What to do with hard drives. What can be done with old hard drives? Home cloud server

Things that are out of order are not always garbage. You just need to figure out how to replace their intended purpose and use them in a new way. For example, an old hard drive. At first glance, it is a waste material to be disposed of. But if you look closely, you can find many creative ideas its further use.

Clock

If you get creative, you can end up with a table clock that resembles classical mechanics. You don't have to spend much on all this beauty. In addition to the hard drive, you need to stock up on screws, a screwdriver, superglue and a heat gun. You will also need a drill, a drill. The hard drive is disassembled, all elements are removed from it.

In order for the product to be not only functional, but also beautiful, surround the plate with LEDs. Strip led strip attached to the wall of the chamber with super glue.

Grinder

In order to make a grinder, you need to take a screwdriver and sandpaper. The manufacturing method is really very simple. All unnecessary components, represented by magnets, are removed from the disks. This is done with a screwdriver. After that, the disk is removed, and a circle is cut out according to its size.

Important! Power is not provided by a conventional socket. You will need a power supply. In order for it to start without motherboard, you need to cut off the copper wire and plug it into the connector, connect it to the black and green wires.

At the end, the emery wheel is glued to the disk, fixed and connected to the power supply.

portable storage

A portable drive is simply made from a hard drive. For this, a container is taken and a hard drive is placed in it. For designs over 2.5 inches, you will need to buy a power adapter.

A working hard drive can be used as a cloud server. This requires a single-board computer and the ability of even a novice IT specialist. The end result will be a device that will provide access to all computer data from gadgets connected to one wi-fi router.

Hard drives have an element called a neodymium magnet. It is quite large, so it can attract a lot of different things. With it, you can create a stand that will hold knives in the air. To do this, you have to take a bar, a magnet, glue and simple tools like a screwdriver and a knife.

wind chimes

One of the cute things that you can create from a disc is a door bell. Before that, you can take the disks, the case, the usual fastening ring made of metal, as well as the cord. Connect all this together, and you get a real work of art.

Secret safe

In standard small apartments, there is not enough space to install a secret safe for jewelry or money. But such a useful thing can be done with your own hands from an old hard drive. It is necessary to remove the components from its body, and then attach the cover with a small bolt to the corner. The container will open by turning.

For this device, in addition to the hard drive, you need to take a basin, make a hole in it, stock up on a lid from a tin, the tin itself, and knitting needles from a bicycle. First you need to make three holes in the disk on the cover. Next, the bicycle spokes are soldered with the resulting device, and a semblance of a box is made from the can. The cover is connected to the structure, the middle is removed from it. Fuel can be poured into the hole. All this is put in a bowl and sugar is poured. At the end, alcohol is ignited and the disc is turned on.

flash drive

If you want to surprise your friends with an interesting and unusual gigantic flash drive, you can use an old hard drive. First you need to remove the mounting screws with the disc and cover. Next, a usb-splitter is selected that is suitable in size. It is attached to the place of the central disk, and the connection is lubricated with superglue. At the end, a flash drive is attached and a lid is assembled.

If yours is broken HDD and you can’t restore it - just like in a joke, you can get an ashtray, a mirror and a magnet from it :) In fact, you can get MUCH more, and I’ll tell you now how to do it and what is interesting there.
If you don't have a defective hard drive(hard drive) - do not be discouraged, contact your computer friends, just friends, or in any service center computer technology, they definitely should have such copies (usually in workshops men are too lazy to throw away old trash). The "older" the disc, the better: before the material and all sorts of tricks were not spared.

For the master class, I took as many as three pieces (I saved up for a long time) to show the possible differences (although they are usually all different, you will never guess what is under the cover this time) In addition to the hard drive itself, we will need screwdrivers (minimally - Phillips and flat (" +" and "-"), as much as possible - a set of screwdrivers as in the photo in the upper left corner, namely a hexagonal asterisk nozzle).

This photo shows that there are different thicknesses. It is better (if there is a choice) to take a thicker one, there may be a bonus: not one, but even two or three mirrors! Plus some other stuff.

If the "screws" (the slang name for a hard drive) are such (of such a company), then it will be easier for you, you only need a Phillips and straight screwdrivers, they are usually found in every home. I don’t know where, but I came across ALL hard drives from this company with cross mounts ...

like this

We unscrew the bolts, and take a flat screwdriver (as a lever, so it’s better to be stronger)

We put a screwdriver under the cover and slightly turning it, we go through the perimeter. The lid is usually glued to something that looks like silicone, so simply pressing the lever does not work well, especially since you can break something inside with a sharp movement.

