3 Easy Ways to Destroy Your DATA!

Here's three ways to destroy your HDD data before throwing out the drive (or computer)! (Don't try at home)
I probably need to point out that even if your hard drive platter is damaged it can still have data recovered from it. What you need to consider the cost-recovery-paradigm. In a nutshell, how much is the data worth to the person wanting to recover it? Generally speaking, and without getting into the science of it, you can recover data from damaged drive platters for about $US30K - $US50K per platter. If the platter is flat but scratched, it is cheaper & easier to recover data from than say the platter that is warped or physically distorted. But if you’re really worried that someone will spend vast quantities of money on recovering Your data, then the only near perfect method of destruction of your data is by software erase or alternatively you could heat the platters to near melting temperature, expose them to strong magnetic fields, acid etc..
And to address anyone considering Encryption; please be aware that most westernised governments have coercive powers. You'll have your freedom and choice - to choose to hand over the data, or spend 10-20 years in jail.
The Snocrash channel - lots of cool videos...
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[@ottopia]

And then you discover that you picked up the wrong box of drives from work.

[@apparentlyhumor9895]

Hahahaha!! xD

[@ariecopley-radder7018]

XXDDDDD

[@randomknight2585]

Shit

[@nikelinq2899]

LMAO That is such an "oh shit" moment

[@calvinruben2013]

you prolly dont give a shit but if you're stoned like me atm you can watch all the new series on instaflixxer. I've been binge watching with my brother recently xD

[@theCodyReeder]

What no thermite? ;)

[@sno_crash]

It's glorious for 1 HDD... but if you have hundreds of them it becomes a real chore

[@numbr6]

pile the drives in a 10x10x10 cube, pile on the thermite on top of the lot, then set the lot alight. That's 1000 drives in a matter of minutes. You won't be able to harvest the magnets afterwards, but if you are worried about NSA/FBI arriving in a few minutes to get you data, this is very effective. --Fsociety.

[@frisaregood]

Cody watch the defcon speech "How I lost my other eye", he explores the thermite method! (and explosives) =D

[@vaiosan775]

:-D

[@nickdesert7304]

Lol

[@wlouisharris]

Great video. I just smashed a few old 3.5 IDE drives and knew I should have opened them with a screw driver first. I banged them up pretty good but after watching your video I can tell there is a good chance that the spindle survived. 2.5 hard drives are a different story. The spindle shatters really easily. UPDATE: I opened one of the drives. It is one of the drives I really whacked and dented up with a standard hammer. The platter had a few dents in it similar to your sledgehammer technique. Probably as you assess it's not recoverable. My method - It's not an easy method but I think you need to screw off the top plate then whack the platters and they will shatter. You really want to have safety goggles because the plates shatter much like glass.

[@d4m4s74]

really advanced data recovery methods can still recover most of those drives, (everything but the holes) but unless you're doing something really illegal that shouldn't be an issue

[@jackdergo6097]

dude you should do more of these types of videos I love them!

[@thuankhang3945]

Finally, a how-to on making a data destruction farm!

[@cgme7076]

I just grabbed a regular hammer and a screwdriver. With the hammer I simply beat the living shit out of the drive until it was in about ten different pieces. And then once the drive was out I scuffed it to hell and made holes with the screwdriver. If you have anger issues, offer to be the one that destroys all of the hard drives; it's GREAT therapy.

[@twjolson]

Hard drives are extremely resilient. When the Columbia crashed, they were still able to recover data from the hard drives.

[@Dr-Manhattan]

I found some sulfuric acid - you think that’ll work?

[@iloveappleyoutube7198]

Also, when I have hard drives that stop working, I enjoy disassembling them with a screwdriver and seeing what’s inside.

[@Hazmatt4700]

For a guy that makes minecraft videos you've got a good selection of nailers. Great video

[@adews7204]

Now that's a lot of damage!

[@psyotic007]

i'm not this creative , I usually just remove the patter and scrape a big magnet over it, takes longer for disassembly but i know the drive is fried & i get free neodymium magnets

[@X3X1T0]

Snocrash is now HDrivecrash :D Keep the good work man, love your channel!

[@dominic2196]

Is it possible to add redstone to this farm to make the data destruction automatic and fully AFK?

