We got a tip about a USB CD destroyer. We found its methods amusing as it just scratches the CD as seen above on the left. If you really have data security issues, perhaps something more than scratched plastic should be used. There are a lot of paper shredders that can also shred CDs, what about taking that shredder with the burnt out motor and turning it into a hand-cranked shredder that doubles as a CD killer?
Got a lot of optical media that needs to go? These folks developed the chain-gun of CD shredding with an automatic feed. This consists of a CD shredder and a slew of discs connected with packing tape. As seen in the video after the break, the shredder advances and the next disk is pulled into its jaws.
Microwave has been a popular bringer of death for disc media. The light show and resulting chaotic art (above on the right and after the break) are what make this interesting, but it’s pretty hard on the much-loved kitchen appliance. What we’re really looking for is a way to force a CD/DVD writer to overwrite data. The fact that burnt discs, rather than factory pressed versions, are what normally need to be disposed of makes this a hack waiting to happen. Why isn’t this a standard hardware feature of all drives, and can it be implemented in software?
There’s always the low-tech snap, scratch, or mangle methods. We usually just scratch the foil off the top of the disc.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOxBAKlSQpM]
CD Shredder with automatic feed.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JkCIfLE_-M]
The best microwaved CD.
The sound the chain-cd shredder makes is remarkably like the lift to “Sanctuary” / Box’s lair in Logans Run ;)
*geek*
nice pattern on the microwaved cd
Those guys are Dutch btw
They just used that one backwards. You’re supposed to scratch the “label” side. There is almost no protection on that side for the metallic/data surface below.
All of this is really overkill. If you just have a few CD’s, toss them on some rough concrete(sidewalk for example), stand on top and spin, flip, repeat.
I can’t imagine having to destroy them on any shorter notice than that…pretty sure the next step is a lot more hardcore, here’s a great, albeit old video on the topic – http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4147847319296070400&q=techtv+thermite#
@Mike Szczys
“. We usually just scratch the foil off the top of the disc.”
On a cd the data isn’t recorded on the foil layer. The data is recorded in the pits and lands of the polycarbonate layer. The foil is just used to reflect the laser back to the lens. Scratching the foil layer Isn’t a very good way to destroy your data at all.
I never realised that lambda_drive, so you could effectively just re-coat the mirror side (apart from the fact that the scratch would bugger up the mirror finish forever)
@Lambda_drive: CDRWs work that way though, so if you want to destroy a CD you need to do different things than for an RW.
this looks effective, but a bit slow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI1yFn3eYbs&NR=1
@Lambda_drive: Thanks for that, I had no idea. I made that assumption based on the frustrating read problems with discs whose tops were scratched.
Now does the microwave technique do the same thing? Is it just the foil that is damaged?
Not sure I get the point of any of this. Optical media is the most fragile form of modern storage, in fact I have managed to securely destroy a number of optical discs completely by accident (and I’m certainly not alone).
If you feel you really need to do more than simply snapping the things in half, putting the disc in the microwave for just a few seconds completely obliterates it. I don’t see how any data recovery could be possible. As for damage to the microwave, a small one is less than $30 anymore and should blow up a few hundred discs before it self destructs itself.
Just put the disc in an Xbox360…..
how about some sanding paper used on both sides of the disk?
There’s always the option of just rotating them very fast – http://www.paintbug.com/cdexplode/
I prefer lighter fluid + match. You can dispose of hundreds of them at a time. Melted into one big block of plastic.
Stick the disks on a 25-50 disk spindle, and then hit it with some 12 gauge shot if you have a smaller stack you could just hit it with 20 gauge a couple times and that’ll do the trick.
Thermite.
’nuff said.
I use microwave + snapping the disc in half. Barring heroic measures, that’s totally unrecoverable, and it’s dead easy.
I have often imagined that some day, a high resolution scanner could read in a disk by scanning it, and possibly recover partial files from between the scratches.
Also, if someone made a mini-microwave for disk frying, that would be awesome. If you just put some water in the chamber along with a CD, it should absorb enough of the microwaves to avoid damaging the magnetron, i think.
-Taylor
For those of you interested in the microwave method, place a glass of water in the corner of the microwave to act as a “dummy load” for the microwave so it won’t burn out.
Your CDs will still be destroyed, but the magnetron will not be hurt due to such a small load. Also, you can (mostly) safely create little plasma balls and other experiments in the microwave as long as you have that dummy load.
the first video (auto feed) was the coolest thing i have seen this month
Plextor includes a program with their drives called PlexErase that is supposed to completely erase all data from any DVD or CD whether its pressed or burnt.
I like this guys method for bulk destruction:
http://www.unal.org/?p=268
for most of these plastic scratching methods, it’d be a better idea to scratch the top–often times, the aluminum where the data is actually pressed in is actually sandwiched very close to the top surface (hence, as you may have noticed, any scratches on the top of your disc more or less mean you’re screwed)
a bit off-topic, but does anyone have any idea how to actually REPAIR a label-side scratch? I’ve always understood those to be irreparable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin%E2%80%93Nagant
erases data and stress at the same time!
