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How to shred CDs and DVDs

theBB

theBB

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 3, 2006
2,453
3
I'd like to shred or discard a number of backup CDs and DVDs, which might have some sensitive and confidential stuff. My company has a paper shredding service, but the secretary is not sure whether they can handle these disks. I am pretty sure they could, but now that I asked I cannot just drop them in the shredder box. :)

If I break them, the pieces will fly off in a hundred different directions, but I don't want to buy a shredder just for a few disks, either. Does anyone know of a practical way? It would be great if Staples or Office Depot had shredding service where you could drop a few CDs or documents, but I don't remember seeing one.
 
Microwave?

A much more entertaining way to ensure security!

Or just put your discs inside a plastic bin bag/potato sack and clobber them a few times with a hammer, stop the shards from flying everywhere.
 
Could you not just damage the surfaces so that they're not readable by any devices at all? Just lend them to my friend who stores his audio CDs out of the cases and face down on the coffee-table... ;)

What about using some sandpaper? Or better still, just break them inside a paper bag so the bits don't fly everywhere.
 
Just an idea

I bought a shredder that could also shred CDs and DVDs at the local office store for $29 USD. When you have information that needs to be kept confidential, the price seemed worth it. Fellowes makes the shredder.
 
theBB said:
....If I break them, the pieces will fly off in a hundred different directions, but I don't want to buy a shredder just for a few disks, either. Does anyone know of a practical way?....
Click to expand...



maybe wrap them in a bag from the grocery store then break the CD.....the pieces would be containted inside the bags......it's not like you have to break them into a million piece
 
Glue is the answer!

Or use a matte spraypaint, and spray each and every disk. That'll stop the objective lens from reading the little buggars... ;)
 
LethalWolfe said:
I use a screwdriver to score the hell outta ones I need to throw away.


Lethal
Click to expand...

If you do this, and really want to destroy the data, be sure to score the top side and not the bottom side. While players read from the bottom side, the data layer is on top of the plastic.

Microwave is very effective but it can smell bad and I don't know if it's entirely safe environmentally.
 
Microwave them for 15 seconds
that will cook the data right of them,

when you break them the shards are still readable , hard to do but possible.
 
bargain-left-handed-scissors-small.jpg
 
I usually just put a small bunch of them in a paper bag with an old pillowcase around it (just in case they break through the paper), then take them out to the rock garden with a heavy hammer.
 
LethalWolfe said:
I use a screwdriver to score the hell outta ones I need to throw away.
Click to expand...
I find a ball point pen does a great job of removing the foil entirely.

In case you don't already know, start from the center. Even just scoring a couple of lines near the center renders the disc unreadable by normal means... (of course some forensic methods might be able to get partial data off the disc.)

B
 
Lighter fluid, charcol, and a metal can.

Remember to breath in vapors deeply ... so you can run around hacking your lungs out.
 
Chaszmyr said:
I really think that's false.
Click to expand...
Considering my $45 Fellowes shredder that I bought for the shop handles CD's like a champ, I would say that my statement is pretty darn spot-on.

I bought the cheapest shredder I could find at Office Depot and it gets the job done on just about anything. Therefor leaving the field wide open for larger capacity, higher powered, higher priced machines which can obviously do the same task just more efficiently.
 
I usually delaminate them. Bend to almost 90º then rotate 90º and bend to 90º again and that is usually sufficient to get a space around the edge, then just peal the layers apart. Sometimes I do bend them a bit much and shatter cakes occur, but not too often.
 
FragTek said:
Considering my $45 Fellowes shredder that I bought for the shop handles CD's like a champ, I would say that my statement is pretty darn spot-on.
Click to expand...
FWIW I recently bought a $30 Fellowes shredder that doesn't support CDs, though it does do credit cards... So, lots of shredders do, but I'm not sure about 98%.

B
 
Sorry, buying a shredder just for a few disks is too much. So far putting them in a bag and breaking them is the winner. But I'll use Elektro-Funk's method of scrathing them on a pavement first. :)

Thanks for all the ideas.
 
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