threw away HDD?

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Dec 24, 2013
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I made a thread a few weeks ago that said this:

I have a question, I threw away a hard drive but before I did, I opened it up and scratched the platter up with a screw driver. Then I went to the dumpster and threw it away in the dumpster. Is it possible for someone to go to a landfill and pick up my hard drive and recover my data off of it? I did not put the hard drive back together so the platter was exposed in the dumpster.

But i just learned that hard drives write data on both sides of a platter. I did not take the platter out of the hard drive, I just took of the top of the hard drive off so i could have access to the platter.

I then scratched the top of the platter with a screw driver. But now i heard that hard drives write data to both sides of a platter. Is that true for all hard drives? even a hard drive that was made before 2006?

Do you think anybody would find a hard drive i threw away and try to recover data off the otherside of it?
 
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as far as i know and anyone can correct me if i am wrong but as far as i know when data is written on to a disk drive and the drive has say 2 disks in it part1 one will be written to the top layer of the top disk part 2 to the bottom layer of the top disk etc. so i highly doubt it, as many people have said i wouldnt worry about it as the chance that anyone will even find it once its in landfill which takes a matter of hours is less than say 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% so really unless theres top secret governmental documents that could affect the entire human race then i wouldnt worry about it, because the awkward thing is as rigid and stable as they say hard drives are they are actually extremely fragile.
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Shaun o

Shaun o

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Oct 7, 2007
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Hard drives are put together in clean rooms, with about 0.001 of dust particles.
Once you open a hard drive you break the hermetic seal any dust particles of a small amount can damage the read and write heads of a drive.

So it` probably dead long before you scratching the platters of the drive.
To destroy one all it takes is a good point tipped hammer with a few blows to shatter the ceramic platters, coated with iron oxide.

I would not worry about it.
 
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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Dec 10, 2012
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If you want to be absolutely sure, a blow torch will warp the platters....a large electro-magnet will erase the platters....a sledge hammer can destroy it beyond recognition.....a drill or saw can deface it beyond saving.....there are many ways to damage the drive beyond use....but in theory, there might be one sector of the drive that wasn't damaged, and theoretically data can be recovered from it.

Read this article about erasing a hard drive: http://www.cbldatarecovery.com/data-shredder/
 
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Dec 24, 2013
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I would have tried to destroy more thoroughly if i new more. How probable do you guys think it is that someone would find the hard drive in the garbage truck or something and try to recover the data off of it?

Also the top of the hard drive was taken off so would the rare earth magnets stick to the dumpster/garbage truck?
 
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Phillip Corcoran

Phillip Corcoran

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As previously said, I wouldn't worry about it. Getting any data off it would require the expertise of a forensic data recovery specialist with the drive being in such a damaged condition. That would cost an arm and a leg, and whose going to pay that kind of money with no guarantee that anything useful can be recovered from it?
 
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Thats good to hear. Even if the other side of the platter is completely undamaged? I don't know too much about hard drives, but would the average person be able to recover data off the undamaged side of the platter? Or would the drive not even run if the other side is so scratched up?
 
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chucky9

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as everyone on this thread has said before i would not worry about it as there are so many this that can damage a hard drive to a point where it would take a data recovery expert to recover the info. and as said already from what you have described any of the following if not multiple or all. once you open the case as said you have already slightly damaged the disk, as soon as you touch the disk the electro static charge which is always in your body would be transferred to the disk and fry it on a low level, you can also then wipe the disk with a industrial grade handheld magnet which you can buy from stores for less then 10£ or around 15$ by this point you will also have damaged the reader head which without a working one is it impossible to read the disk. and i could go on but i think you get the picture and the chance that anyone will even find this hard drive and even if they do the chance they will before the environment has damaged the disk even more its not worth worrying about because the chance anything will happen is stupidly small.
 
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Thank you. I think ill pick this as the solution but one more thing, a normal person wouldnt be able to recover data from the other, undamaged side right?
 
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chucky9

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as far as i know and anyone can correct me if i am wrong but as far as i know when data is written on to a disk drive and the drive has say 2 disks in it part1 one will be written to the top layer of the top disk part 2 to the bottom layer of the top disk etc. so i highly doubt it, as many people have said i wouldnt worry about it as the chance that anyone will even find it once its in landfill which takes a matter of hours is less than say 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% so really unless theres top secret governmental documents that could affect the entire human race then i wouldnt worry about it, because the awkward thing is as rigid and stable as they say hard drives are they are actually extremely fragile.
 
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Secur

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Dec 24, 2013
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Sooo the average person wouldnt be able to get data off the other, undamaged side?

 
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Dec 24, 2013
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can anybody answer my question? Is it possible for an average person (someone who knows about hard drives) to recover data off the undamaged side of a hard drive platter if One side of the platter is scratched up and the other side is completely undamaged?
 
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