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.I searched for an answer before posting this question. My search did not find any answers.
My question: I have a bunch of old disk drives. Some of them have sensitive information on them. I cannot install them into a computer and run diskpart because they are mainly IDE drives .
How would you destroy a disk drive?
Thank you for your help.
How would you destroy a disk drive?
A hammer will disable a HD, effectively destroying it’s usability (preferably a “big one”).
Always wear safety glasses when using a hammer. My preferred method is a sledge hammer. Nice and quick.
++ Hit it with hammer (and chisel)
++ Throw it against the ground few times
++ Sink it into the water for few minutes.
++ Use strong magnet (like this on the picture)
++ Burn it
++ Break the IDE connector mechanically
Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise
HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29
PRUSA i3 MK3S+
The platters make good mirrors!
A screw driver and a couple of Torx drivers to remove the screws holding it to gether (some are likely hiding behind labels ) remove the platters and if one is realy paranoid sand paper, bend and put them in a nice bon fire. As your reward you will also find several very strong magnets. You can pinch your fingers playing with these so be aware and maybe keep away from the kiddies. Let your imagination fly free. 
they are mainly IDE drives .
It does not matter that they are IDE drives. You can still “attach” them to your computer and run a “wipe” program on them. Simply purchase an inexpensive SATA/PATA/IDE Drive to USB Adapter Kit to connect the drive to you computer. Then wipe it from there. If you have CCleaner, it has a nice Drive Wiper feature that lets you wipe the entire drive, or just the free space.
Wiping only the free space is nice if you just want to pass along the drive to someone else, protect your personal information, but keep the OS intact. You delete your personal files then wipe the free space. This ensures your personal files cannot be undeleted.
If you enjoy watching destruction in action (and who doesn’t?), research your local area for electronics recycling centers. Many will have a hard drive shredder that can be mesmerizing to watch.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!
Nice powerful magnets, can give your fingers a nasty nip !
A rather time consuming step and it is somewhat useful in addition to the other methods is to drill many holes with a large drill bit.
“I searched for an answer before posting this question. My search did not find any answers.”
How very odd — and rather disturbing — as there was a rather long thread discussing this very issue last year. I hope this does not mean that (at least) one whole thread has disappeared!
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
I searched with keywords: “disk drive destroy hammer” and got seven comments on this issue. Oddly enough, except from the one by Al Taylor yesterday, these are from years before I became a member here, so those comments from last year I have already mentioned have not appeared. And using a hammer was my own (not very serious) recommendation, so it should have been among the results.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
I remember that older thread very well Oscar. It was big and full of suggestions ranging from hammers & drills to using the platters for ornamentation. etc. I was a bit shocked at some of the things suggested then and now to a piece of electronics that has served one so well for such a long time.
Be afraid AI, be very afraid!
Charly: Susan helped find the old thread. See my comment further down, with the link to the old thread.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
The forum search is like Windows search. It needs work.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
‘Wipe’ program – Many, many, many hours
18″ fine cold chisel and club hammer – Less than a second.
No contest. 
‘Wipe’ program – Many, many, many hours 18″ fine cold chisel and club hammer – Less than a second. No contest.
The time it takes to wipe a drive depends on the number of passes you set the wipe program to make. Only super-duper Top Secret government agencies need anything more than a single pass. Still, it is a “start and walk-away” process. But the good news is, it is a “back ground” process too. That is, you can start the wipe on a drive, then multitask to something else. It is not like all else stops while the program is wiping your drive. Or, if you have more than one computer, use the 2nd one for this task.
And of course, the drive is still usable after the wipe.
As far as drilling holes, using a chisel or a BFH (a specific “big” “hammer” ;)), I note, while highly unlikely due to the amount of time, work and $$$ involved, a very determined bad guy with deep pockets who is out to get you specifically can still disassemble the drive, remove the platters and analyze the undamaged portions of each platter with specialized equipment and recover whatever data is still there.
In other words, it would take many holes drilled or many strikes with that chisel (much more than “less than a second”) to ensure no data is recoverable.
But again, that takes a lot of time and work and is why data recovery services can easily cost well into the $100s or many $1000s. But since we all have current backups, that is not an issue, right? Right?
