I think it's funny the press keeps reporting that "hard drives were taken"

[DainBramaged]

One, does anyone think they were just laying around like paperweights (like I have in my office).

Or do they realize that probably entire computers were taken because it takes WAY too much time to pull drives, and at least with the entire CPU, they can easily activate the systems and track the people contacted.


Or maybe there were dozens of backup drives, thumb drives, discs just laying around the compound.


I don't think so.


What I think is that they just don't know so "hard drives" is a good title to impress the masses.

[HopeHoops]

1. A hard drive is much more impressive than a floppy drive.

:evilgrin:

[monmouth]

4. Oh yaaaas...n/t

[DevonRex]

6. You are SO bad! LOL. Nt

[HopeHoops]

15. Hey, don't even GET me started on the "thumb drive" thing.

That's what SHE said.

[DainBramaged]

21. Thumb drives are for passing around

a nice 1TB external, now that is a HARD drive......

[HopeHoops]

42. I've got six 1TB externals hanging off of my main tower full-time.

I've got another six externals ranging from 500-850MB for the laptop, but I only plug in the one(s) I need at the time.

[LiberalAndProud]

2. According to reports there were thumb drives and "other electronic devices".

http://mashable.com/2011/05/03/data-captured-osama-bin-laden/

[ret5hd]

3. I dunno...i kinda looked at it as:

what if they reported that they took a bunch of papers...but we all knew that there weren't a bunch of individual papers laying around, they were all in binders. So now i'm going to criticize because they didn't say "we took a bunch of binders"? I think the issue is of contents, no the outer wrapping.

just sayin'.

[tabatha]

5. To me it looks as though the press

has combobulated a bunch of statements to make new statements.

Like that childhood drawing of one person saying something on the phone, and after n people, it is completely different.

Eg. "The Navy SEAL assault force that took out Osama bin Laden managed to captured personal computers, thumb drives and other electronic equipment during the raid, according to reports." combined with "“They cleaned it out. Can you imagine what’s on Osama bin Laden’s hard drive?” an official said."

becomes

"They took a lot of hard drives".

[DainBramaged]

9. Good observation

I just laugh. I know how difficult it is taking any hd out, from seconds to minutes, so I had to laugh at he MSM.

[Javaman]

18. It's like saying, "I like to search the googles" LOL nt

[DavidDvorkin]

7. I have a networked external hard drive next to my PC

There were probably some of those.

But, yes, surely they took all the computers they could find.

[Poll_Blind]

8. It was stated by Nick Roberts on CNN early-on that computers were...

...opened and the hard drives pulled out. If you look at the extended video from ABCNews inside the bin Laden compound, next to the bed, on the other side of what might be a vacuum cleaner, appeared to be a computer case with it's side panel off. I could have been wrong, the video is not very good.

PB

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Wow

Color me surprised.

[DainBramaged]

13. Hope they survived.........

thy should have just taken the pc.

[DCKit]

27. They didn't bring a moving van, just a couple of helicoptors. nt

[formercia]

10. I guess they won't be getting his password any time soon.

oh, well.

NSA gets a piece of the action.

Time to roll up some networks.

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Agreed

I doubt a bunch of Navy SEALs were unscrewing internal hard drives on what were likely 2003-era Dells. They grabbed up the whole box.

[Love Bug]

14. Giggity!

[phleshdef]

16. Depending on the type of case, I can usually have a hard drive out in less than a minute.

And thats if I'm being careful about it.

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. Agreed.

Four case screws, two hd mounting screws, and the cables simply disconnect.

[DainBramaged]

22. Not always, not on the new systems.

A new Dell I have has a cage with fan surrounding it, no way it coms out easy without removing shit around it. Older drives were three screws or on rails.

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. Think they were using new Dells in Pakistan? n/t

[DainBramaged]

25. So is this going to be a pissing contest over an observation?

Really, just really....

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. Not at all DB. I just disagree. I've built and deconstructed many computers, and hard drives

were almost always one of the easiest parts to install/remove.

Sorry if you feel it's a pissing contest. That's not my intent.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[DainBramaged]

29. It's my living......

Not from building a few.....And in the past 19 ears I've built/rebuilt over a thousand.

[meow mix]

30. notice my ignore list kicked in.

pissing contest or other disruption, is all some are here for..

[DainBramaged]

31. I notice that my friend. Like flies to shit....

[phleshdef]

28. A lot of the newer cases actually have the twist screw mechanism.

Which is basically a switch with some screw like things attached to it and you just turn the little knob on it to screw or unscrew. Those come off in mere seconds.

[DainBramaged]

32. REALLY, I did not know that.......

:eyes:

Almost like a dzus fastner....

[OKNancy]

23. I'm just a housewife in Oklahoma and I can take one out easily

I'm sure the SEALS were trained. From the sound of it, they were very prepared.

[FarLeftFist]

17. Those hard drives could be the MOTHER LOAD!

Possibly untangling their whole network.

[cherokeeprogressive]

19. Is it possible there was a weight/space consideration? They were in helicopters with all the gear

necessary to pull off the raid. I doubt they decided early on to leave necessary equipment behind in order to make room for whole pc's.

"Hey do you think I'll need these grenades?"

"Nah, we need room for computers."

Doesn't seem like sound planning to me.

I don't think it strange at all. Also consider that there may have been external hard drives that were used by the terrorists in more than one place.

[guardian]

33. no surprise the press got it wrong

The majority of 'journalists' are imbeciles.

[onenote]

35. and how do you know they got it wrong?

For one thing, the press in this instance probably reported the information that they were given. They were probably told that the SEALs took "hard drives". Maybe that's right, maybe its not, but its almost certainly what they were told. After all, where else would the press be getting the information?

[deaniac21]

34. Journalism is one of the easiest majors....what do you expect?

[onenote]

37. Do you honestly think that the press wasn't simply repeating what they were told?

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if there were hard drives among the spoils of the raid. And the information on this thread certainly seems to confirm that as a reasonable possibility.

[MindPilot]

36. I wonder if that is something they train for

Perhaps they actually practice pulling servers out of racks, cracking open desktops and yanking out the drives.

"this is my piece; THIS is my Makita..."

[MindPilot]

38. A lot of people use the term "hard drive" to describe the whole box

I have very low expectations when the press tries to address anything remotely technical...they will usually get it wrong.

[DainBramaged]

39. Yup

When it's called a CPU (central processing unit) I accept that as a replacement for a computer too.

[Duke Newcombe]

40. I can pull a drive from a chassis...

...in under a minute, if I'm not being delicate about it. Laptops would be taken wholesale. Who needs the hardware, when all of the valuable stuff in on the storage?

[damntexdem]

41. Yeah, but they probably found a lot of bottles of viagra near those PCs.

;-)