Introduction
Hard Drives are slowly going out of fashion as solid-state drives get more affordable and increase in capacity. However, if you want to swap out your old hard drive for something faster, you don’t need to find a place in the trash for the old one. According to Matthew Davies, your old drive can have plenty of uses, even if it is dead. Here are some of them:
The Projects
- Build a NAS Box – Network Attached Storage boxes are really cheap to make with an old hard drive and an old router. Basically, you can make your own affordable cloud storage without extensive investment. As long as it has an internet connection you can access the content of your NAS box from anywhere.
- Portable Hard Drive – Portable Hard drives cost around a dozen dollars more than regular hard drives. However, you can also convert your old hard drive into a portable storage device. Amazon and eBay or even your local computer store have hard drive enclosures that are pretty cheap. You can pop in your old hard drive and use it as a portable storage for your data.
However, enclosures usually come in the form of models that either require an external power adapter or don’t. If you use a desktop hard drive, you may have to use a power adapter whereas laptop hard drives can get all their juice from the USB port.
- Magnetic Knife Block DIY – Hard drives have components that can be used even if you can’t read or write data on the device anymore. Most hard drives have at least two strong neodymium magnets. Removing them safely is a bit tricky, but doable.
You can attach those magnets in between solid wood planks and use that as a DIY magnetic knife block. You can do it with regular hardware and home tools for a clean looking knife block that hangs over your kitchen. You can also use it for hanging jewelry in your room.
- DIY Clock – Old hard drives have all the components required for making a DIY clock that looks amazing on your wall. The large magnetic disk can be the base and you can make clock hands out of the read/write arm. If you decide to add a few LEDs, it looks even better.
- Hidden safe – You have removed all the components of your hard drive and made them into useful items. So, what do you do with the case? Nothing needs to go to waste since the hard drive case can be converted into a cool safe for your valuables. It involves minimal labor and the easiest project among all in this list. It can have your secret herb stash or some extra cash.
Conclusion
Matthew Davies believes that you should make good use of your hard drive instead of throwing it away. It saves you money in many ways and repurposing old products is usually good for the environment as well.
