For metal platter drives, would grinding the surface with a belt/disc grinder effectively render it incapable of recovery?

I cannot imagine that's not the case, but just wanting to confirm. I got a new huge NAS and have a shoebox of old hard drives I want to transfer and then destroy.

Cheers.

You got a burn barrel?

I've got a dozen drives or so. Drilling a bunch of holes sounds like it'll take forever. Running across the disc grinder would take 5 seconds per side.

I've got a charcoal forge of sorts. Will get steel to heat treat temps. I guess I could run them all through that, but sort of a PITA. I'll do that if grinding the surface isn't enough (I've already done the grinding) .

Esteban du Plantier said:

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I've got a dozen drives or so. Drilling a bunch of holes sounds like it'll take forever. Running across the disc grinder would take 5 seconds per side.

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Usually I'm doing them 2 at a time or so. With a vise and my dewalt it takes less than a minute per drive to put in 4 holes. But I get that doing a ton would be tedious.

What kind of destruction are you looking for? Unusable? Forensics unrecoverable? obliterated?

If they're usable, I'd recommend using a data destruction program like DBAN - just set it and let it run while consuming your favorite beverage then throw them in the trash.

If they're unusable, then a drill press is usually the fastest. A shattered platter is nearly impossible to reconstruct.

I've also seen punch/punch holders used to great success, but a sledge by itself is probably enough.

If you are desiring a nuclear option, an acid bath for the platters is 100% effective.

Esteban du Plantier said:

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I've got a dozen drives or so. Drilling a bunch of holes sounds like it'll take forever. Running across the disc grinder would take 5 seconds per side.

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Drilling isn't that tedious. I'd run dban on each drive and then drill away. One hole through each platter meets PCI compliance. It'll go quickly with the right drill bit. Drill right through the drive's case.

It's a lot slower to remove all the drive screws, pull the head, separate the platters and grind each one individually.

Was gonna say this, but refrained. The platter is not exposed and exposing it to grind it will take more time than it takes a drill bit to break through and wreck the platter.

Target practice

This.

.45 ACP or 5.56.

Just to add go through the thinnest part you can. Don't try to drill through the controller or anything. One hole makes it nearly unusable and as a bonus they shatter sometimes when you drill them.

Drilled hundreds at my On Campus student worker job. If you've got a press, great, but not necessary at all. Just make sure to catch all the little bits. Nasty metal shavings.

Commercial shredding services are fairly reasonable. (The one we use at work can shred laptops/cell phones/hard drives, etc.)