WD Best wiping standard for your unrecoverable HDD

[jeyare]

You have a data in your old faulty HDD and you need to be sure that no one will take an opportunity to use it.
So you can use several options. This one is the best:
Open the disk chassis, then remove the platters and use a hammer. Gently. With safety glasses. A vacuum cleaner is necessary.

 

[Telos]

Don't forget to harvest those fun magnets. They are amazing.

But typically, I fill the opened case with cleaning acid (HCl or H2SO4) available from the local pharmacy. After an overnight exposure, I rinse it off and heave it in the trash. In my less caring days, I would toss it from a lake/river bridge-crossing (if you live near the ocean, salt water is your friend).

Hammering requires goggles for eye protection, IMO.

 

[NSquirrel]

>>Don't forget to harvest those fun magnets. They are amazing.

Bother - I forgot about the magnets! I just took a collection of old SCSI drives, from my ancient, long deceased Macs, to the recycling centre - complete with 5 mm holes through them.

 

[fredbert]

Nothing quite so satisfying as @jeyare 's method. I've a jar of bolts and screws off HDDs, and I've no idea what I thought I'd use them for! The magnets are fun to play fiddle with whilst on conference calls

Naturally the objective is to separate out the different parts so they can be recycled... except the magnets... they're mine ... bwah-ah-ah-ah.

 

[NSquirrel]

 

[jeyare]

I've a jar of bolts and screws off HDDs, and I've no idea what I thought I'd use them for!

once you need to screw the robotic third arm to increase a performance
I have a lot of screws in small garage drawers, it will be a lot of robotic arms

of course, I keep the magnets, they serve as pads under other HDDs to fit well in the dock . This reduces shocks and prolongs the HDD lifespan

 

[Telos]

they serve as pads under other HDDs to fit well in the dock

Clever man. I'll steal this idea