Anyone in the market for decommissioned Hard Drives? (WD Enterprise)

doughmanes

jonbeard said: and they don't take too kindly to people shooting guns in the city xD

I'm the guy who got it legalized after the city ignored state law which says only the state can regulate it.

singsing

doughmanes said: I'm the guy who got it legalized after the city ignored state law which says only the state can regulate it.

Oh it's you

http://www.wdrb.com/story/29650818/hillview-man-arrested-for-shooting-down-drone-cites-right-to-privacy

emg

I am surprised that seven defunct drives are getting so much attention. If it were me, I would:

• Disassemble the drives.
• Separate the platters and destroy them. (See below for destruction comments.)
• Salvage the magnets. (See below for magnet comments.)
• Separate the circuit boards and take them to hazardous waste center.
• Recycle the metal parts.
• Trash the few non-toxic bits that cannot be salvaged or recycled.

Notes on destroying platters:

• Separate multiple platters. Do not leave them together on the spindle.
• Most 3 1/2 inch drives (desktops) have metal platters. Bend and scratch them thoroughly with two pliers. If you are paranoid, you can drill them, too. I don't bother.
• Most 2 1/2 inch drives (laptops) have ceramic (glass) platters. They look like metal, but they are not. If you break them, they will shatter into millions of tiny razor-sharp shards like glitter. The sharp bits will spread themselves to all corners of the room.
• To destroy ceramic (glass) platters, put them in a plastic bag to contain the shards first. Using pliers, carefully bend them inside the plastic bag until they break.

Notes on magnets:

• Hard disk drives contain two powerful neodymium magnets.
• --> THE MAGNETS ARE VERY DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN!! They can easily injure a child or be fatal if swallowed. They are not a toy.
• They are strong enough to pinch off your skin, so be careful.
• They are brittle and can leave sharp edges if you break them off their metal frames.
• They are incredibly useful around the garage, the house, etc. I have a small box of them, and have found many different uses for them.

Notes on why I disassemble drives:

• It is more environmentally friendly.
• The magnets are so useful, they are worth the effort.
• After you have a little experience, it only takes a few minutes to disassemble a drive.
• If you can't be bothered to disassemble drives, a drill press is a fast, efficient way to destroy a drive. An electric hand drill will do in a pinch. This is not the best approach from an environmental standpoint.

Maounique

I have 30 drives or so which i queued to disassemble...
Almost all are functioning but obsolete, please share some usage for magnets, I am only playing with them pinching my skin a few times.

William

Put them around a door frame and if police raids you and carries out your PC they get no data

rds100

William said: Put them around a door frame and if police raids you and carries out your PC they get no data

That wouldn't do anything. The magnetic field is strong only very close to the magnet surface, it diminishes with the square of the distance from the magnet. And your PC it in a steel case anyway, it is shielded. Not to mention that the HDDs inside are shielded too. Don't forget that these magnets normally reside INSIDE the HDD and don't cause any harm to the data, which is physically very close to them.

William

I know, you need a degauss loop for that - With at least a few hundred watts.

mike0000

@William said:
Put them around a door frame and if police raids you and carries out your PC they get no data

Hollow out one of the bad drives, fill it with thermite, place it above the other drives in the case.. have a trigger that goes off when it moves within X km of your flat, some type of geo-fencing dealio.

jonbeard

Oh God you all are talking about bombs and such now LOL. Im just trying to figure out how I can rig a magnet to a wand, so when I drop my bolts down in my engine bay of my car Im not stuck on the side of the highway for an hour grabbing sticks trying to shove them out LOL (this happened last weekend)

emg

@Maounique said:
I have 30 drives or so which i queued to disassemble...
Almost all are functioning but obsolete, please share some usage for magnets, I am only playing with them pinching my skin a few times.

Keeping tools in easy reach, keeping small parts (screws, etc.) in place, retrieving lost metal objects (either at the end of a cord or the end of a rigid object - I have both), magnetizing screwdrivers to hold screws in place, making strong catches, and making temporary clamps for glueing thin objects where ordinary clamps cannot reach. They will hold objects to your motorcycle tank (sew the magnets into a fabric holder).

I have friends who stick them under their bicycles and motorcycles to trigger traffic signal sensor loops. (I don't understand how this works, but some people market products based on that principle.)

Frequently enough, I have some home "fixit" problem that I solve with those magnets, but I can't think of anything more right now. I give them to friends who have their own uses, too.

Hint: The magnets are usually welded to a shaped metal frame. When needed, I use an old flat screwdriver and hammer to free the magnet from the frame. WEAR EYE PROTECTION!! The magnets are brittle and sometimes break into sharp pieces that could hurt you or someone nearby.

Hint: To separate magnets that get stuck together (or separate one that is stuck flat to something), don't try to pry them off. Instead, simply rotate or slide them until they repel each other, or slide the magnet off the flat surface.

Hint: Watch out for surfaces that you care about. Neodymium magnets can leave heavy gauges or scratches, or pick up a staple that might scratch or snag something. One of my motorcycle tank bags picked up a staple and scratched the tank.

vfuse

jonbeard

@vfuse said:

I dont know what they did to make this work, but I want it LOL!

@emg said:
I have friends who stick them under their bicycles and motorcycles to trigger traffic signal sensor loops. (I don't understand how this works, but some people market products based on that principle.)

Thats actually a really good idea, I used to hate when I would be on my motorcycle sitting at a red light forever. Because there are sensors in the road that are magnet-like that detect car frames as you pull up to them. Motorcycles are a pain in the ass, bicycles are almost near impossible unless you have a car in front of you or directly behind you sitting at a red light.