I actually have a 16lb “double jack” that I took to a non-functioning drive once. You would be surprised how much work it takes to destroy a hard drive. All the fun was gone after about 5 swings. If the drive is no longer functioning, a drive shredder is the only way to go that guarantees 100% success and destruction of your data.
Oh, and BTW, if the drive still functions, you don’t even have to use a wipe program. A wipe program simply writes a bunch of random 1s and 0s to each storage location on the drive – overwriting your data. You can simply do a “Quick Format” to mark the entire drive as free space, then fill the drive with benign files. For example, with music files, movies or other videos.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!
The Click of Death ?
I gave up on the drive but still have a blank disk 
With some help from Susan, last year’s thread I mentioned, about the disposing of HD, etc, is all here:
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/moving-house-is-great-fun-said-no-one-ever/
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
Only super-duper Top Secret government agencies need anything more than a single pass.
With respect, I beg to differ. If you had ever been involved with the credit card industry in the UK then you would know that any hard drive in any device used for credit card payments needs more than a single pass for an organisation to stay within the data security standards of PCI compliance.
(I was one of just two PCI-accredited IT specialists authorised to deal with HDDs coming out of credit card processing PCs within a local authority.)
Note: The topic title is ‘How to destroy disk drive’, not ‘How to wipe disk drive’.
There is always the free portable Eraser app.
With respect, I beg to differ. If you had ever been involved with the credit card industry in the UK then you would know that any hard drive in any device used for credit card payments needs more than a single pass for an organisation to stay within the data security standards of PCI compliance.
With respect, that is not the “context” for my comment.
And while the “title” of the topic is about destroying a drive, the “context” and “subject” of the OP’s post is about permanently deleting the “sensitive information” on those old drives.
The point of my one-pass comment is that one-pass is more than enough (technically speaking) to ensure any “usable” data on the drive is unrecoverable. It was not how to be in compliance with this standard or that standard. That is totally different scenario.
While I appreciate your qualifications and experiences with credit card security, this is me. I was one of just a few responsible for the secure destruction of data belonging to such “super-duper Top Secret” organizations. And for sure, “one pass” certainly would NOT comply with their destruction “standards” either.
I highly doubt cellsee6 would be a target of Russia’s or China’s equivalent to Agent 007.
That was my point.
Pretty sure your hammer and chisel method would not be in compliance with PCI DSS either. But I know the shredder method I linked to above is – AS LONG AS there are two authorized personnel, with the applicable security clearances, present witnessing the destruction.
But again, that is way out of context for the OP and 99.9% of the rest of us “normal” users.
You might want to read The How-To Geek’s article, You Only Need to Wipe a Disk Once to Securely Erase It.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!
Pretty sure your hammer and chisel method would not be in compliance with PCI DSS either. But I know the shredder method I linked to above is – AS LONG AS there are two authorized personnel, with the applicable security clearances, present witnessing the destruction.
Hence why I said I was one of two authorised personnel. Hammer and chisel is the ‘home’ method’. At work we had to run the organisation’s HDD shredder out of hours due to the noise (despite wearing ear defenders)… and have a Health & Safety person in attendance as well, just in case.
Yeah, those shredders are noisy. Ours was located in a separate building where the paper shredders and “burn” furnace was housed for destroying classified documents. So after (out of) hours was not a problem. Didn’t matter anyway as it was a 24/7/365 facility. And yes, our OHSA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) Agency had strict rules about ear and eye protection too. We did not have to have a OSHA rep present, but that was only because both witnesses were already trained and certified to comply with OSHA standards. Plus part of the completed destruction documentation required the two witnesses certify all safety standards were properly complied with.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!
There are many more creative ways that you can destroy your hard drive such as setting it on fire, cutting it up with a saw or magnetizing it. However, simply scratching the hard drive disk and smashing it a bit with a hammer will get the job done!
When you’re all done, box up the components and turn them in at your local electronics recycling center.
Send it to Western Digital to recycle and get 15% off your next purchase at their store.
“We will recycle devices from any manufacturer, not just Western Digital.”
https://www.westerndigital.com/campaign/landing/easy-recycle
I haven’t used this service yet, but I might remove the platters and magnets because they might be useful, and then put the drive back together and send it.
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