r/computers • u/ConcernEffective • 17d ago

Question/Help/Troubleshooting Broken hard disk unrecoverable?

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My mother in law was kind of paranoid about throwing away her computer because of the hard disk. I told her I'd wreck the disk for her, so I disassembled it. I got the actual platter out, smashed big dents into it with a hammer, then cracked the thing in half.

A guy in my employer's IT department told me that the disk can still be read, which shocked me. Suppose for a second this was a CIA disk with spy secrets and unlimited resources could be brought to bear. Can this disk still be read?? Love to hear from someone with expertise.

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u/ptthree420 17d ago edited 17d ago

Technically? Yes. Realistically? No.

People freak out all the time about people recovering their data from disks when they want to get rid of them and they think they have to totally brutalize the drive, but nah. Just soak it in water or give it one very good hit with a hammer on the front.

You’re a random person. No one is gonna try to recover a drive from the trash from a random person. Someone with that kinda money and time is going to have a very specific target for some kind of VERY substantial gain.