DIY USB "Hard Drive"

Using a dead Hard Drive, a 4-port USB hub, and a few Flash Drives, we will kill some time and get a few laughs from anyone seeing you use this.

**NOTE**
You guys can see MAKE magazine's rip-off article of my project at:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/weekend_project_flash_memory_hard_d_1.html

Thanks for the credit MAKE, I really appreciate it....

Step 1 Find a candidate.

Any Hard Drive should do..

Comments

[Quazaka]

I must say that this comes out very cool, here is mine :P

[frenzy]

have great news!

This posting has won today's "I Made It" Challenge. For winning you will receive a 3 month pro membership!

Thanks for using instructables!

http://www.instructables.com/community/June-is-I-Made-It-Challenge-Month-Win-a-Pro-Mem/

[mrmouseboy2]

With my usb hard drive i can't get the motor thingy that connects to the platter. So i only have 1 4gb flash drive in it. Your usb hard drive is cool though.

[Marcos]

 Last time I took one apart, I think I had to drill out the screw for the "motor thingy", also known as the spindle.  ;-)

[dog digger]

At this step, SAVE THE MAGNETS. THEY ARE EXPENSIVE AND POWERFUL. Save them. they are also very cool and very strong.

[gabse-m]

Kipkay

[knex master 123]

Do all the flash drives show up as one because of the adapter or do they show up all separate?

[ravibhadaniya]

awesom .........................................................................................................................................................................

[romulopericles]

wow... a nice fake HD, just to show off, ok

[porschedude]

I can see some fun with this one, what if you used the normal connection to the HD and made a cable to adapt the IDE Data Cable end and power connector to a USB. Most people would think it was no big deal since we have seen adapters for a lot of things, but the more geek the person is, they are going to wonder what it is...LOL

[skeetshooter11]

i painted mine in a painted cardboard holder

[sokamiwohali]

hahaha...you had me going there for a second...i thought you jerry-rigged the HDD just the way it was by just soldering a few wires from the USB Cable into the HDD...i sure didnt see the USB hub and flash drives coming...Great Instructable!!

[daguilar4]

ha this is to cool but I do have to lol @ everyone getting all tec and not seeing it as a working joke lol, I can see all the Baristas at starbucks freaking at the portable hd lol, how bout a hd in a pepsi can lol just saying

[gmgfarrand]

Thought about using a can... It needs to be more structurally sound...

[MadScientist101]

Why do you use USB drives, would it not be possible to run the actual hard drive?awsome idea anyway though!

[seerixprojex]

USB doesn't supply enough power to run a 3.5 inch drive, but it would for a laptop (2.5") drive in most cases. But a DIY for that would be a little pointless because you can get a 2.5" enclosure packaged and ready to go for around $10 these days. Good question though!

[chevy62]

couldn't you use a normal 20gb hard drive and figure way to use that 20gb as a flash drive so you can have that as a portable 20gb flash drive

[seerixprojex]

There is one thing you could do, you could get one of those USB drive adapters that uses an AC adapter to supply the power needed to spin up a 3.5 inch drive.

[chevy62]

i need a link to do it i am not sure what you are saying but i also do know what you mean if you get what i am trying to say

[seerixprojex]

I know exactly what you mean. Here is a link to one of many brands available. This one might be a little expensive ($35) because it is so universal, meaning it supports so many types of drives. So keep in mind that this is not the cheapest method to accomplish making a spare 3.5 inch drive into a portable USB drive. A basic external USB enclosure is way cheaper, I've seen them on sale for $10. But what's nice about this device is you can use it to connect many types of drives via USB without the enclosure.

http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adaptv2.php

[riekard]

so...does anyone know where to get dirt cheap flash drives???

[bendog38]

CVS

[rebelgrunt]

ebay???

[Adam Manick]

Ebay

[shenzer]

nowdays flash drives are 4gb for 10 so its pretty cheap

[uberdum05]

Ebay or dealextreme :)

[menababu]

most of time i get good deal from buy.com
check out here http://www.ezbz.in//2t8

[kenith1999]

Staples is offering 4 gig drives this week for $6.95 each

[nabukadnazar]

in china :)

[irishjim68]

Wal Mart

[TSC]

Walmart does not sell flash drives cheap! Microcenter  is way cheaper!

[neivadan]

ya i know u can get em at staples,future shop,best buy,u can even make ur own.

[riekard]

cool, but i wanna try and make my own, how would i go about it?? what do i need?

[Nxtfari]

um, thats what the instructions are for

[riekard]

...this build doesnt mention anthing about makin your own flash drives

[Nxtfari]

Oh, sorry, I thought you said you wanted to make the USB Hard Drive. To make your own flash drive would be pretty hard. I mean, Its got over 100 pieces that have to be soldered together perfectly on a circuit board. You'd be better off buying one. They're like $10 for a pack of three.

[willrandship]

Go to sciplus.com and you can get some incredibly cheap 512MB ones.

[flame boyyyy]

512 is as much as my old desktops ram size and it is pretty slow dont go with 512 man.

[account3r2]

That's how much RAM my current laptop has... I need an upgrade sometime...

[hightekrednek2396]

512 wont get you very far with any thing i got a 4gb microsd and other accesories came withit at target