[@luckyduckydrivingschool3615]

In terms of physical destruction, it seems to me that disassembling the drive, taking out the platters, and just sand-papering them with a fine grit would really scrub it clean... not to mention it would take less energy than trying to hammer it or use power tools, especially if you don't have access to these tools, or a space to safely/discretely use them. I'm no expert, but I'm willing to bet that a data recovery service or an extremely dedicated or lucky individual would be able to repair some of these drives/platters to the point where at least SOME of the data could be read and re-compiled. A lot of the destruction techniques shown here cause point trauma to certain areas of the platter rather than thorough damage to the whole platter. Woulden't some files remain intact? (for instance if the holes are only put in one radial region of the disk, where say, the inner or outer "rings" could be still read)?

[@sno_crash]

Hey there! Something a little different today...

[@dhruvchawla5476]

Definitely so......are you turning into a tech channel?

[@sno_crash]

No it wont be turning into a tech channel - But I think after 100% minecraft vids for 3 years means that some extra stuff might get mixed in and published every now and then

[@dhruvchawla5476]

Snocrash Yes this kind of content actually helps in breaking the stream of minecraft every now and then. :D You should also play some other games :)

[@haftbefehlsmutter9602]

Why arent you opening it before smashing the hard drive ?

[@juliand.1147]

Haftbefehls Mutter to much work with 30 hard drives

[@NelsonBigGunP200Fan]

you dont have to nail that maxtor, its perfectly capable of destroying the data on its own,

[@wlouisharris]

ROTFLMAO

[@pivottech8881]

"Thats a lot of damage" its the Australian phil swift

[@ThomasGrillo]

Correct me, if I'm wrong, but, didn't you do some Steam games, back in the day? Thanks for the video. :)

[@sno_crash]

I think I might have

[@oxinous3694]

roses are red violets are blue wanna erase? do it with a microwave

[@sterbenden]

*slow clap*

[@macforme]

Nooooooooooo! Toxic chemicals in eWaste. Don't even kid around. someone just might do it.

[@Litteral.Trashv]

Roses are red i like to watch 2 girls 1 cup you can do that but it'll blow up

[@heathroush5343]

I hope you save some of the magnets to have fun with.

[@sno_crash]

yeh - geez they're strong

[@heathroush5343]

and older the hard drive, the stronger the magnets. Just the polarity of the magnets themselves are interesting: one half of the magnet face is north and the other half south.

[@FlasheeGaming]

World download? I can't seem to figure out the tutorial.. Sorry

[@jackdergo6097]

Haha lol

[@jenniferjelke2502]

AOL drives; “You’ve got nail! (ed)!

[@TheDawgMiner]

I've always wondered if one of those portable rock pulverizers used in hobbyist gold prospecting could make dust out of the platters.

[@iColinCDN]

LOL ... nice. Ya could always duct tape one to the edge of a log and send it head long into a wood splitter ... it's the Canadian way eh :-D "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." - Red Green

[@vaiosan775]

One of my favorite categories of videos ! ;-)

[@Jaszi007]

That's a pretty good way to do that. My personal preference is melting them , but that'd just because I'm good with fire. By the way, I was sent here by Xisumavoid.

[@jeremys215]

first iron golems, then pigmen, now hard drives?! u sir just destroy everything u can automatically dont u?

[@nermoxd6295]

he sounds like cpt price from cod modern warfare 4

[@thehaydo9405]

Nice umbrella in the background lol

[@sno_crash]

There was four of them in the room - shuttercliq.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WestcottUmbrella.jpg

[@joe_mckirdy]

What about gasoline or thermite?

[@eddietowers5595]

Shoot the underside, brown area, of the HDD, it's made of aluminum is far weaker than the stainless steel cover(s)

[@gabehurley2683]

Dang, Hillary Clinton should have watched this.

[@RileyIsntDead]

She has other methods to erase that evidence.

[@Roescoe]

I wanted to see the bleachbit option.

[@alex_byrnes]

Awesome video. Very well put together and entertaining to watch :)

[@sno_crash]

Thank u :-)

[@dav1dh0ff]

I bet DemolitionRanch could come up with some creative solutions to this problem as well.

[@cottydry]

So if you throw them in the garbage and they go to the dump, do you really think there are people digging in the garbage looking for old hard drives and spending a ton of time using exotic recovery methods to try and recover old credit card numbers that have expired decades ago?

[@sno_crash]

I go into more detail in the description of the video.

