From past hard drive/SSD bargains, I also bought couple of SSDs. Now I am not sure what to do with old hard drives like 40 GB IDE,250 GB IDE, 320 GB SATA and couple of portable hard drives.
Can my fellow ozbargainers please share how you are using old hard drives especially IDE's or 6 years old 320 GB?
Thanks in advance.
It maybe worth it to get a bunch cheap IDE enclosures (MSY was getting rid of stock for $1 each a few months ago https://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/150698/comments), and use it with a Raspberry Pi (seedbox, record TV shows with a USB tuner).
Especially for the 2.5" laptop drive enclosures, which can be powered purely by USB ports, so they're much cheaper on eBay as they don't need a power brick (~$5 is normal price for 2.5" enclosure VS $12+ for 3.5" enclosure). In any case, a actual hard drive is better than USB/SD card flash memory for things like a Raspberry Pi, there isn't any read/write limitations and performance (sequential read/write and random access) is faster than a single flash chip (actual SSDs uses the similar kinds of NAND flash chips as USB/SD cards but run a large number of them in parallel to get such good performance). I definitely trust older/proven HDDs more than a cheap $4 SD card (but back up both anyway).
Once you've backed up the old drives, securely erase the entire drive by writing over it a few times with random data — there's plenty of programs on the internet to do this.
If you're going to throw it away, please give it (with all your other old PC stuff) to an electronics recycler. Don't junk up landfill with high-grade metals (including rare-earths). It's far more energy efficient for industry to use recycled metals than to refine more.
(Also, if recycling is to much of a hassle, I can pay for shipping and you can send me all your old drives in one shipment!)
Using hd with raspberry pi is smart idea as an experiment . I will try that. Thanks
Get an external hdd case and put them in, that's what I did. Though the 40GB IDE might not be worth it to do so…
store stuff on them, backups, photos, etc. redundant copies
Thanks All. I removed data from all of them. All are blank and I used them to try Linux and Amahi(Unsuccessful).
What should be the normal life of hard drive if it is still working?
What should be the normal life of hard drive if it is still working?
Working = life.
Not working = end of life.
Hard drives could still work in a decade or two time. They could fail next boot up.
Thanks rompastompa.
I will play with magnets
Another cool thing to do;
Take the chassis off the hard drive, and turn it on - watch the platter spin. Grab a thick artline pen, and draw a line from in to out, and be mesmerized. Drip small amounts of mentholated spirits on it, watch it disappear. Obviously while being very careful..
I will play with magnets
Please also make a music video involving magnets and miracles.
Obviously while being very careful.
Yes, be very careful while you stick things in, and pour alcohol on, a disc travelling at 7200rpm. Haha
Hard drives could still work in a decade or two time. They could fail next boot up.
Kind of like humans..
My lifespan estimates: Typical drive running 24/7 (like a NAS) typically around 5 years. Drive in a daily used PC - 5-10 years. Infrequently used drive/ low use machine - 10 years plus. Server drive running 24/7 - around 4-6 years, but can fail when rebooting server after running several years continuously.
I had to dispose a few ancient drives recently - I removed the circuit boards after checking there was no personal data on them and wiping using the HDD manufacturer's tools (SeaTools for Segate). It would be very difficult for any average Joe to try stealing data if the controller is missing as it holds important mapping tables of the drive, and obviously you need a matching circuit board controller in order to plug it in.
250G and 320G can still easily be sold online. Just make sure clean them with the manufacturer's tools. Otherwise use them as offline backup and storage for your personal data -docs, photos etc. The sad reality is that all electronic storage is vulnerable, so it is good to have at least 3 copies of your very important data and photos.
Take the magnets out of them, watch people try and take them apart and get their fingers pinched. Well worth the comedy value.
take them apart and use the magnets on the fridge. the wind will never blow those papers off again! they are that strong you could probably use them to stick your kids to the fridge. Maybe don't do this if you have a new fridge.
I have them on my fridge too, but I wouldn't put it on a new/good fridge. It can damage the paint.
If they're that small, don't bother putting in an enclosure. Bin them before they fail on you.
Depending on their model, i generally hit them with a hammer.The weak platters fracture into 1000 pieces and i bin the lot. If they dont fracture, i open them up and remove the platters. A couple of good dents destorys them well.
The magnets inside are very strong, if you have a use for them you can extract them. Isn't much point otherwise
Handy for playing 'backups' for a Wii/Xbox etc?
Use them as paper weights or save them up as bricks to build your next home.
Thanks DarkOz, this is good idea
freecycle
PS2/PS3 hard-drive?
Thanks but I do not have Play station. I will follow above suggestions.
Erase all data and send it to a random friend or person and lable it as classified.
Get a suitable bit set and carefully dismantle the drives, removing magnets and platters. Epoxy a magnet to the handle of your fave BBQ tongs/spatula and it'll stick right to the side of the barbie.
Take the platters and a cheap wall clock mechanism and convert them into a very shiny and nerdy wall clock, hopefully one that's better than this: http://i.imgur.com/yNk1dt0.jpg
Get yourself an Arduino/Uno. Then kiss your free time goodbye.