What about lightscribe though? I’ve accidentally lightscribed the wrong side of a disc before and it seemed pretty thoroughly messed up.
Um, most popular software can erase CDs? Nero can?
>a bit off-topic, but does anyone have any idea how to actually REPAIR a label-side scratch? I’ve always understood those to be irreparable.
On a CD-R the reflective material *is* the label. The CD is written by sublimating dye on the ‘write’ side so the laser shines through the plastic to the reflective surface on the other side, then back to the lense to represent a 1. Try metallic fingernail polish.
I say make a rig stand for 2 side grinders and mount the cd(s) on one and an abrasive disk on the other. Use springs to push the counter-rotating heads together and turn them on. Easy and automatic once you turn it on.
Get 50+ CDs and DVDs
Oxy torch em’ all.
Just make shure to do this outside in a metal container.
I’ve destroyed a few on a sunny day with a nice magnifying glass. A black Sharpie helps increase increase the heat.
I have seen a spindle of them superglued and put into a lathe. If you spin it too fast, they practically explode. If you go at just the right speed, it makes chips about the size of glitter. That’s one way of keeping the CDs out of the landfill.
Put the disc into my old CD drive. It did a good job of shattering discs. Farewell Rollercoaster tycoon :'(
take an exacto knife and make a deep cut across the disc, then bend over the trash can, the disc will explode. Works everytime.
What for we shal do it to destroy the CD?)
I just like that there was an Apple //c at the end of the video…
I use scissors.
*shrug*
I take a nail to the foil side and just scratch around in circles on the foil. most of it ends up flaking off. Takes about 10 seconds to get a really well destroyed disc. Costs literally a penny.
I just cut the CD in half using tin sips. They cut like butter and no mess.
another method might be to repurpose a lightscribe drive by remounting the centre disk permanently under the spindle, then installing the disk to be nuked as normal.
this has the advantage of being able to draw pretty patterns upon the disk therefore rendering it into something more useful than a coaster.
I scratched up both sides of a CD with deep grooves and then tried to read it and I was able to read a lot of data. I then drilled holes into the CD and while the drive had a hard time with the unbalanced CD it was able to still read some of the data.
My favorite method is deep frying.
I bought a paper shredder that does optical media and credit cards as well as paper.
There is just no reason to get creative.
Why waste your money… just snap the disc in half. It usually shatters into lots of pieces. *DING*
Okay, the cops are banging on your door. You have 50 disks full of “sensitive” data that you’ve copied to your remote secure storage. What to do with the disks now? All right, pop ’em into the microwave, hit :30, press start. Now calmly combe your hair, walk to the door….”Good Evening Officer…”
*DING*
I was under the impression that the ECC used on cds was pretty good against radial scratches. Shouldn’t the device make axial grooves?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IErdY8GVaMw&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Oh, I have a really fun one! I once got a pressure washer and put a load of disks on a storage spindle (I was hoping to make a Tesla turbine) and fired up the water jet on to them. the foil exploded off 20 feet into the air.
And while you’re at it – why not kill a few hard drives!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSQimXxL7wQ&hl=en_GB&fs=1&]
well isama and ben ryves answers combined kinda equal my answer of a rotary air sander, or any sander really, or attaching the cd to an air grinder or sander. so i have been forced to come up with a new and unique method, which is microwave friendly, and economically viable. it is, however, slower than microwaves, sanders, pyrotechnics, explosives, and spinning on the cd atop the disc on the sidewalk. But you can use it with the leftovers of your disc destruction shenanigans, rendering the data even more unretrievable without a flux capacitor and 1.21 gigawatts of electricity.
get a mold.. make a mold, whatever you want. you could use a jello or cake mold if you want and if its metal. or you can use your CNC machine or whatever and make a custom one. the only requirement is that it is metal and its melting point be high, like steel or something. not bismuth, lead, gallium, mercury. that would be stupid. ok so you have a mold of something you would like a really cool looking acrylic/polycarbonate, whatever cds are made of, replica of. you are going to make a sculpture. you could make a lightsaber given that your oven is large enough or your lightsaber is short enough.
ok you know the rest by now: put mold in oven, with a cookie sheet or at least aluminum foil underneath it to protect the oven, put the cds in and ontop of the mold, bake it. the end. oh yeah do this outside/with adequate ventilation or be prepared to breathe the fumes and die.
but the end result is a really pretty sparkly whatever your mold is for. and you just kept some crap out of a landfill that wont biodegrade for like amillion years without being tossed into a volcano. you can blow bubbles with your cds too with a lighter and your lungs. saw it on AOTS.
so go make some molten cd art and sell it on ebay, and donate my 10 percent to the charity “ending world hunger by genetically engineering kudzu (pueraria lobata) with some fruit like watermelon or strawberries”
Wood chippers make everything disappear.
Just… explode it :P
No way for any data to survive after that!