FIGURE I


Here you can see both magnets and the head array. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Here's a tip. These magnets are really cool. Rather than tossing them, I decided to keep them. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to use them for (although I did use them as a simple degausser for the platters), but they're just too neat to toss.

Once you've yanked the magnets, it's time to go at the platters, as shown in Figure J.

FIGURE J


Here's the meat of your hard drive, the platters. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Removing the platters is quite simple. Using your TORX bits (you'll probably go down from a T-9 to a T-6), unscrew the cap, as shown in Figure K.

FIGURE K


Switching bits, unscrew the cap. Roll over picture for a larger image.

There are often some machined collars that will slide off. Finally slide off the platters, as shown in Figure L.

FIGURE L


Here's what you're working for. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Your goal is to get to these platters. It's kind of funny. Once the drive's open, you're clearly not keeping them in a sterile environment, as you can see from my fingerprints. I've actually removed a whole lot of them from drives, as you can see in Figure M.

FIGURE M


Would you like a platter with your drive? Roll over picture for a larger image.

At this point, you can destroy your platters. One of the best steps is to simply degause the platters between the neodymium magnets. Simply run the platters through the magnets and you're going to disrupt whatever limited data might be left. After that, the sky's the limit. Run a grinder over the surface. Beat on them with a sledgehammer. Run them through with a saw. Just destroy them.

I, however, ran into a snag at this step. My wife, Denise, saw the platters and wants to make a wind-chime out of them. So I did a few extra degaussing runs, just to be sure everythings about as un-hunky-dorey as possible.

In theory, you're done at this point. But I'm a geek, so I couldn't resist taking this project just a little bit farther. There's a motor that'll turn the drives, as shown in Figure N.

FIGURE N


This is a very precise, very fast motor. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The drive motor turns the platters at speeds upwards of 4,000 revolutions per minute. Other than the very old 1GB drives, I mostly had drives that rotated at 5,400 and 7,200 RPM. That makes these motors very interesting. I decided to remove them (just unfastening the screws is all it takes) and save them, as shown in Figure O.

FIGURE O


I now have a very interesting collection of motors. Roll over picture for a larger image.

I now have a very interesting collection of motors. Yes, I someday dream of putting them all into a robot. No, that probably won't happen. But hey, they're small and they're cool, so I'm saving them!

By the time I finished, I had four separate collections: the platters, the magnets, the motors, and a pile of crap, as shown in Figure P, destined for the junk heap. What I didn't have is working, readable data.

FIGURE P


Take this to your dumpster. Roll over picture for a larger image.

And that's our security lesson for this week.

Shabbir Tayeb Ali is a Systems Analyst with Cyber Internet Services (Pvt) Limited in Karachi, Pakistan (at http://www.cyber.net.pk). He can be reached via email at shabbir1@cyber.net.pk.