Is there any easy way to destroy a hard drive without software?

[progressive hunter]

I have 4 really old computers and today I took a sledgehammer to one of them. I got the hard drive out and gave it a good bash. Nothing. 10 swings and all I did was dent it! so I took a hammer and screwdriver and after freaking 10 minutes of banging I got the lid off. The disk was still perfect! so I got it out and "disabled" the disk. I don't want to do that 3 more times, so is there an easier way?

pull the hard drive and crack the case with a hammer and then put it in a bucket of vinegar or muriatic acid,,,

 

[Moonglow]

Not any more.
Most computers now have SSD drives that are able to withstand even strong magnetic fields.

Fine, stop downloading bad stuff.

 

[Flopper]

Thanks got all 4 done. I smashed 2 of them and cooked the other 2. They aren't kidding when they call them "hard drives" man oh man!

If I might ask, why do feel a need to physically destroy disk storage. Does this fill some enter need. I know that many times I would like to take a sledge hammer to my computer.

You know you can wipe the disk with software that makes the data extremely difficult to recovery if not impossible or with other software you write ever sector which makes the data impossible to recoverable.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

If I might ask, why do feel a need to physically destroy disk storage. Does this fill some enter need. I know that many times I would like to take a sledge hammer to my computer.

You know you can wipe the disk with software that makes the data extremely difficult to recovery if not impossible or with other software you write ever sector which makes the data impossible to recoverable.

You should ALWAYS destroy your computers HD when getting a new one.
Today most people have their browser auto enter their username and passwords for everything.
Many-many so called software cleaners don't do the job at all. And for those that do - it is time consuming.
A swing of a hammer is the normal way many companies destroy data.. I have done it for decades.

 

[MarathonMike]

If I might ask, why do feel a need to physically destroy disk storage. Does this fill some enter need. I know that many times I would like to take a sledge hammer to my computer.

You know you can wipe the disk with software that makes the data extremely difficult to recovery if not impossible or with other software you write ever sector which makes the data impossible to recoverable.

These computers were old and hadn't been powered up in years. I didn't feel like finding compatible software etc. for going the software route and yes it seemed like it would be fun to bash the crap out of computers, and it was! It was harder to crack the hard drives than I thought.

 

[Leo123]

I have 4 really old computers and today I took a sledgehammer to one of them. I got the hard drive out and gave it a good bash. Nothing. 10 swings and all I did was dent it! so I took a hammer and screwdriver and after freaking 10 minutes of banging I got the lid off. The disk was still perfect! so I got it out and "disabled" the disk. I don't want to do that 3 more times, so is there an easier way?

Take it apart, get the discs out and destroy them.

 

[Flopper]

These computers were old and hadn't been powered up in years. I didn't feel like finding compatible software etc. for going the software route and yes it seemed like it would be fun to bash the crap out of computers, and it was! It was harder to crack the hard drives than I thought.

That what I was thinking.

 

[Flopper]

You should ALWAYS destroy your computers HD when getting a new one.
Today most people have their browser auto enter their username and passwords for everything.
Many-many so called software cleaners don't do the job at all. And for those that do - it is time consuming.
A swing of a hammer is the normal way many companies destroy data.. I have done it for decades.

Any software clearer that rewrites the hard drive will destroy the data. Hard Drive Recovery from an overwritten hard drive is impossible as it is an irreversible process. The reason being, when you overwrite the data, you re-magnetize the HDD magnetic domains. Hence, you physically eliminate data formerly saved on the location. Most good erasure software will do this however it does take time about 2 hours for 1TB drive. You can do it multiple times, however that is just for peace mind, you don't need to. The hardware and error checking we have to days makes this unnecessary. If a few bytes was recovered from data recovery area, the chances are that it would meaningless data.

When destroying data you use the same logic you used in securing it. What would be the ramifications if data was made public.

 

[Ringel05]

Strap it to the front of a claymore with a phosphorus grenade behind it, that should do the trick........

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Have you considered sending it to the white house?

The Biden administration has a 100% success rate at destroying everything it touches.

 

[Bezukhov]