3.5″ HDD intake
Exactly which hard drives TAR accepts — published, not discovered on arrival.
TAR accepts 3.5-inch hard disk drives in new, used, low-health and dead condition, in all brands and all capacities. TAR does not accept drives that have been drilled, hammered, degaussed or physically damaged. The difference is simple: an intact drive can still be evaluated, a destroyed one cannot.
Condition criteria
You should be able to tell from the pictures alone.
Each condition below is drawn so it can be identified without reading the text. If your drives look like the first set, TAR wants them. If they look like the second, they are already beyond intake.
Accepted — all brands, all capacities
The drive is physically intact. Whether it works is a separate question, and not a disqualifying one.
- New
- Used
- Low health
- Dead
Not accepted
These drives have been deliberately or accidentally destroyed. There is no evaluation, reuse or component route left, so TAR cannot take them.
- Drilled
- Hammered
- Degaussed
- Physically damaged
Why the line is drawn here
The distinction is not arbitrary. It is the difference between a drive that still has options and a drive that has none.
| Condition | What it means | Accepted |
|---|---|---|
| New | Unused, often still sealed or in original packaging. | Yes |
| Used | Previously in service and physically intact, whether or not it has been tested. | Yes |
| Low health | Operates but reports reduced health, reallocated sectors or degraded performance. | Yes |
| Dead | Does not spin up, is not detected, or fails to initialise — but is undamaged externally. | Yes |
| Drilled | Holes punched through the casing and platters. Permanently destroyed. | No |
| Hammered | Casing deformed and platters cracked or bent. Permanently destroyed. | No |
| Degaussed | Magnetic field erased, including the servo information the drive needs to function. Can never operate again. | No |
| Physically damaged | Crushed, snapped, split or otherwise broken open. | No |
How to pack drives
Packing is the single biggest avoidable cause of value loss in a drive shipment.
- Protect drives individually — anti-static bags or foam dividers, not loose in a carton.
- Fill voids so drives cannot move against each other in transit.
- Keep carton weights manageable so boxes are not dropped in handling.
- Palletise and wrap; label cartons with counts so the shipment can be verified quickly.
- Photograph the packed pallet before it ships. It resolves almost every dispute before it starts.
How to describe a lot
A useful description takes two minutes and changes the quality of the reply completely. Include quantity (or approximate weight), brands present, the capacity range, the condition split as far as you know it, and the form factor. "Approximately 620 mixed 3.5-inch SATA, 1TB–8TB, mostly used, maybe 15% dead, on one pallet" is an excellent brief.
Data handling, stated plainly
TAR provides secure storage media handling: drives are segregated on arrival and handled as their own controlled stream. TAR does not provide certified data destruction or certified erasure, and issues no certificates for either.
If your organisation's policy requires certified destruction with documentation, that must be completed before the media leaves your control — and you should be aware that destroyed media then falls outside TAR's intake criteria. If you are unsure which route applies to you, ask before shipping rather than after.
HDD enquiry
Send your drive details.
Photographs matter more here than on any other form — of the drives themselves and of how they are packed.
3.5″ HDD intake enquiry
All brands and capacities are considered. Estimates are fine.
Answers
HDD intake questions.
The questions that decide whether a pallet ships or not.
HDD intake questions
Which 3.5-inch hard drives does TAR accept?
All brands and all capacities, in new, used, low-health or dead condition. Drives must be physically intact. Mixed lots are normal.
Which drives does TAR not accept?
Drives that have been drilled, hammered, degaussed or physically damaged. Those processes destroy the drive permanently and remove every evaluation and reuse route.
Why are dead drives accepted but drilled drives are not?
A dead drive is intact — it can still be evaluated, and its components and materials still have defined routes. A drilled or hammered drive is already destroyed, and a degaussed drive can never operate again.
Does TAR erase data from drives?
No. TAR provides secure storage media handling. TAR does not offer certified data erasure or destruction and does not issue certificates. If certified destruction is required by your policy, complete it before the media leaves your control — but note that destroyed media is then outside TAR intake criteria.
How should drives be packed?
Individually protected and boxed so they do not move in transit, then palletised. Loose drives poured into a carton arrive damaged and lose value. Photographs of the packing are genuinely helpful.
What about 2.5-inch drives and SSDs?
Both are bought. The published criteria on this page cover 3.5-inch mechanical drives specifically; for other formats, describe what you have and TAR will respond directly.
Related
Handling other storage media?
SSDs, 2.5-inch drives, arrays and NAS equipment are all bought — with the same segregated handling.
See storage media solutions