How to Recycle Computer Hard Drives

Do you have an old computer or laptop that can't do anything and sits in the basement? Well, the only one thing that may be still useful is the harddrive since the ram may be outdated, so is everything else (CPU, cables, and power supplies). This article will show you how to make an external USB drive with less than $20

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• screwdriver
• your old computer that still has a working harddrive (beating heart or smart brain)
• internet access to google or amazon computer hardware

1. Take the old hard drives out and keep all the jacks or connector just in case. This is especially true if you have a laptop

2. Google "disk enclosure" or search www.amazon.com / ebay for it. If you have a laptop, type "laptop disk enclosure"

3. Order one of these disk enclosures. They are $20 or less including tax and shipping in lots of places. Just make sure you pick a reputable supplier with 30 day refund policy

4. In 5-7 days (lots of online supplier offer free shipping but make you wait for 5-7 days), open your package, then assemble the parts with your hard drive.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the disk enclosure you order comes with usb cable
• Test the harddrive before you spend the $20 on the case / disk enclosure
• Ideally, you have more than 1 old hard drive and the hard drive has at least 20GB of space. Otherwise, it may still be cheaper to just buy a new 200-300GB drives for less than $100

[bmerritt]

on 1/28/2009 This is a really cool idea. I have a ton of old hard drives in my basement. Is there a way to make a RAID storage solution linking them together? Good advice! 5 stars.