m.roth@5-cent.us wrote:
I wrote
[...]
Alternatively, the answer on another techie mailing list I'm on is that you could disassemble the disks and use thermite.
Just a hammer, no need to disassemble the case.
I dunno, a buddy who was in army intel back in the early eighties told me, about 10 years ago, that they could flatten out the platters and read some data. Thermite not only melts the platters, but will hit the Curie point.
mark "and make nice flames and melting metal"I belive modern discs are brittle, and will shatter, not bend. Thermite would certainly do the trick. Might get you in trouble with local hazard control laws, though. It might melt concrete, so don't do it on your driveway.
Bucket full o' sand - that's what they used the last day of my 11th grade chem class, lo, these many years ago. <g>
mark