Oh. And the HDD's? instructables shows heaps of fun and useless things to do with old drives.
more ideas:
-If the drives were damaged.. try fixing them, there are some youtube vids on this.
-If you have two of the same model.. try swapping the platters for practice/fun times.
-keep them in storage.. one day someone/organisation may need to access an old broken drive/system, and the spare parts may be worth big bucks! (yeah or maybe not).
otherwise, i like the idea of scrapping for magnets and aluminium.. i usually do this.
The platters sit under my couch/bed legs to help protect the carpet by spreading the load a bit.
but if they are working well.. keeping them as a redundant backup, at another address (in case of fire at yours) is probably the best option.
Here, try this pro tip to fix hard drives:
It's really not too difficult to fix your own hard drive, if the problem is a head crash, or the infamous Seagate "stiction" problem, if you know what to do. You will require #4/0 steel wool, Varsol, WD-40, a few hand tools, and about 45 minutes. First, you need a clean room, so make sure the garage door is closed before you begin. Move those old lawnmower parts off the bench. Disassemble the sealed unit and carefully wash all parts with Varsol. Bend the read/write heads out of the way and then disassemble the platter stack. VERY CAREFULLY buff the platter surfaces with the #4/0 steel wool. This will remove any existing data, level out any surface defects, and help to redistribute the magnetic media and fill in those pesky "bad sectors" that most drives have. Reassemble the platter stack, and using a .015" feeler gauge, bend the read/write head back to the platter surface, using the feeler gauge to set the gap. This is a slightly higher gap than the factory uses, but it reduces the chance of head collisions with any flotsam you neglected to remove. Give the head and platters a good shot of WD-40 and reassemble the unit. If your drive has a filter, replace it with a clean section of gauze pad. All that's left is to low level and DOS format the drive, and you're back in business. I haven't tried this yet myself, but my friend's wife's sister-in-law's husband knows a technician who does it all the time.
;) :D
or you could just blow in it.. SNES cartridge style.
"This is a slightly higher gap than the factory uses"
Simon Travaglia, is that you?
I keep them till they die.
Never worry about losing data, if one starts to fail I recover the data using spinrite (grc.com), it never fails and is probably one of the most useful, valuable and best programs ever written for hard drives. Because spinrite can read data that no other software can, I run them until the OS complains/fails- as spinrite will at least allow you to pull the data if not make it fully usable again. If so you can put them back into service if you can accept some risk. At the point that spinrite says they are bad they're dead.
No point wrecking them though, simply stick em on gumtree if someone wants them for postage. Or recycle them.
i never gumtree hdd's due to concerns my data could be recovered.
I realise you can use software to wipe it properly.. but I still wouldn't care to take the risk.
Try Darik's boot and nuke
wait till they become soft?
You can buy usb hard drive enclosures for SATA drives off ebay very cheaply: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-USB-2-0-480Mbps-Enclosure-Cas…
IDE drives don't really have any use any more.
I use an old HDD platter as a coaster for my coffee mug
Use it as a portable hard-disk or you can backup your files in it.
Thanks Nopantstoday. Love practical solutions. The magnets are useful for removing those pesky alarm things off expensive clothing.
I put a 300GB IDE on ebay for auction. Got a cool $11 for it. Was it worth the trouble? No, but it was just gathering dust anyway.
Got a couple more, will probably do the same.
I must have missed that. I bought new 250 GB ide hd few months back for 60 to experiment on old pc.
get what ever data off you want then damage it and put in the recycle bin. I just bend the connector pins, no one will try using/retrieving data with a broken connector.
burn them
I chucked them into the slab when concrete was poured for my house. One day someone will tear it down and get a time capsule of 2000's porn and games.
Take the magnets out and experiment with gaffa taping a few round the cars oil filter then check at next oil change if you have more than usual metal filings
I've been doing this for years in all my cars, but you don't need gaffa tape. A couple of hard drive magnets on the side of an oil filter will stick strong to not fall off. I've never had one drop off before. :)
Basically, it's the home-made version of this:
I kept a few of my old hard drives as backup drives, buying cheap enclosures to house them. The 40gb one probably not worth keeping but the other two you can store lots of photos in them.
I turned a few of my old HDDs into clocks for my Uni major assignment. Was able to sell them during the grad show. Pretty simple and fun project.
Pull them apart and put the aluminium rings on your key rings, looks especially good for your classic car.
I put mine into the recycling, some councils will recycle electronics…
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/live/waste-and-recycling/…
distroy them
Cover off, hit a few times with a hammer. Hope that they are not glass.
Found out HDD Platters are great to put behind a dunny valve.. when you're in a tight spot.
http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx317/stitchymandibles/pl…
They sell well, especially with test results. Use foam bed underlay (waffle-shaped soft foam) as postage protection. DO NOT wrap HDDs in bubble-wrap as "protection", it's not good enough. Post inside a Bx1 carton as a 1kg Ebay Postage item. No, don't send them inside a 3kg Satchel DOH.
Thanks llama
Thank you llama and akd also, for creating the post
Get the data off them.
Nail through the hard drive then bin it.
Not worth keeping drives that can fit on a usb stick imo.