this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2024
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Just spit balling, but it might be possible to flatten the platters out to recover some of the data, maybe even enough to piece together what was on there. The proper method for destruction is to wipe the drives, then shred them.
Yes for spinny drives.
For SSDs, when you delete something TRIM + physics ensures it's really really gone all the time
Please stop shredding SSDs that can go on to a 2nd life...
Indeed. I was only speaking to HDDs considering OP's image meme.
I figured, but I wanted to point it out because I'm so tired of seeing good SSDs get shredded or otherwise destroyed for "security".
Shredding was already a bit overkill for HDDs that were able to be properly wiped but at least there were some possible fringe cases. There's really no excuse for SSDs though
Aren't the discs made from a material that shatters like glass?
In principle yes but I never managed to shatter or break a disc platter... But then I never had a sledgehammer
That I'm not sure, I know the premise is that data is read and written magnetically, which would lead me to believe there is some kind of ferrous metal in there somewhere, but I couldn't tell you the actual composition of the platters.
A quick google search resulted that the actual platter is a non magnetic material like glass which is covered in a magnetic coating
Interesting, thanks for that. So perhaps folding the drives like that may indeed shatter the platters.
It depends.
With tearing apart drives over the years, 3.5" always used aluminum platters, while the 2.5" ones used glass. (With greater data density and higher speeds however, this may have changed)