That's one of the reasons why I encrypt pretty much all my disks, even those in stationary computers. It protects data from physical theft, but also gives peace of mind when reselling or even when a disk dies in a way that won't let you overwrite it with zeroes/random data after the fact.
this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
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When I dispose of my hard drives, I encrypt whatever data is on it with a drill. I've also used an AR-15, a .45 1911, an axe, and a screwdriver.
It turns out you reasonably prevent unintentional data leaks with almost anything and a can-do attitude.
Sure, I could encrypt the data using software. But hear me out: bzzz, bang bang, whomp, clink clink clink.
I just can't really resell a disk I've drilled through (at the very least it'd lose most of its remaining value). And while I can try to post a sign in front of my door stating that I'd like to physically destroy my disks before they get stolen, I doubt most thieves would respect that.
You should consider having more polite thieves. You wouldn't be friends with an asshole, right? So why are you letting yourself get robbed by one?
SMHing my head
Not a bad idea. Encryption overhead is practically zero on most recent hardware.
I want to do that but I have such shitty memory that I will forget the passphrase at some point. It happened to me at least twice...
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.
don’t lick the platters
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...
until the platters ~~shatter~~ splatter.
So close 🤏
Edit: lol! I, too, was so close. I fixed a misspelling-- spaltter to splatter.
Thermite is supposed to work too for extreme cases.
(don't be one of ours... don't be one of ours... don't be one of ours)
Oh look, it's the world's most widely distributed choir. None of the members can hear each other, but you're all perfectly in tune.
Hahahahaha, made me actually laugh out loud. Glad I'm not reading at work.
Take your upvote.
I still pull storage from computers at goodwill with good data. The last one had a bunch of tax info. I'm talking full identity info: SSN, phone numbers, current and past addresses, employer tax ID, pictures, flat text files with passwords, etc.
My first dumpster pull ~20 years ago netted me financial reports, bonus pay info, tax liability info for a very large petroleum company.
This is why you must eat the stick of gum
Or play basket ball with the HDD
Didn't check "rezero" when formatting 🙃