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Am attempting to open an old device cover (an adapter) and it has these screws (please see attached image, sorry for the bad quality, I couldn't get better focus than this.)

Would really appreciate if someone could guide me identify it and/or point to where to obtain a driver for it. (Or even more awesome if any tips of opening it using any hack without a specialty driver, if possible!)

picture of bolt

Update Addendum

Well I am happy to report that — thanks to the help and solution below — I have acquired & successfully opened the Tamper-proof/Security Torx screw using the bit! (see more bad images below, :D Though I notice that a kind contributor has edited my original picture and fixed some text too, thanks!) :)

enter image description here enter image description here

spcsLrg
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    While it's not perfect, the picture is perfectly good, really - shows what we need to see, even if the focus is slightly off. – Ecnerwal Aug 03 '19 at 16:05
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    Am glad it was good enough for the solution. Thanks! :) – spcsLrg Aug 03 '19 at 16:20
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    One trick for taking a closeup shot, is to not. Instead, back off a half-metre or so, take the photo, and then use a crop tool to cut out the extra. But this one is perfectly adequate. – Criggie Aug 04 '19 at 06:41
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    I resized the blurry picture to 30% of the original size with [GIMP](https://www.gimp.org/). Still has not lost any information. Now you can resize your pictures next time. – Jonas Stein Aug 24 '19 at 10:53

2 Answers2

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This is a tamper proof torx screw. There are torx bits with a hole in the center that will remove them, if you are bold you can try smacking the center pin with a punch at an angle (small ones usually snap off) and then a standard torx bit can be used to remove it. Check online and I bet you can find a tamper proof bit kit for under 15$.

Ed Beal
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    Also Known As "Security Torx" – Ecnerwal Aug 03 '19 at 16:03
  • Thank you for centre pin smack suggestion! – spcsLrg Aug 03 '19 at 16:17
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    Hm, if you really mash it though you might damage the screw and make it harder to remove. – whiskeychief Aug 03 '19 at 16:45
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    I have seen people’s efforts to smack the center pin to cause the screw to bend or the casing break.... better to get the proper bits... – Solar Mike Aug 03 '19 at 22:43
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    @spcsLrg Given that you can pick up a new security torx driver for < $1, shipped, (eBay), it's commonly easier to just get the appropriate bit. If you don't know the size, sets are a bit more expensive, but not much. While such sources may not give you the best quality, it should, at least, get a single job done. – Makyen Aug 04 '19 at 01:29
  • Makyen, I agree i stated 15$ because over the years I have purchased several full sets of torx , Allen or hex with a dozen other styles of tamper proof or security bits for this amount. – Ed Beal Aug 04 '19 at 02:21
  • Just in case you may already have a set of security hex bits/Allen keys... they are *sometimes* interchangeable at a push. Not all, but some hex sizes will work [loosely but not enough to slip] in Torx screws. – Tetsujin Aug 04 '19 at 10:08
  • @Makyen Yes, that's what I'm going to do. Will get bits with the hole (which I assume would work fine with screws without pins as well, so that appears to be a wiser choice). Not trying smacking and making things worse. Thanks y'all. – spcsLrg Aug 04 '19 at 12:25
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    I'd also recommend buying a good kit with a diverse set of bits. Years ago I thought I'd save myself a bit of money by only ever buying specific bits (or the smallest possible kit that had what I needed, typically 3-6 of a single type); but after doing that a few times you end up having spent the cost of a decent kit but still end up having to buy new bits because you've got a much less diverse collection than the kit you didn't buy in the first place. – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Aug 04 '19 at 15:57
  • agreed with others, just buy a *cheap* bit set. Torx are finicky enough without being boogered up by a wayward hammer. Note the emphasis on CHEAP: IMO all Torx get rounded off or otherwise wrecked after not long, so no sense dropping $$$ for a snap-on set... – Z4-tier Aug 04 '19 at 17:20
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Your picture shows a Security Torx screw head. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Screw_Head_-_Torx_Tamperproof.svg/40px-Screw_Head_-_Torx_Tamperproof.svg.png

You can find a good overview on most common screw drives for identification on a specific wikipedia page.

Jonas Stein
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