Does not work? something preventing you from opening it? Still would! Manufacturers are not stupid:) there is always one or two. or even three hidden bolts under the stickers :) Feel with a screwdriver and you will find dimples that are easy to dig with the same straight screwdriver. That's where I hid it :)
And another tip: when you unscrew the bolts, you don’t need to do it in turn, you need to loosen each one by half a turn or a turn and only then unscrew them to the end, otherwise it may turn out that one or two of the last ones can’t be unscrewed due to the skewed cover. Another IMPORTANT: when the bolt does not want to unscrew in any way, you do not need to turn it with force - this way you can comb either a screwdriver or a hole. It is necessary to press the screwdriver with almost all the weight perpendicular to the product, and so, while pressing, gently try to turn it. The harder you push, the better. Even the fasteners that my husband could not unscrew =) The main thing here is technology and accuracy, not strength =) Although you still need strength, if your hand is tired, it’s better to get down to business in a couple of hours, when your hand rests.

So, we've got it all. And what a beauty inside the lid! Everything glitters :)
Someone decides that beauty is needed in order to admire it and leave everything as it is, but I'm greedy :) Therefore, I analyze further.

Now you need to unwind the top elements in turn. It is better to start with a magnet and a "prickly thing". And as a warning - when unwinding, use the method described by me above, since in the middle everything is usually screwed very tightly and you can ruin the whole thing.

After the magnet is unscrewed (sometimes, by the way, it is not screwed at all, but simply fixed on the protrusions in the case), we remove the upper part of the magnet with the same lever screwdriver, only very carefully, it can re-magnetize and beat off your fingers! The lower part of the magnet (more often it is not a magnet, but just a piece of iron) can also be screwed on, or it can simply be easily removed after removing the magnet

Now it's time for the mirror. There are many complications here:
the first - the element rotates and must be held firmly and pressed down to unscrew all the bolts
the second - the mirror is very easy to scratch with a screwdriver, and then these scratches will not please at all
and the third - according to the law of meanness, how not to follow the rules that I described above - the last bolt ALWAYS turns out to be tightly-tightly twisted ... here you already have to tinker, rest and tinker again (after all, you need to carefully unscrew for the first and second reasons)
BUT the result of greed is always the same: after all, everything unwinds and very interesting and beautiful things get: in the photo there is a ring with holes ...

The mirror itself (here you have to rejoice and clap your hands - especially if there are several mirrors)
By the way, now you understand why the name "hard drive"?
The disk must be taken out carefully by moving the little thing on the right (I call it a mouse, why - I will explain later)

When all the mirrors are removed and the joy has calmed down, you can unscrew the motor (located under the disk) and the "mouse". The "mouse" can simply be removed from the base up, or it can be screwed on.

I don’t know, maybe it’s still a bad photo, but in this circle in the middle there is a recess. It was lucky if, in addition to the recess, there is a transverse slot - then you can unscrew this cylinder with a regular straight screwdriver. I was not lucky - and therefore we look closer at the recess, or rather at its shape. This is a hexagon for me - it means I take it from a set of screwdrivers (there is also a set of keys - men should know) approximately the right size and twist.

Here it is! Only now I realized that I didn’t take a photo of the “mouse”:(((But I think if you look at the rest of the photos (and especially make out yourself), you will understand why. When the cylinder is removed, something like an “eye” is obtained "mouse. And the sharp end is her nose. Some old hard drives used colored wires, and when I tore off the "prickly thing" cable from the mouse, she had funny antennae wires sticking out on the tip of her nose :) That's why the" mouse "

Let's return to our trial. Here's what we ended up with. This contraption can be used in different ways: like a hammer :), like an ashtray (only you have to screw the motor into place and cover the holes with something) or you can do it somehow, I think you should not have any problems using it.
But first, we must also turn over and unscrew something that is no less valuable to us.

We unscrew 4-5 bolts (I think an intermediate photo is not needed) - and lo and behold! in addition to a cool scheme (from which, if necessary, you can unscrew the microcircuits, or use it as a decoration on your own), we also have a miracle foam rubber. A miracle, because it is unique in terms of density, softness, etc. It was from her that I made the pupils for my felted dragon, but you can cut out anything! Sometimes foam rubber is covered with a film on one side, and sometimes without it. If the hard drive is sooo old - there is an uninteresting foam rubber, and most often burnt in some places.

Here are our treasures :)
By the way, maybe your fantasy will tell you WHAT can be made from bolts? I already have a SEA of them, of different sizes and colors ... maybe your fantasy will tell you? :)

Below is another photo options parsing on the example of other hard drives

You just need to pry off a piece of metal and peel it off a little from all sides, glue, as you remember, like silicone and it stretches. The main thing is not to bend

This time another surprise was in store for me - a metal ring under the lid. At first I thought it was a magnet and was delighted, but the effect of the magnet was created by a very tenacious glue.

You can disconnect the circuit immediately, even before disassembling the entire "screw". Especially when it is attached with such a train that you can accidentally tear it if you do it the other way around.
The cable is easy to protrude, just pull on it.

This is the advantage I was talking about when I pointed out the thickness of the hard drive. Here, the top cover turned out to be very roomy, and it has only two holes (they can either be sealed or screwed in with the same bolts), this is an ideal ashtray :) or a container for small items .. you decide.