[@navret1707]

I use a drill and punch holes all the way through the case. I think that will do the trick.

[@sno_crash]

Good suggestion!

[@shorty685]

Not sure I want to know what was on those drives that you needed to destroy them ;-)

[@luminumlx2604]

Minecraft porn

[@Fidocc]

Hopefully you double-checked the reflections to make sure your face wasn't revealed accidentally.

[@lucidmoses]

Nicely done if you have the equipment. I use a concrete punch and a hammer. I used to just just a regulate center punch but it took more then one whack.

[@mathumphreys]

I (stupidly) tried the nailgun option. The nail skewed off and lodged itself in my fence. Definitely won't be using that option again!!

[@transgendernationadmin-hum4977]

Just sand paper the platters down. Platters of the hard drive are where the data is stored, where your computer keeps you social security #, passwords, bank details, other stuff that evil people would love to use. Drilling holes or smashing it with a hammer will not physically destroy 100% the data.

[@GimiBsk]

You missed the opportunity to power them (if they can) and when they are spinning hit them with a fat nail

[@PatrickJacobs]

Thanks. Your video saved me a lot of time and effort. Destroying HDD has never been this fun too.

[@georgelouischrisos3597]

Going thru this now and curious what nails worked best for you. I purchased a pneumatic dewalt and the nails are not driving thru. Will these guys work? Grip Fast® 1-1/4" Electro-Galvanized Coil Roofing Nails -7,200 Count at Menards

[@Willom]

Best way? Open up the HDD. Find a very powerful magnet. Rub the magnet all over the HDD disks. The way that HDDs work is by magnetising microscopic parts of the disk. This will probably do the trick.

[@WetaMantis]

Nice way to keep your data safe!

[@Tinlion09]

“On the manual side, we've got my girls Roxy, Rosie, and of course Li'l Lucy wants to get in on some of this action...”

[@johnmarks714]

I have used the hammer method. If you go at it for a few minutes straight, you can cause a shit ton of destruction.

[@DaRush-The_Soviet_Gamer]

OPEN UP. SPIN DAT SHIT!. Screwdriver scratch dat record.

[@scotttovey]

The pneumatic nailer is much faster than the drill method I seen.

[@georgelouischrisos3597]

Curious what coil nails you ended up using? 1-3/4” x .080” Galvanized are buckling and not making it thru. Would these work? Grip Fast® 1-1/4" Electro-Galvanized Coil Roofing Nails -7,200 Count at Menards

[@scotttovey]

@@georgelouischrisos3597 Watch the video. I did not make this video. Ask the person that made the video your question. Of course, there is the possibility that this video is fake. The ones that penetrated were high end commercial grade.

[@dhruvchawla5476]

I just realized....Hand size reveal!

[@ottopia]

Nope he hired a hand actor.

[@dhruvchawla5476]

***** Aww the disappointment is real :(

[@maxfernandes4738]

+Dhruv Chawla ur næm, India?

[@dhruvchawla5476]

+Edmund Fernandes Yep

[@alternateuniverse656]

Did he really need gloves for this?

[@KohuGaly]

I don't think this would destroy much data at all. The nails are hitting only a minor part of the disk, leaving most of it relatively intact. It definitely makes it harder to read, but if someone really wants the data he can get it out eventually. I think it would be better to heat the drive with a torch. Heigh temperature should destabilize the magnetic dipoles in the material and effectively "melt" the data. At least that's what I'd do if I want to destroy data on HDD.

[@sno_crash]

In the description -- and the word you're looking for is "Curie" point.

[@KohuGaly]

oh, sorry. I didn't noticed there is a second paragraph in the description :-D Also, I have a question. How strong must the magnetic field be to damage a harddrive? From what I tried once, magnets that are commonly found in the household are insufficient. In fact, I've never heard of a harddrive being damaged by magnetic field...

[@naguleader]

idk anything about computers but couldn't you just remove the patters and then smash em? or are you looking for a way to do this en masse

[@Plyushch22]

Get a strong magnet (example-speakers), and swipe it over hdd a couple of times, drive is safe, and data gone

[@Chris-zg4ne]

Kids in Africa could have eaten those hard drives.

[@pink1200]

OMFG that is the best comment I have seen!!!

