Recovery Force® Data Recovery Forum

What do you get when you mix a 2 tonne arbor press and a 2.5" hard drive? A lot of fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luS-kINIE4k

Unfortunately, only putting an arbor through a hard drive does not 100% remove data. That's just "scratching the surface" of hard drive sanitization. (See what I did there? ) Certified companies normally conduct the following steps for 100% data destruction:
1. Wiping: Using a software program to digitally erase the data.
2. Degaussing: Placing the hard drive on a huge magnet, which turns the hard drive into a "brick"
3. Shredding: Throwing the hard drive into a giant grinder that crumbles the brick into 1 centimeter sized pieces
4. Incinerating: Taking those pieces and melting it down.

Steps 3 & 4 are a little extreme, but hey, how bad do you want it to "disappear"?

Just make sure you are utilizing a NAID certified business. NAID is the standard for data destruction. You can even stick around to witness it and normally be provided a certificate of destruction.

Here is an example of one company that does it right: [Link removed by moderator]

When crushing a drive with an Arbour press, it is important to make sure that the platters, themselves are destroyed in the process. Any data destruction process has its flaws, if not done correctly.