And just for those who like to look at the site in search of interesting and useful things. As usual in our time, old things are disposed of most in the usual way, this is a dump to landfills, but sometimes it happens that from an object that has failed or lost its basic qualities, you can collect something useful, in other words, give a second life. In this homemade product, the author shares with us the idea of ​​​​creating a vacuum cleaner from a hard drive, which is not able to work as a drive due to its long service life.

In order to assemble a vacuum cleaner with our own hands, we need:
* A hard drive from a computer that is not capable of functioning properly as a storage device or is simply unnecessary.
*Plastic band.
*Glue "second".
*Hacksaw blade for metal.
* Thick cardboard or thin plywood of your choice.
*Insulating tape.
* Thermal gun.
*Filter, which can serve as an unnecessary stocking, pantyhose or sock.

After all the components are available, you can begin to manufacture a vacuum cleaner.
The first step is to disassemble the hard drive and free it from unnecessary parts that we do not need,
be careful when disassembling, as many elements are glued with strong glue and you can get hurt when torn off.

Don't rush to throw away hard drives, left after a computer upgrade or hard drives that are out of order - they can always find a new use. For example, make a mirror, a clock, a safe for storing cash, a network drive and other useful things.

The purposes for which old hard drives can be used depend on whether they are in working order or not. It is curious that a functioning hard drive has much fewer uses than a non-working one.

portable storage

If the hard drive is in working order, it can be turned into a portable drive. To do this, it is enough to buy an external container for a hard drive and place a hard drive in it. Depending on the size of the drive, a power adapter may be required, for example if the drive is 3.5" while 2.5" drives usually don't need an adapter.

Home cloud server

If you already have external drive and there is no need for another, a working hard drive can be used to create your own NAS, and then you can access the data on the drive from any device connected to your WiFi networks. If you are not ready to spend extra money, then you can build a NAS yourself based on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer.

How to use non-working hard drives

A failed hard drive cannot be used to store data, but its physical components can find other uses. Before starting work, you will need to disassemble it into "spare parts". The process is shown in the video below.

Magnetic bar for knives

Hard drives contain large neodymium magnets that can be used to create a magnetic knife holder. To do this, you only need a bar, magnets, glue and a set of ordinary tools.

Mirror

Optical discs that are in the hard drive can serve as an excellent mirror. Discs must be taken out very carefully so that chips and scratches do not appear. Then they can be placed in the office, used as a signal or pocket mirror.

wind chimes

From optical discs, you can create not only mirrors, but also other pretty little things, for example, wind chimes. For their manufacture, you will need the optical discs themselves, the hard drive case, a metal fastening ring and a cord with which the structural elements will be connected.

Secret safe

Creative applications can be found not only in the components of the hard drive, but also in its case, for example, used as a safe for storing money. Making it is easy enough - just remove all the components from the case and screw the cover to one of the upper corners of the case with a bolt. As a result, you will get a swivel-type container where you can put money.

If you have an unnecessary, old, or maybe non-working hard drive lying around at home and, in addition, you like to do interesting nonsense, then you are at the right place. Today we will consider one more, besides the main, use of the hard drive. There is nothing sensible and useful in this, but I hope you will be interested.

What do we do with an old hard drive?

The hard drive rotates at a breakneck speed during operation. Process work hard disk can be found in the article What do you think will happen if the disk is spun up to breakneck speed and allowed to walk around the world? This is exactly what our old hard drive will do. The following describes the process that precedes this fun.

Preparing an old hard drive

To prepare an old hard drive for this event, you need to remove its cover and remove the hard drive head, which is used to read information. If everything is done correctly, then the hard drive should look like this:

As you can see, pulling out the magnetic disk itself is no longer a problem. This is exactly the result we need to achieve: the magnetic disk should easily get off its mink, but this does not need to be done yet. When the time comes, he will get out of there himself.

What do we do next?

After that, we need to connect power to our old hard drive. This should be done from the computer's power supply. If you connect power to the hard drive and supply electricity to the power supply, then our drive will start spinning. This is what we are striving for. Now slowly lower the hard drive to the floor and begin to gently tilt it so that the open side approaches the floor. Somewhere in a perpendicular position (plus or minus a few degrees), the disk will be able to fly off its hole. You can help him with this. Here, make sure that the direction of rotation of the disk does not coincide with your location. As soon as the disk flies off, it will rush out of sight across the floor.

The principle is clear. It's like toy cars that need to be charged in reverse to get them to go far enough. It's the same here: we charge our disk with kinetic energy and lower it to the floor. Only unlike a toy car, here you need to be a little careful. Since some hard drives can spin up to 15,000 rpm, you have something like a trimming wheel in front of you. Therefore, you do not need to put fragile items or close friends along the way. old hard disk.

But don't worry too much about security. The untwisted disc runs perfectly straight, so you can choose the trajectory for it yourself and not be afraid that it will turn the wrong way. We did not observe any destructive actions in relation to the floor and the wall (the only thing that in my case was not afraid to face the disk).

This is how you can make a new toy from an old hard drive.