There always comes a point where your SSD drive stops working and you have to dispose of it. You have years and years of data on the drive and don’t want someone to get theirs hands on it, so what do you do. Some people just decide to throw it away without making sure that the drive is destroyed properly. It’s important to dispose of your e waste properly but it’s even more important to protect your sensitive data.
There are many ways to destroy a SSD drive but here are 5 of them. Ensure that you use one of these methods to keep your data away from someone else’s eyes.
Burn it
Although flames may not fully get rid of all the data, it will do a pretty good job. You could use a normal flame or use a blowtorch to set it alight. Hold the flame directly to the hard drive and wait for it to start melting. Once you see it turn into molten goo, you know you are almost there. Once you see that its pretty much destroyed then you have to let it cool down. Ensure that you are doing this in a well ventilated environment as the fumes can be seriously harmful. Once the drives has cooled down you can now contact your local e waste disposal company and get it disposed of properly.
Please make sure that you take precaution when doing this and wear the appropriate protection.
Smashing it
One of the easiest ways to destroy a SSD drive is to crush it. Damaging the SSD drive enough will prevent all access to the SSD drive. You could do this by dismantling the SSD drive, so that the inside is visible for you to go to work at it. Once the SSD drive is dismantled, take it to places that can abort the abuse that is going to take place without it damaging the surface. A concrete floor would be perfect as it will be able to handle such abuse.
Please be careful whilst using this method and ensure that you have appropriate eye protection. Grab a hammer or something similar and begin to smash the platter until it’s damaged beyond repair. Ensure that there is no one around when you are doing this, as pieces could fly around and take out someone’s eye. Once you are happy with the beating you have given, make sure that the SSD drive is unusable before you dispose of it.
Give it acid bath
Using this method can be very dangerous, so please use the appropriate protection for your own safety. Grab a container that is big enough to hold the SSD drive and place it in an area that is away from anything. The back of your garden would be a good start. Once you have found a suitable area you can begin the torture. You can use battery acid for it or something that is of similar strength. Fill the container up with the acid and wait for the SSD drive to start dissolving. Once the acid has caused enough damage, you can now get it disposed of properly by passing it over to your local recycling centre. Battery acid is not something that you can take lightly, so please remove it from your premises in the appropriate way. Throwing it out in your yard will not cut it and can be harmful.
Using power tools
This way can be a lot of fun but can also be dangerous. It is always said that you shouldn’t play with power tools, so please use caution when operating your power tools. This method can be done by using most power tools such as drills, jigsaws and a chainsaw. In this case let’s keep it simple and use a drill as not everyone may have a chainsaw laying around in their shed. If you are going to use a drill, corded drills will work better as the cordless ones can be limited with the power output. Get your dismantled SSD drive and take it to an area that can handle some abuse.
Once you have found your spot, use your drill to pierce through all the vital points off your SSD drive. The platter is the most important part, so ensure that you cause enough damage to make it unusable. This way can cause a slight mess so try and keep all the parts together as it will be easier to clean.
Shred it
This is probably the step for a person who is extremely paranoid and wants to ensure that there SSD drive is completely left in pieces. When we say shred it, that doesn’t mean that you should try and stuff it into your paper shredder at home because that would probably cause more damage to your shredder than it would to the SSD drive. When we say shred it, we mean an industrial shredder.
Now we’re not telling you to go out and buy an industrial shredder. You can go out to your local tool shop and rent/hire one. If you are lucky, your local tool shop might have the opportunity for you to buy time on the shredder, instead of paying a daily rate. If you want to save yourself some money and you believe that your home shredder is strong enough to do a good job then by all means take your best shot. Just be prepared to replace it if things go wrong.
Find out how to destroy waste electrical and electronic equipment safely.