[@gormeister2032]

perfect

[@iloveappleyoutube7198]

At 6:51 I see sparks

[@MrKBartlett]

I just undo all the little torx screws and remove the platters and the read/write head magnets, then, a little go over with a heavy grit sander and BOOM! job done and I have two rare earth magnets to add to my collection! :-) Have a good one from up above! (English humour! :-\ ) Kev B.

[@seraluv]

I used a program to erase data from a USB stick and I formatted it twice. I thought that would do the trick. Nope! The 'person in question' put it through a restore program AGAIN and files were recovered!!!! WTF. How can I ensure MY personal data is destroyed for good without making the stick 'disappear'.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Great thanks. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@mjyanimations1062]

I would wipe the hdd if they are fully functional. If not, I remove platters from drive and smash them and heat them with propane torch

[@user-hh8cq2ob6w]

😂😂 I love the 3rd one...

[@PrimRoseLane]

Another option: Bolt Cutters.

[@Foxerofficial]

1. hammer 2. hammer 3. bigger hammer

[@sno_crash]

:-) when all your have is a hammer everything is a nail.

[@wolfytechs]

What i do is just put 20 drives in a micro wave for 10 seconds... they dead

[@arcooke]

Of course the drive with the ground up platter is a Seagate....

[@sno_crash]

:-)

[@elizabethball8141]

How much are one of the nailers and if you don't own one, (that would be me) is there some like ketchup or lemon juice that can work.

[@sno_crash]

A hammer and a packet of nails will be $10.00 - do it the old fashioned way.

[@iWhacko]

but wouldn't a professional data recovery company be able to get data off of the undamaged parts? it might be slightly corrupted, but unless its demagnetized the data is still there.

[@sno_crash]

chk the description

[@wlouisharris]

@@sno_crash I remember the Sandy hook case and reading how the attacker had destroyed his hard drives to a point where the FBI could not recover any data. I assume he possibly smashed the platters. You would think in that case that FBI would go to any length but maybe it's not possible to piece together a platter. But it's pretty amazing what the forensic software can do. If platters are undamaged the data can be pulled pretty easily by forensics

[@CrissPivot]

why you dont simply put a neodium magnet in the top of the hard drive

[@bengineer8]

or take the disks out and then do that

[@gormeister2032]

less fun

[@CrissPivot]

Michael Gorry :///

[@jasonl4237]

Hi, what exact position should the nails be? and what is the minimum number of nails for each disk? If I force a screw (turning it using electric screw driver) into the hard drive until it reaches the other side would it work too and cleaner? I do not have the nailing tool in the video. Thanks

[@rocktiki9865]

Great Video.

[@sno_crash]

Thank you :-]

[@thomasvache2050]

WOO SCIENCE!!

[@theschlubb]

the us dept. of defense recommends complete and utter obliteration of any material with sensitive information to guarantee it cannot be recovered, e.g. ground into a fine powder or burned to ash. i wouldn't trust any other method if you truly want to make data unrecoverable.

[@moonrich3492]

Physicists would argue that it's still possible, theoretically, to restore the ground-up or burned-to-ashes platters via Determinism. You'll probably be long dead before they reveal your secret proclivities to your descendants, though.

[@numbr6]

You left out fire. If you have time to unscrew the top of the drive, do so, then hit the platters with a propane torch until they stop smoking. If you have a box of drives and are short on time, fire up your propane BBQ to max temperature, and bake until they stop smoking. Smelly option, but your data will be destroyed.

[@ariecopley-radder7018]

Even better way... Open up the hard drive, take out Neodymium magnet from it, Rub it all over the platters

[@1450Games]

wow not the vid I expected to see today. But now I can see what you said last episode about doing destruction Xd

[@anomalousdelirium]

Seagate HDD have an everlasting shiny top cover.

[@Emily232]

"Some special equipment" = wiping it off into the sink

[@sno_crash]

HEPA Filter

[@jasonscheffler2842]

You should have nailed them with the disks spinning really fast.

[@TheLoon508]

i would love it you started playing ftb

[@galgalon7]

Snocrash! you forgot the most important way... C4 xD

[@533watts]

I just destroyed a hard drive with a drill press. I don't have a honking nail gun just a little dinky one.

[@MRtrax1000]

how did you get those drives tho?

[@allabakashshaik1409]

you really deserves a like

[@Acoolgamer-l9y]

Ssd ?

[@rossbrumby1957]

Use a pick or just throw them in the fire. But first remove the circuit board so you can cut the gold bits off with the tinsnips and send them to me.

