View Full Version : How should I destroy my hard drive?
I have a Western Digital 1TB external drive that I recently bought at Walmart that has gone bad. I have tried every possible thing I can think of to restore the drive but now it is not even showing up in disk management and giving me drive read error when trying to restore files with Seagate File Recovery for Windows. It will not let me write all 0's to the drive because it keeps coming back with a read error. So I need to take it back to Walmart but I can't physically harm the drive's "appearance". What's another way I can be sure my data will not be retrieved? :p
Oh yeah and the local hospital wouldn't let me stick it in the MRI room with the big magnet on. Already tried that :D
The last drive I returned to Walmart ended back on the shelf!!! It had a bad adapter connection.
If it's getting those kind of errors, I doubt anyone is going to spend the money needed to retrieve the data from it. Tell the person behind the service counter that the drive does not work at all and needs to go back to the manufacturer not back on the shelf.
You can also try to see if you can return it to Western Digital rather than Wally Mart. Give WD a call or try this site - http://support.wdc.com/warranty/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
snowmaker
5-14-09, 12:28 PM
degauss hard drive - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=degauss+hard+drive)
You can also try to see if you can return it to Western Digital rather than Wally Mart. Give WD a call or try this site - http://support.wdc.com/warranty/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
Yeah I called WD but I still have to pay for shipping that way. I told the lady at walmart that the last drive was defective but of course they didn't listen. Just like the story thats been on the news recently about the playstation game that was put back on the shelf with a box full of rocks :D
degauss hard drive - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=degauss+hard+drive)
I searched through some of these. I thought this was funny"
"A simple way to destroy your hard drive would be to just install Windows" ;)
You might want to figure if your time is worth the amount it would cost to ship it to WD.
If you deal with them, it's going to work when you get it.
YvetteKuhns
5-14-09, 01:49 PM
I still have a pile of old hard drives that may or may not work. I rarely return them unless I know that nothing private is on it. I returned one or two WD hard drives to WD in the past.
If you live near a junk yard that has a big magnet, that would destroy the data without physically damaging the hard drive. I am old enough to remember the audio cassettes or video cassettes. You can't "erase" what you recorded, but you can record "over" the previous recordings. If you are able to use the hard drive as a slave to store garbage on it, you may be able to "remove" old files and store other data where the old files were.
My digital camera memory stick stores files. I can copy or cut and paste them to my hard drive. If I didn't take new photos, I can use software to retrieve the deleted files. If I took 50 photos, deleted them, then took 20 new photos, I could possibly retrieve the new 20 photos and the last 30 photos from the previous use. It has worked in the past, so be careful with storage devices.
"A simple way to destroy your hard drive would be to just install Windows"
That is especially true if you try to install FAT32 OS over NTSF OS or vice versa.
entrecon
5-14-09, 01:57 PM
I don't know about hard Drives, but I know I had a 3.5 disk pretty much destroyed by leaving it on the front seat of my car on a summer day. I was just glad I hadn't tossed it up on teh dash, probably would have melted the thing.
"Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." (paraphrased quote)
If you do return the drive to Wal-mart, be sure to disclose to them that it IS DEFECTIVE. They should NOT put it back on the shelf. Of course, you can't control whether they do the right thing, but you should be up front about its condition. Otherwise, you're really just hosing the next poor slob who buys it.
If they won't take it back on those grounds (e.g. too late since purchase, etc.) then eh, just degauss the thing, pay the shipping to WD, and get a replacement. These things happen, and luckily, not that often. Your bank account will recover. Skip a trip to McDonalds to make up the difference if necessary.
Just my $0.02 USD.
omatic
I'd just take a magnet to it and hope that was enough. Most people lack the skills to recover badly corrupted data, so that should be 'safe enough'. You'd need a decently strong magnet... I have some rare earth magnets that would be great for the job.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/770f/
Yes, I'm a geek. Regardless, I think that's really your best bet. Do you actually have anything sensitive on your drive? Naked pics of your girlfriend or bank account details, for instance.
YvetteKuhns
5-14-09, 04:57 PM
Take off your shoes (wear socks) and shuffle across the carpet, then touch the hard drive. You can also rub against microsuede and zap it. These usually are not enough to toast a hard drive. Rub a balloon on your hair. If your hair stands up and the balloon is attracted to your hair, place the hard drive on your head. You can try connecting a battery charger (normally used to charge car batteries) to your hard drive.
Okay, I could give more strange responses. Heat and humidity could damage it, too. But will the store take it back after you do that? Heat and humidity temporarily disabled my digital camera. I stored it in a plastic bag in a desk drawer overnight and it was working again.
actually, that's a good point. You could just apply extra voltage through the power supply. I accidentally used a 24v power supply on a hard drive chassis and the drive inside poofed and smoked. Pretty effective way. It wouldn't harm the data on the platters, but no one could read the data on there without replacing all the hard drive circuity.
YvetteKuhns
5-14-09, 07:45 PM
I realize I was joking about a serious matter. We don't want other people to know passwords or any other sensitive information. It is important to successfully remove the threat of security problems. That is why I normally don't bother taking back the hard drives, but sometimes we pay a lot of money and can't afford to pay twice for damaged products. I just can't trust other people enough not to do something. The voltage method should work. I had enough storms zap stuff here.
snowmaker
5-14-09, 07:50 PM
A sledgehammer would do the trick too..
YvetteKuhns
5-14-09, 07:55 PM
snowmaker, he wanted to destroy the data and still be able to return it for a replacement. I don't think they would take it back after the sledgehammer hit it. I have a reciprocating saw with 12 inch metal cutting saw blades, if they WOULD take it back in pieces. ;)
snowmaker
5-14-09, 08:06 PM
Oops, I remember now he did say that.. BTW, Yvette, that comment you made in another thread about the spring cleaning and an email to your son, that had me laughing.. :)
YvetteKuhns
5-14-09, 08:18 PM
Oops, I remember now he did say that.
We all saw that thread title and our minds wandered into the dark side. I can see Bruce Willis annihilating his hard drive now! Or Darth Vader and his saber destroying it.
BTW, Yvette, that comment you made in another thread about the spring cleaning and an email to your son, that had me laughing..
You would really laugh if you saw the emails or heard the conversations between the school staff and me about my son. He responds much better to rewards and respect than threats. Yeah, work and home are a lot alike for me.
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