OT: What to do with Hard Drive

I purchased a "new" 2012 Mac Mini and have just taken out the 500 GB HD that came in it and replaced it with a 500 GB SSD. I did the same thing a year ago with my older MacBook Pro. Any suggestions on what I should do with the left over HD's?

I thought about purchasing an external enclosure. If I do so, is there any real difference between USB 2.0 vs. 3.0 since I have regular HD? (Is it worth it to spend $14 on a 3.0 version when the 2.0 version is $7?)

What about selling the drives? Would I get any money out of them (which I could use to buy some other external drive)?

Thoughts?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Cale Judd

I would get USB 3.0. It's much faster than USB 2.0. As for use of your HDD, I'd suggest using it to periodically clone your SSD as a backup of everything on your computer, including all your apps.

Mike Binks

I thought about purchasing an external enclosure. If I do so, is there any real difference between USB 2.0 vs. 3.0 since I have regular HD? (Is it worth it to spend $14 on a 3.0 version when the 2.0 version is $7?)

What about selling the drives? Would I get any money out of them (which I could use to buy some other external drive)?

Thoughts?

If you haven't got a time machine backup drive then your old drive would make an ideal candidate.

USB 3 will be around a deal longer than USB 2 now that the latter is obsolete.

If you sell the drive you are selling the data that is on it (in theory if not in practice) depends on the morality of the purchaser.

I never throw old drives away until after November 5th.

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/690954#Comment_690954

Why? What do people do on Guy Fawkes Night with old HDs they find in the garbage? Blow them up for fun? I would think that would ensure that your old data will never recovered by anyone. :-)

Seriously, though, if you do dispose of a HD or recycle it or whatever, make sure you've wiped it pretty radically, not just deleted the files. There are programs for wiping disks with a high degree of security (writing random data over them over and over again). It still isn't 100% possible to prevent the most high-tech forensic experts from recovering some of your data without physically destroying the disk -- beyond just scratching it (like perhaps burning it and melting it would do) -- but random people discovering the disk won't be able to get anything off it. I used to use a free command-line program called TDEL, for deleting individual files or folders, which would really really delete something by writing over it however many times you indicated. Not sure what's out there currently for wiping an entire disk drive. I actually have never gotten rid of one. I have a whole bunch of dead ones (and dead PCs and laptops) in my house that I still need to do something about.

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/690952#Comment_690952

Well in the past I have taken apart a dead hard drive and hung the actual disk on the wall and it holds my cross when I am not wearing it.

-Dan

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/690960#Comment_690960

Seriously, though, if you do dispose of a HD or recycle it or whatever, make sure you've wiped it pretty radically

Will do. The only one which would be problematic is the one from the MacBook Pro. The 500 GB Mac Mini one was factory installed. (I had only updated the OS on it... nothing else).

I did get rid of another drive last year. Took a sledge hammer to it. It was a BEAST. I think I will run the car over it next time. [:D]

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/690966#Comment_690966

Funny Dan. [:)]

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/690964#Comment_690964

Well in the past I have taken apart a dead hard drive and hung the actual disk on the wall

When I'd read that far I thought you were going to continue the sentence with "and used it for target practice." :-) I like your actual use of it better.

Lee

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/690980#Comment_690980

I have also used a sledge hammer, but target practice idea also came to me. But I am not in the USA so i don't have any gun here...

Getting a usb 3 enclosure for backup is a good idea. I did that with my 1TB HDD.

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/691172#Comment_691172

target practice idea also came to me. But I am not in the USA so i don't have any gun here...

You don't need a gun for target practice. You can use a bow and arrow. [:)]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk

This guy is apparently not a very good shot and some of historical "facts" are nonsense (his video has been debunked by a true archer), but at least his speed is impressive.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/691172#Comment_691172

Getting a usb 3 enclosure for backup is a good idea.

i ended up getting one for $13. It should arrive on Friday. [:)]

Matthew C Jones

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/691182#Comment_691182

Getting a usb 3 enclosure for backup is a good idea.

i ended up getting one for $13. It should arrive on Friday.

Good choice

Martin Folley

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/690966#Comment_690966

I did get rid of another drive last year. Took a sledge hammer to it.

Sounds like 'hard' work!

I always drill through with an electric drill ... the actual disks are made of glass and they shatter once you are through the drive's casing.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/691207#Comment_691207

I always drill through with an electric drill

Thanks for the advice. [:)]

Alan Macgregor

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/691207#Comment_691207

I always drill through with an electric drill ... the actual disks are made of glass and they shatter once you are through the drive's casing.

Martin

My HDDs must be different.

I dismantled a couple of my old ones and then tried to smash the disks with a 2 1/2 lb geological hammer. They wouldn't break, so I clamped them singly in a vice and hammered them over to fold them in half and then half again, so I ended up with a fan. I call that doing origami the hard way.

Every blessing

Alan