New Guy
New to the forums and have a few questions. I have around 1000lbs of hard drives. Some are scrap (missing board, damaged physically) but most are in really great shape. Only problem, they have been degaussed...Do they still have any value other than scrap since they have been degaussed?
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
nope
I have a degaussing coil and have yet to try it out to see if it works. I am wondering if you are the one doing the degaussing and how you preform this?
I have never tried to formate a degaussed hard drive I am intrigued to find out if it would work out. Also Bear what experience have you had with attempting to test/formate a hard drive that has been degaussed?
Thanks, Mike.
"Profit begins when you buy NOT when you sell." {quote passed down to me from a wise man}
Now go beat the copper out of something, Miked
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
haha, none! ; ) I've just read enough to know the drive is rendered forever useless
New Guy
Well that stinks. There is no place around here that buys them. Any suggestions or words of wisdom?
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
tear em down, pull the boards. I'm in about the same boat, dirty al or cast, depending on how far you tear em apart. Magnets, discs etc. They're not hard to tear down, takes a little time gettin started. I sort mine by type, keeping similar ones together, makes it go a little smoother.
New Guy
Thanks all. As far as the degaussing goes......the only way for it to ever work again is for the manufacturer to re-cut/burn the sectors of the disc that allow it to be used.....or so i was told........Opening a degaussed hard drive i can see where the laminate separates on some of them from the magnet. Unfortunately, i purchased an auction that these came in......they were degaussed before i knew any better.
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But if you got them cheap enough then there is good profit in them with the alum case, alum or SS tops, platters, magnets and boards are sellable. Little bit of gold pins to go in the OMG bucket.
P & M Recycling - Specializing in E-Waste Recycling.
If you enjoy your freedom, thank a vet.
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yep, degaussing KILLS ALL info on the drive including the small bit of code that tell the drive how to address the sectors on it....degaussing is the ONLY way to permanently kill all info on a drive. Like others said...pull the hard drive boards...they are worth $10+ /pound by themselves. You will need a TORX bit (the little ones) to open them. casing is stainless steel or cast aluminum, the reader arm has a SMALL amount of platinum at the tip...check ebay to see if you can sell there if you can't find a buyer....the platters also have traces of platinum/palladium....Ebay again...either as scrap OR possibly as crafting items (people were buying them for that)...hard drive magnets are rare earth ones, so again Ebay is your friend there.....also check the buyers sections, sometimes people buy them.
Last edited by webuyselltradestuff; 11-05-2013 at 05:44 PM.
Well I for one am surprised that the degaussing of hard drives has not been discussed in other threads. Much has been written about how to comply with HEPA requirments, and other requrirments for safe guarding information on hard drives.
Degaussing would then offer every one on this forum an opportunity to do secure wipes as a way to offer a paying service. Some how I find it difficult to believe it is that easy but I am going to do some testing in the future and will offer my results. Mike
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I for one would like to know how you degausse a hard drive. That would be very helpfull.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
you'd have to read up on it but I think it basically throws a magnetic field into it so strong it destroys the patterns on the disks and any info on it
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I think it's basically a small version of the electric magnets that they use at the yards. In a prettier package.
Keeper of the Cooler!
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Degaussing machine...
an a degaussing cable..
Who'da thunk it.
Sirscrapalot - Have cooler will travel. - Me again, ain't it awesome?
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Check the backs of the hard drives after pulling the boards. There may be a mylar ribbon attached where the motor is that has a few gold dits on it.
"making Sirscrapalot look for more stuff to go into his OMG its gold bucket makes me smile, knowing he is racing down his steps to go look"- BC
I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.” John Wayne-- The Shootist
NEWBS READ THIS THREAD ABOUT REFINING!!!!
http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/off-t...ning-read.html
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
That machine there takes only one size, what about oversize and small size, need a different machine for them?Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot
Degaussing machine...
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the ISSUE is not difficulty in doing it....it is COST for the **** machine LOL. I looked and even the hand WANDS are $1K+ and a machine like that runs a few thousand $$$. Now the other things is...say you use the wand...when you take it out of the protective cover DON'T get it near ANYTHING that has a memory....ie you car key fob you cell phone, laptop or anything else....otherwise POOF dead. Now using a machine like the above, it has a lead shield or similar that keeps the magnetic field inside it.
The "HEPA" someone mentioned is actually HIPPA. You do NOT have to degauss the drive. All you have to do is run a professional program that reformats the drive to DoD standards (3 passes)....but most allow a better standard NSA (7 passes). this has been discussed in another thread BTW, so you can read through it. This program also give a Certificate of Destruction...it has all the info for the drive (serial number ect). It is sent to the company or place the drive was taken from for their records (via email or printed). you can actually do this service and charge anywhere from $10-25 a pop very easily. IF YOU WANT TO DO THIS FOR places that have HIPPA requirements, you better have the pro software, issue certs of destruction AND purchase E&O insurance that specifically covers you for data breach (not all that expensive...$400-500/yr typically).
And yes ANY resold drive should be ran through similar software like that....and yes I DO IT with my resold drives. I am about to start offering the service for people with old hard drives as well....another revenue source.....just getting the servers I picked up for free up and running in a week or 2 (LOL). I can put about 10 drives in each and set them running...especially since larger drives take several hours to run a 7 pass NSA reformat. Easy since I actually got a server that has hot swappable hard drive bays...I have a SCSI one, setting up an IDE one and then going to grab a cheap SATA one. Alot more money in resold drives than scrapping them.
Last edited by webuyselltradestuff; 11-06-2013 at 10:20 AM.
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One size fits all,,,
Keeper of the Cooler!
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I dunno if you need a more then one size or not..I was just curious what a degaussing machine an cable were. It seemed others were also, so I posted those pics to help folks wrap their heads around it. Others will have to answer that question, my curiosity only went so far.
An BC...my gold mylar an the OMG ITS GOLD™ bucket are upstairs.
Sirscrapalot - Join the club, get a traveling cooler today!
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
All the CRT TVs and monitors have a degaussing apperatus, I believe it degausses the tube each time it's turned on. Some older CRT monitors had a degaussing button, and when pressed the screen went bonkers for a couple seconds.
I'd guess an electrically minded person who wanted to could modify one of the button type CRTs for hard drives (an extensive knowledge of electrical, and a good read of Hoss's "I'll try to keep this family friendly" thread would of course be mandatory prior to attempting this ; )
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