this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
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Cybersecurity
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Papa always told me to drill holes in my hard drives to "get rid of the evidence". Didn't you all get "the talk", too?
Drilling, hammering, or throwing them hard on the ground until the platters shatter.
My dad was convinced the fridge magnet he "wiped the hard drive with" was sufficient to destroy the data inside.
I plugged it in to the new computer and whattaya kno', booted up just fine.
At the time, I assume he just didn't know fridge magnets weren't powerful enough to do anything past the sheet metal exterior.
Now I'm convinced he physically wiped the fridge magnet all over the outside, thinking that literally you had to wipe the physical drive with any old magnet, and has absolutely no idea how hard drives stored data or why/how magnets work to disrupt it.
A subtle, but important difference.
I never part with my hard drives, once all the important data has been transferred and the entire hard rive has been backed up vie external storage, I disassemble it and cannibalize anything I need, and keep the actual disc assembly intact. I like spinning them by hand.
Re: HDD Fidget Toys
Apparently, some coatings on some platters may be somewhat not very good for humans. Carcinogens and such. Exercise caution and don’t lick the platters.
Source: Verbal warnings from my local hard drive aficionados, with like half a century of combined experience herding large flocks of hard drives. Don’t cite me, just don’t lick your platters. Remember to wash your hands after you’ve done the deed and finished screwing.
No joke, as a teenager I temporarily considered using one as a pizza cutter but ultimately decided to use a pair of scissors just because I didn't want the shiny platter to be greasy.
I really want a thin metal disc to spin now... Maybe see if I can get it to spin with my arduino...