- 1). Shut off your computer and unplug all the cables. Open the computer's case with a screwdriver. Most cases can be opened by removing a few screws along the right side of the back of the case.
- 2). Unplug the power cable and motherboard interface cable from the back of the hard drive, unscrew any mounting screws holding it in place and then slide it out of the hard drive bay. If the drive is mounted with screws on both sides, you may have to remove the case panel on the other side of the computer and unscrew the other mounting screws to get the drive to come free.
- 3). Use TORX screwdrivers (star shaped screwdrivers) to open the hard drive. Remove all the screws on the top and bottom of the drive (there may be screws located underneath a circular sticker on the top of the drive, and under the circuit board on the bottom of the drive), remove any tape or labels holding the drive together and remove the outer casing.
- 4). Use a TORX screwdriver to unscrew the screws in the middle of the circular platters, and slide the platters out of the hard drive.
- 5). Destroy the hard drive platters. You can sand them with rough sandpaper or use a power sander to rough up the surface and make them unreadable. Drilling holes through the platters or smashing them with a hammer so that the surface bends can also destroy them.
previous post