Selling broken laptop, shall I remove hard drive...?

googler

Sunnyday wrote: »

I`ve kept every HDD from every pc i`ve ever owned still got them all lol, some are really old and would never get used again, anyone got any good tips for physical destruction?

Open them up, and let the dust and dirt get at the magnetic platters. This should do it, but if you want to be extra safe;

Take the magnetic platters out, and rub their entire surfaces with sandpaper.

Submerge the platters in some corrosive liquid, such as acid, caustic soda, etc.

Score the platters with a stanley knife or similar implement.

Break the platters into a number of pieces with a blunt instrument.

googler

harveybobbles wrote: »

Not got a spare HD

Buy one ... ?

tronator

harveybobbles wrote: »

OH dropped their laptop a few weeks ago and it is bust.

If I take the hard drive out of a laptop will that get rid of any personal info/data etc?

There was just something in Click at BBC about how to destry your data safely.

To answer your question, if you take the hard disk out there is nothing left in your laptop. It's all on the hard disk.

Sunnyday

googler wrote: »

Open them up, and let the dust and dirt get at the magnetic platters. This should do it, but if you want to be extra safe;

Take the magnetic platters out, and rub their entire surfaces with sandpaper.

Submerge the platters in some corrosive liquid, such as acid, caustic soda, etc.

Score the platters with a stanley knife or similar implement.

Break the platters into a number of pieces with a blunt instrument.

Thanks, would be nice to clear the space in the cupboard

SD

harveybobbles

Anyone want to sell me a basic HD for a Sony Vaio then?

jamesb1239

Chances are that if the Laptop was switched on when dropped then it will be useless anyway as the heads may have crashed.

As for dispoing of them either open them up and pop the platters out then throw the lot in the bin (99.9% that they will be dead, and if in that .01% someone decides to re-assemble the drive and try it, they will more than likely mis-align the platters or put them back in the wrong order so it would not work)

googler

harveybobbles wrote: »

Anyone want to sell me a basic HD for a Sony Vaio then?

Lots of folk on eBay will - doesn't have to be EXACTLY the same as the one that came out - as long as you buy an IDE or SATA as per what you remove from the machine, you can get a larger or smaller capacity to suit your budget.

Other online retailers, including Amazon, will also supply same.

harveybobbles

you can get a larger or smaller capacity to suit your budget.

Just the cheapest to make the machine run so I can test/sell it as I've bought another laptop anyway. Just seems a shame top bin it when it might be a good lappy for someone.

Redmikee

Your data should be safe but you may not be.
:eek:

googler wrote: »

Open them up, and let the dust and dirt get at the magnetic platters. This should do it, but if you want to be extra safe;

Take the magnetic platters out, and rub their entire surfaces with sandpaper.

Submerge the platters in some corrosive liquid, such as acid, caustic soda, etc.

Score the platters with a stanley knife or similar implement.

Break the platters into a number of pieces with a blunt instrument.

Donnie

harveybobbles wrote: »

Just the cheapest to make the machine run so I can test/sell it as I've bought another laptop anyway. Just seems a shame top bin it when it might be a good lappy for someone.

Don't bother. Take the HDD out of the laptop. If it is an IDE HDD, buy this 2.5" Caddy for £4.20. If it works you will know the problem is not the hard drive and you will have a spare external drive for your new laptop.
If it doesn't work then maybe the problem was the HDD and you can buy a new one.
A better solution than buying a HDD for nothing.

If it's a SATA HDD, this caddy will do for £7.10.

Maybe someone else has a link to a cheaper option, but these prices are reasonable.