It Bit the Dust

This is our six-year old iMac.

This is the infamous gray screen with a "no operation" icon in the middle. It appeared when the hard drive bit the dust.

Videos are available online that show how to replace the hard drive in an iMac. However, the laminated front glass does not come off and old iMac as easily as shown. A first-timers is likely to crack the glass, as I found out. Still, at 6 years old our iMac was approaching the end of its useful life. We knew its time was limited when the spinning beach ball appeared for longer and longer periods, but especially when a forced restart was the only way to stop the spinning beach ball. At that point we ensured our files were backed-up. However, the hard drive was not wiped clean before the gray screen appeared. Before we sent the iMac off to be recycled, we wanted to remove even the slightest possibility that information on that defunct hard drive could be recovered.

If the computer had been functional, we could have used specialized software to thoroughly erase the hard drive. Magnets also can be used; very large, industrial-sized electromagnet such as those found in scrap yards, need to be placed directly over the hard drive. We did not have access to that type of electromagnet. A very dependable method that can be used when the computer or hard drive is not functional is to structurally destroy the hard drive and especially the disc in the hard drive (called a "platter"). That was easily accomplished by drilling five holes through the back of the iMac that went through the hard drive and its platter.