3 Simple Ways to
Share What You Make

With Instructables you can share what you make with the world — and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.

PhotosPhotos

Share one or more photos of a project, recipe, or whatever you've made, quickly and easily.

Step by StepStep-By-Step

Share your step-by-step photos with text instructions of what you made so others can do it too!

VideoVideo

Share your how-to video. You'll need your embed code from a video site such as YouTube.

DIY USB "Hard Drive"

Step 6Flash Me!

Flash Me!
Now add your Flash Drives, you may have to remove the casing for some to fit well.
« Previous StepDownload PDFView All StepsNext Step »
25 comments
Apr 18, 2009. 8:45 PMmrmouseboy2 says:
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.
Oct 29, 2009. 6:40 PMMarcos says:
 Last time I took one apart, I think I had to drill out the screw for the "motor thingy", also known as the spindle.  ;-)
May 8, 2012. 4:04 AMgabse-m says:
Kipkay
Jan 20, 2010. 10:08 AMriekard says:
so...does anyone know where to get dirt cheap flash drives???
May 25, 2011. 8:17 PMbendog38 says:
CVS
Apr 28, 2011. 9:24 AMrebelgrunt says:
ebay???
Oct 28, 2010. 6:41 PMAdam Manick says:
Ebay
Aug 11, 2010. 10:29 PMshenzer says:
nowdays flash drives are 4gb for 10 so its pretty cheap
Jul 11, 2010. 12:25 AMuberdum05 says:
Ebay or dealextreme :)
Feb 15, 2010. 2:20 PMmenababu says:
most of time i get good deal from buy.com
check out here http://www.ezbz.in//2t8
Feb 11, 2010. 1:07 PMkenith1999 says:
Staples is offering 4 gig drives this week for $6.95 each
Feb 9, 2010. 1:15 PMnabukadnazar says:
in china :)
Feb 8, 2010. 5:12 PMirishjim68 says:
Wal Mart
Mar 2, 2011. 5:51 PMTSC says:
Walmart does not sell flash drives cheap! Microcenter  is way cheaper!
Jan 21, 2010. 1:17 PMneivadan says:
ya i know u can get em at staples,future shop,best buy,u can even make ur own.
Jan 21, 2010. 4:40 PMriekard says:
cool, but i wanna try and make my own, how would i go about it?? what do i need?
Jan 22, 2010. 1:43 PMNxtfari says:
um, thats what the instructions are for
Jan 22, 2010. 3:39 PMriekard says:
...this build doesnt mention anthing about makin your own flash drives
Jan 23, 2010. 8:28 PMNxtfari says:
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.
Feb 7, 2010. 12:00 PMwillrandship says:
Go to sciplus.com and you can get some incredibly cheap 512MB ones.
Dec 5, 2010. 11:03 AMflame boyyyy says:
512 is as much as my old desktops ram size and it is pretty slow dont go with 512 man.
Apr 11, 2012. 8:41 PMaccount3r2 says:
That's how much RAM my current laptop has... I need an upgrade sometime...
Nov 19, 2010. 4:32 PMhightekrednek2396 says:
512 wont get you very far with any thing i got a 4gb microsd and other accesories came withit at target
Oct 28, 2010. 6:40 PMAdam Manick says:
You can get a 256 gigabyte flash drive for around 650 US dollars. That is 1024 gigabytes for 2600 dollars. That would be so amazing but for such a big cost.
Aug 24, 2010. 7:41 PMflargman98 says:
amazon is good i got a 16 GB flashdrive for 26 bucks
May 20, 2010. 4:53 PMcincodenada says:
 Ha great idea!  And it looks like MAKE has added credit and a link back here, if they hadn't originally.
Jan 8, 2010. 9:52 PMjj.inc says:
 Do all of the flash drives become one or are they all still separate, or can you do something with programing
Jan 9, 2010. 3:14 PMgrino says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x2rZe2Z9as
Jan 9, 2010. 3:17 PMgrino says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij3B3ujQtpY&feature=related
Nov 8, 2009. 6:00 AMsupercrazytutorials says:
ahh ok mand know i know how it wirks 10x alot
May 24, 2009. 10:54 AMmytechuniverse says:
You could also salvage some cool rare earth magnets from the drive, but be careful and don't take them near an HDD.
Nov 1, 2009. 5:43 AMMinifig666 says:
 Why do you say "Don't take them near a HDD" but yet the sit rught next to it for the HDD's entire life. In order to damage a HDD with magnets you would have to rub the platters with them.
Oct 31, 2009. 4:46 AMlukeyj15 says:
 Yeah, they're really dangerous. I've got a scar on my arm where I was doing the party trick of putting a magnet on either side of my wrist. The magnets slid and pinched a fold of skin. It took like a full minute to get them apart and the skin was standing up rigid for half an hour. So be warned.
Sep 21, 2009. 1:22 PMgeekdude says:
i have like 5 of those on my fridge. they're fun.
Nov 9, 2009. 8:18 AMjacob5680 says:
 VERY fun. :P I have a bunch on my fridge too.
Jul 2, 2009. 6:13 AMMawin says:
Nice Job hahahaha
May 12, 2009. 12:35 AMbl4ckh34d says:
wew nice n funny huhuhu... good jobs
Apr 24, 2009. 12:18 AMcybergod says:
Now that is funny. I am definitely going to do this to an old HDD. I reckon some friends will get a real kick out of it.
Mar 24, 2009. 9:05 AMkyleg001 says:
:-)
Mar 14, 2009. 5:46 PMTheFawns says:
lol thats awesome! :)

Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

All Steps Viewing
View all steps of an Instructable on the same page when you're a Pro Member.

Upgrade to Pro today!
49
Followers
7
Author:gmgfarrand
Ex-Navy Gunner Learned to repair I.T. equipment because nobody local knew what the hell they were doing!