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What To Do with Crashed Hard Drives

16 years ago

I now have two hard drives setting in my office space that were replaced. Both crashed, but I was able to get the data off of them.

My question is what to do with them now? I know the one is now completely unreadable (the computer guy had a heck of time getting what data he could off of it) and the other was going out when it was replaced.

Thanks

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Comments (12)

owbist
16 years ago
If there was any sensitive data on either I would pound them with a sledge hammer. If however it is just simple stuff I would toss it in the garbage bag and off to the dump with the regular weekly pickup.

If your 'office space' is in a professional building then I would recommend taking the drives home and place in your garbage rather than have them tossed in a dumpster. Dumpster diving is one of the newer sports it seems.
ginny12
16 years ago
A better idea is to see if your town/city has a collection day for this type of material. Ours does, twice a year. This stuff is very definitely not good for landfills and it's worth a bit of extra effort to dispose of them properly. They are then sold to companies that recycle usable materials.
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Pooh Bear
16 years ago
Before you dispose of them,
take them apart.
Use this as a chance to learn
what is inside and how it works.

Then send it to a recycler.

Pooh Bear
owbist
16 years ago
I would definitely not give a hard drive to anyone to recycle if I felt there was data on there I did not need retrieved by others. Unless of course you do as Pooh suggests, even then the landfill offers greater security if you are at all nervous.

A few months ago on another forum there was an article on a man in Chicago buying a used hard drive. On inspection he was able to read all the personal data of the original owner in another state. As he was an honest man he located the previous owner and returned the drive to him. Nice gesture. The hard drive had been replaced by the computer store who then refused to give the original owner back the old one despite his requesting it. They sold it for a few dollars to someone who sold it on again. Food for thought.
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
16 years ago
Someone wrote somewhere that hard drives have a magnet that is fun to play with -- if you like playing with magnets as I do.

Does anyone here know if that is true?
Pooh Bear
16 years ago
Hard drives definitely DO NOT have a magnet.
You don't want even a weak magnet anywhere near a hard drive.
Wild wimmens and magnets can corrupt a hard drive.

Pooh Bear
grandms
16 years ago
LOL!
mikie_gw
16 years ago
I;ve never taken a hard drive apart...

Here is a link that might be useful: reresource.org/Definitions/M/Magnet/...
Pooh Bear
16 years ago
Wow, I had to take one apart to check that out.

For their size these are some powerful magnets.
I wonder how that works being so near the hard drive.

Cool. I learned something today.
And I now have some magnets to play with.

Are there any websites that disprove
the 'wild wimmins' statement.
I want to show it to my wife.

Pooh Bear
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
16 years ago
So how old does the thing have to be to have an "...old full-height, 5 1/4" SCSI hard drives may contain some seriously strong neo magnets." ?
mikie_gw
16 years ago
Maybe it's the arc caused from wimmens hair brushing static that kills some hard drives. Lots of volts & its bite is really hard on electronics.

That's why some guys buy their wimmens ground straps, er.. i mean necklaces and bracelets.
Pooh Bear
16 years ago
I don't have an exact age on the drive I took apart
and I can't find a date on it anywhere
but I believe it to be from around 1997.
And it had the thinner magnets that were pictured.

I have been sitting here playing with these magnets
and have found some peculiar properties of them.
They are attached to mounting brackets and I haven't
been able to seperate them but the bracket is not
magnetic anywhere. The magnetic field seems to be
confined to the other side of the magnets.
Even the edges don't show a magnetic field.
This is very strange behavior for a magnet.
Very interesting. I hope to investigate this further.

A corrupt hard drive would be the least of my worries
if my wife saw any wild wimmins anywhere near it.
Could be hazardous to my health.

Pooh Bear

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