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General => Technical Help => Topic started by: stoney on Tuesday 24 March 15 13:36 GMT (UK)
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This old pc has being laying in a corner of the garden for over a year taking whatever the Great British weather can throw at it (in an attempt to render it useless to whoever comes across it!)
I'm taking it to the tip shortly so which bit of these internal parts should I smash with a hammer - just to make sure no-one can still access anything lurking in the guts of it?
We wiped off everything before we disconnected it......but you never know....
(..or perhaps I've just been watching too much CSI ;D)
Stoney
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I think it is bottom left, there is big shiny box and alongside it a slimmer shiny box with black, yellow and red wires going into the top of it via a white plug.
This should be the hard disk drive, remove it and hit it with a big hammer, is that technical enough :) :)
Mike
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Thank you, mazi!
Managed to extricate the hard drive and wallop it with a hammer a good few times - very satisfying! ;D
I think that's sufficient, don't you?
Stoney
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Remind me not to offend you ever ;D ;D
Mike
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Have you broken the platters in the drive housing or just knocked them off.
The platters need to be smashed, otherwise they could be read individually
Cheers
Guy
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Platters? What are 'platters'?
Stoney
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You've smashed up the DVD Rom (or CD Rom) and the Floppy Drive there. Nice to see inside them :) I've done a little autopsy report on it for you, for a bit of fun. :)
It's the thing on the bottom-right of your first picture you need to smash.
Those are the two hard drives. Edited: That is the hard drive (just spotted that there is only one of them not two)
An effective way is to drill a hole through the disc itself.
Trystan
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Here's a picture for you. Here's the thing that stores all your data. If you push the two blue clips in the direction towards each other, it will probably slide out towards you.
:)
Trystan
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Platters are the silver coloured disks (they look like built in cds). Depending on the size of the hard drive there could be up to four stacked on above the other in the disk housing
Cheers
Guy
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Oops, at least Stoney has had a test run and can look forward to two more satisfying episodes. ;D
Mike
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Is this a good time to confess that in implementing a hardware improvement I once shorted two phases of a three phase supply, the result when I reapplied power was dramatic. ;D
Mike
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Mike,
That's a shocking confession. I bet that made one heck of a bang?
Trystan
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It was spectacular, I was upgrading the primary circuit breaker, nobody told me this equipment was American and ran phase to phase, so I wired it to uk standards, outside the protection of any fuses other than the large one protecting the the entire complex the circuit breaker vaporised completely,fortunately we had sold them an uninterruptible power supply for the mainframe,regrettably it did not also power the kettle. :)
Mike
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You can boil a kettle in 11 seconds from 3 phase. We watched a confused electrician do it at Evanton.
Regards
Malky
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Good job the ex-PC hasn't made its way to the tip yet, if there's more hammer-wielding to be done! (I was actually thinking of dousing it in paraffin and setting light to it!)
As for the 'autopsy' reports - you guy clearly have way too much time on your hands :P
...but thank you, anyway! ;D
Stoney
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Stoney,
Thanks for that. I think. :P ;D If it makes you smile it's worth it.
Trystan
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I'm just going to take my old, pre-old, PC to my "man" and he will legally dispose of it for me. As he has now built at least 3 consecutive PCs for me, I trust him ;D Must do it tomorrow - if I can manage to get the heavy thing down the stairs without breaking my neck ;) The latest one is so light :D
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We wiped off everything before we disconnected it......but you never know....
If you did this within the operating system - ie using Delete - then all you have done is delete the entries in the table that record the physical location of the data. The actual data is still on the disk and can be recovered.
The best way to dispose of an old PC is to remove the hard drive(s); leave the rest at the local recycling centre; and destroy the hard drive(s) as discussed above. You used to be able to disassemble a hard drive using just a Philips screwdriver; but now they seem to use specialist fasteners and/or glues.
If you intend to use a drill you should try and find someone with a pillar drill stand for stability. Do not forget eye protection.
Ken
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Ok, you guys - I retrieved the hard drive and after much battering, prising apart and cursing (good job the neighbours were out!) I managed to rip it open.
Photo taken at the scene of the 'crime' (along with 'murder' weapons :P) - what do I do now? ???
Stoney
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You seem to have borrowed my hammer and screwdiver ;D ;D, give the round grey bits a whack.
Since it was manufactured in a clean room and any particle greater than 5 microns will cause a head crash I think it is done for already but best to be on the safe side.
Mike
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Ok, you guys - I retrieved the hard drive and after much battering, prising apart and cursing (good job the neighbours were out!) I managed to rip it open.
Photo taken at the scene of the 'crime' (along with 'murder' weapons :P) - what do I do now? ???
Stoney
Eat the evidence
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Ok, you guys - I retrieved the hard drive and after much battering, prising apart and cursing (good job the neighbours were out!) I managed to rip it open.
Photo taken at the scene of the 'crime' (along with 'murder' weapons :P) - what do I do now? ???
Stoney
Eat the evidence
I don't think I fancy 'fried' circuits.........! ;D
Thank you all, for your help - a few more smashes with a hammer and then I'm done!
Stoney
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If there is still some life
Perhaps consider drowning it next !!!!
NCIS
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Bury it under a car park in Leicester. They'll never find it.
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Bury it under a car park in Leicester. They'll never find it.
....famous last words! ;D
Stoney
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The pathology report has been received from the lab. The victim has been positively identified as Mr Max Tor.
A hard fella, well known for memorising a lot of useful facts - known to the mob as "Data".
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The pathology report has been received from the lab. The victim has been positively identified as Mr Max Tor.
A hard fella, well known for memorising a lot of useful facts - known to the mob as "Data".
.....you're having way too much fun with this, Trystan!! ;D ;D ::)
Mr Tor is languishing in a bowl of water as we speak....before a one-way trip to the tip ;)
Stoney
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If you really want to neutralise the data controller and the disk platter treat them to torture by balloon.
Inflate a balloon, rub it against your hair or clothes for a while thy touch the platter with it. Do the same with to the disk controller . Repeat with each a couple of times.
The static created will totally brainwash the two items.
Cheers
Guy
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A quick bath in this should restore it to as new ;-)
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And we want a picture of it at the tip, just to finalise matters. ;D ;D
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Drill a hole through the hard drive platters and all!!