Here a Drive, there a Drive...

July 24, 2008 5:35 PM

What to do with a spare laptop hard drive...please help

At my last job, our company gave away a bunch of laptops since they were older and I love mine still (after a year, the laptop is a Panasonic Toughbook and is a few years older).
I was given 2 removable Hard drive with it.
On one I have Vista and I use it every day, the other I installed Unbuntu and I dont see the point...knowing how to use it won't get me a job or even let me do any thing "cool".
So I have a spare Hard Drive, what can I do with it? I have been pondering this question for several months and I still can't pin it down.

Since the computer is older its just not prime for games, and furthermore, I dont play too many as it is....
Any ideas friends?

posted by TeachTheDead to computers & internet (13 comments total)

Remove it from the removeable carrier and put it into a tiny USB case to use as a second/backup drive at the same time as the other one? $9 at your local computer junk store.

(Twenty other MeFites will now tell you to learn Unix to help with employment.)
posted by rokusan at 5:42 PM on July 24, 2008

knowing how to use it won't get me a job or even let me do any thing "cool".

Here I was thinking that knowledge was a gift unto itself, not simply a means for getting more money. Silly me.

Cool projects that I've seen are stuff like this.
posted by cellphone at 5:44 PM on July 24, 2008

Give, or sell it, to someone who has an otherwise-functional laptop with a busted HDD.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 5:46 PM on July 24, 2008

Here I was thinking that knowledge was a gift unto itself, not simply a means for getting more money. Silly me.

Sorry should have added im going to lose my job in March and I need a new one and I desire on in the IT industry, but...seems like everyone does....

...Guess that is unrelated to my question...
posted by TeachTheDead at 5:52 PM on July 24, 2008

I'd stick it in an enclosure, and then use it to store a backup image of the drive you are using.
posted by pompomtom at 5:53 PM on July 24, 2008

...I want to also add BOTH HDs are functional both have 60gigs
posted by TeachTheDead at 5:53 PM on July 24, 2008

The magnets inside the drive are fun to play with! But seriously, you may consider installing a Unix based OS on it. If you are willing to learn the ins and outs of operating the OS, you could work your way toward certifications that might help you in the IT field. Maybe track down one of the PC ports of Mac OS? Otherwise, use it as a backup drive in an external enclosure as rokusan stated or maybe one of the neat projects cellphone recommended!
posted by alcoth at 5:57 PM on July 24, 2008

Not sure, also, but check and see if your Toughbook laptop supports RAID, you could benefit form that too
posted by alcoth at 5:58 PM on July 24, 2008

you could get about 40 to 60 bucks for it on ebay.
posted by jak68 at 6:36 PM on July 24, 2008

Definitely use it as a backup drive. Get an external enclosure -- they do make them for laptop hard drives -- then you can clone your current drive onto the extra one. If the current hard drive fails, you may be able to just stick the other one in its place.

Keep the clone up to date somehow; maybe get the Acronis software for this.

On the day that your hard drive fails, you may bless and thank the memory of my response here.

You're welcome!
posted by amtho at 7:00 PM on July 24, 2008

You could always sock it away somewhere, and wait patiently for the other drive to die. It's only a matter of time.
posted by box at 7:00 PM on July 24, 2008

Our desktop died, and we bought a laptop. Just last weekend, I got a hard-drive enclosure at Microcenter for $25. I'm fairly handy, but no computer wiz, and I was able to get the drive out of the old computer and connected to the new one in less than 15 minutes. The enclosure even came with autobackup software--now I can press a button on the enclosure and get a full backup of the laptop drive, plus I have access to all my old files.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:30 AM on July 25, 2008

Sweet thanks friends!
posted by TeachTheDead at 7:47 AM on July 25, 2008