[@Oli4vn]

I put them in my lathe and just resurfaced the entire platters lol

[@Sh0cKwavE__]

People get so many views for breaking stuff! You deserve every view you get

[@reedworsham5643]

actually there is a slightly less violent way to completely annihilate your data. step 1 : open hard drive. step 2 : SMASH!!! step 3 : put shards in trash.

[@themage1028]

Saw your face in the reflection of the platters! FACE REVEAL! ENHANCE!

[@gormeister2032]

I'm this is a joke but it's hard to watch when ur running out of space on it hdd

[@58elrond]

Its not a joke, its really difficulty to destroy data completely - people think putting water on their laptop or smashing it with a hammer works, when infact its probably even retrievable with a nail gun - would be ... virtually impossible for all but extreme professionals to recover data from :/

[@gormeister2032]

Obviously but the video, I interpreted the video as a joke simply because mod of the views probobally don't have experts trying to recover their personal data.

[@gormeister2032]

I guess if porn is your thing and it involves minecraft you could ruin an old hdd

[@Davidmormino]

I thought that the he'd platers where like glass and should shatter as such put it is like a deferent material that doesn't shatter

[@sno_crash]

You are right, they used to be made out of glass. But that was some time ago, about 20 years. Since then they worked out ways of making aluminium discs which are "flat" enough to do the job.

[@2nd_Channel]

Some 2,5" hdd's still are

[@pulsefel9210]

now my question would be...just what are you destroying them for?

[@KohuGaly]

in case of this video, just for demonstration. The harddrives used in the video are already broken.

[@sno_crash]

They were removed from business computers where I had an obligation to ensure that they are unreadable before being dumped/recycled.

[@pulsefel9210]

ah understandable then. get the magnets and flames! breaking them is only the first step!

[@IncubusOfDeath]

Do they all have 2 platters? Or just some do?

[@sno_crash]

Some have 1, some have 5 platters. Any number really, depending on the capacity of the drive and the recording technology used.

[@IncubusOfDeath]

@@sno_crash Wow, I didn't know that...I just hopefully destroyed one today, with a hammer....it was a brand new 500 gb SATA Hard Drive. I got hacked recently and my computer was completely compromised. It would not let me format, delete files, or get into my C:/ drive. I only saw one thick disk, that I scratched to death, with a screw driver, and hit it with a hammer.

[@ellienyan]

8:00 cheap drugs! old broken hard drives!

[@thecrippledwalrus5480]

You have to do it the Gilfoyle way.

[@rustyshriver4845]

you destroying your bookie files 😂

[@sno_crash]

correct

[@rustyshriver4845]

Your my favorite KZbinr cause you always answer the comments :D

[@shade9592]

What about melting down the drive?

[@sno_crash]

Check the description :-)

[@smokie128]

The -nuclear- thermite option still needs to be displayed... wink wink ;-)

[@twjolson]

As a digital forensics examiner (someone who specializes in recovering data) : using software to wipe the drive is easy and effective. Data will not be recoverable - because it is no longer there. Denting and putting holes in the platter is not. The data is still on the platter, and can be recovered with specialized tools. For physical destruction, you need a hardcore shredder to chop the drive to bits.

[@KohuGaly]

How about cutting the disk in half using carbon saw?

[@twjolson]

These physical methods of destruction don't erase or change the data. They only make the data more difficult to read. The data is still encoded on the platter and can be read with specialized (and rare) tools.

[@KohuGaly]

twjolson I'm just wondering where is the sweet spot, that nobody sane would bother recovering the data anymore.

[@twjolson]

Just use a boot disc like Darik's Boot and Nuke. Once the data is overwritten, it can't be recovered. It use to be possible back in the days of stepper motors, but that hasn't been true for many, many years. There is the chance that snippets of data would be in non-user accessible areas, but you are talking about small bits of data (a few sectors). Physically damaging the platter so it is in pieces is a 'sweet spot', but it is more work than a boot disc and means the drive doesn't work anymore. If you bend the platter, like Sno does, just means someone can straighten them and read the data. Putting holes in the platter just means that small area is unreadable, but the rest is.

[@KohuGaly]

twjolson It used to be that when data is overwritten the old data is still partially present, so multiple overwrites are needed to completely scrap the original.

[@luke588-m8p]

I like this video!

[@sno_crash]

Thank u :-)