I had a surprising experience recently. I took a couple of hard drives
and tried to destroy them with a 8 lb sledgehammer. I put a hard drive
on an anvil

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Weld...de-Mini-Anvil/

Then I hit it with a sledgehammer, expecting part to fly away and to
see the hard drive utterly demolished. But no such thing occurred.

Barely any damage was visible on the drive (though, probably, it would
no longer function). After many more hits, finally, the hard drive was
shoring visible deformation of its frame. I am rather amazed as to how
tough the hard drives are.

i