while wearing safety goggles, of course).

Short of physically destroying the drive somehow, the only other way to ensure your data is completely gone is to completely overwrite your drive with other data.
posted by pdb at 2:15 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]

Smashing the platters would be more than enough unless you're facing a very determined nation-state level threat. Drop or throw onto concrete/pavement a few times, or bash with a hammer.
posted by so fucking future at 2:27 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: "If you have (or buy) an external USB connector/enclosure"

The drives are dismantled and everything except the platters was discarded. I literally just have the platter disks.
posted by 2oh1 at 3:01 PM on November 12

A haiku. Inspired by/ripped from South Park.

My friend Two Oh One.
Time to smash your hard drive up.
With a good hammer.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:11 PM on November 12 [5 favorites]

If the platters are already removed they are effectively destroyed. You can't just put those in any hard drive and expect them to work. They're garbage.
posted by Jairus at 3:13 PM on November 12 [13 favorites]

Dust kills platters. Being minutely unbalanced kills platters. Microscopic scratches kill platters. Whack them with a hammer a couple times if it makes you feel better and then throw them out. Unless they have, at minimum, industrial-espionage-worthy data on them, they're not worth attempting to recover from the state they're in even pre-hammer.
posted by restless_nomad at 3:18 PM on November 12 [7 favorites]

Unscrew the cases and get the extremely-strong magnets out. Useful for posting things to your refrigerator!

You can throw the rest (sadly) in the trash
posted by bug138 at 3:23 PM on November 12

I use an axe with eye protection. It's remarkably cathartic.
posted by whatevernot at 3:30 PM on November 12

If you have access to a car, maybe drive over the disks? Although I guess if the car shatters it into a bunch of pieces, then you'd have to pick them up individually, so maybe that's not so practical...

Maybe use a screw driver to scratch them up a bit?
posted by litera scripta manet at 3:36 PM on November 12

If you've dismantled the drive and chucked the fun magnets that you could easily wipe them with, then the only plausible way to get the data back is electron microscope. And even then, if you dispose of them one at a time and in separate places then I'm pretty sure the data is sufficiently diffuse to deter economic criminal activity.
posted by pwnguin at 3:46 PM on November 12 [1 favorite]

Mod note: One comment removed, response left up. Please note that the OP only has the platters from the drive, so there's no way to rehouse or connect to them.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 3:59 PM on November 12

I've successfully used the hammer method a couple of times.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:16 PM on November 12 [2 favorites]

What restless_nomad said above re dust and microscopic scratches. They were unrecoverable the moment you broke the seal and touched them. But sure I'd give them a few taps with a hammer (no need to "smash") and then you're done.
posted by intermod at 4:21 PM on November 12 [2 favorites]

Or repurpose them! They're often nicely reflective and very flat. A friend made a mirror with a bunch of them. Sand one side and glue them to cork to make neat coasters.

But yeah: threat model. If the data on the platters will get someone killed, batter them with a hammer or melt them. If it's just embarrassing porn browsing histories and old tax returns? Coaster is fine.
posted by phooky at 4:30 PM on November 12

They can also make amazing wind chimes.
posted by phooky at 4:31 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]

Just take them outside, grind them with your foot into the dirt, gravel or a concrete sidewalk, and throw them out.
posted by lhauser at 5:05 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]

If you go the hammer route, be aware that some drives had very brittle platters and will shatter. Eye protection is a must.
posted by donpardo at 5:28 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]

You can pulverize them in a blender. And if you like playing with acid, you can recover an infinitesimal amount of platinum!
posted by aincandenza at 5:54 PM on November 12

Go to the local makerspace and ask if someone would drill through them for you.
Maybe make a small donation in return.
posted by falsedmitri at 6:34 PM on November 12

DO NOT PUT THOSE PLATTERS IN THE MICROWAVE.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:04 PM on November 12 [8 favorites]

absolutely positively do not under any circumstances put those platters in a microwave.
posted by pdb at 9:00 PM on November 12 [3 favorites]

Exposing a hard drive platter to the dirt and dust out of it's case would render it unusable - but if you want to be certain you have a few options. The disk is either glass or aluminum with a thin coating on it that contains all the data.

That data layer is easily damaged - you can draw on it with a nail or a pencil. Just a few passes with some sandpaper, steel wool or other aggressive abrasives will also destroy the data layer. I would keep dust to a minimum by sanding the disks under water.
posted by zenon at 9:40 PM on November 12 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: "Or repurpose them! They're often nicely reflective and very flat. A friend made a mirror with a bunch of them. Sand one side and glue them to cork to make neat coasters."

HA! I actually did think about saving them for some sort of art project... but alas, I'm not artsy. But if they're basically destroyed since I removed them from the housing of the drive, then maybe I'll hang on to 'em after all, in case some sort of project comes to mind.
posted by 2oh1 at 10:12 PM on November 12

Please be aware that, as mentioned above, there are two types of platters: one is glass-like and can shatter into sharp shards. The other type is metallic and can easily be bent with pliers.
So make sure not to try bending the glassy type, because it will break.

Either of these is very nice to hang in a Christmas tree.
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:01 AM on November 13 [1 favorite]

If you know someone who has a degausser you can borrow, you can erase the drive without even opening the case. Degaussers were used in the days of magnetic tape--video tape, computer tape--to erase a tape for reuse. Googled just now and they're still available to buy but expensive for your occasional use.
posted by tmdonahue at 5:37 AM on November 13

Sandpaper.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:56 AM on November 13 [3 favorites]

Nobody's likely to find an appropriate drive to reassemble and scavenge your data. Maybe use a nail or heavy sandpaper for full paranoia.
posted by theora55 at 6:25 AM on November 13 [1 favorite]

Geez, people in AskMe like things complicated sometimes.

I mean, it's true that your data is effectively gone right now, at least to anyone but an exceedingly well-funded attacker with a very strong interest in recovering this data specifically. I don't think those people exist in your life if you're in here asking strangers how to deal with them.

But if you're really concerned, then get some CLR - or any equivalent chemical rust remover, you might have some in your house already - and soak them in a bowl of that overnight, rinse them off in the morning. Disk surfaces are just iron oxide, after all.

Don't put the platters in the microwave, unless burning your house down is an acceptable answer.
posted by mhoye at 8:57 AM on November 13 [1 favorite]

ctrl-F: "fire"

What, nobody likes playing with fire?

They won't burn like paper but extreme heat will irreparably damage the data , entirely toolless unless you call a lighter a tool.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:33 PM on November 13

I always found them surprisingly easy to bend. Fold them in half and you're good.
posted by simplethings at 5:52 PM on November 13