# What to do with old Hard Drive?!



## mlee49 (Apr 1, 2008)

I pulled a 80 GB Segate 7200(IDE) from an old Gateway, what should I do with it?

1) Format it and add it to my current set up.

2) Shoot it with a Shotgun.

Basically I want to know if its really worth the time to up a second hard drive and only get 80 gigs out of it.  It's an IDE connection and I have a second slot on my mobo, but I dont know how to set up raid and what type would be best (I'm guessing raid 1 for extra space.  ).

Any help with my delima would be great!


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## Namslas90 (Apr 1, 2008)

Always nice to have a spare HDD.  Reformat it and keep it around or add it to your rig for additional storage....Nothing wrong with Gateway HDD"S, I have several old ones as spares and two added to rig for storage.


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## thoughtdisorder (Apr 1, 2008)

Out of curiosity, what's the Man date on it?


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## GJSNeptune (Apr 1, 2008)

That's a nice capacity still. Keep it. Stick it in an enclosure.


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## asb2106 (Apr 1, 2008)

id stick in it an external enclosure and have a portable!  Cant go wrong there!


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## mlee49 (Apr 1, 2008)

@thoughtdisorder

IDK I'll check when I get home.  

I bought a $400 emachine three years ago, you intrested in the sys specs?  AMD Semp 1.8, 256 value ram, 15 in monitor, 80 gb.  Pretty sweet huh?!  



Any thoughts for the "how to" portion of putting it on my new rig?


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## 3991vhtes (Apr 1, 2008)

^ Seems a little ouratedOutdated* to be sweet...

anyway, keep the drive. you never know when your primary hdd will fail, so its always good to have a spare


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## AsRock (Apr 1, 2008)

mlee49 said:


> I pulled a 80 GB Segate 7200(IDE) from an old Gateway, what should I do with it?
> 
> 1) Format it and add it to my current set up.
> 
> ...



Use it if it's showing no issue's.  Maybe install your apps on it.   All though i would like to see a shotgun effect on it lol..


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## mlee49 (Apr 1, 2008)

3991vhtes said:


> ^ Seems a little ourated to be sweet...
> 
> anyway, keep the drive. you never know when your primary hdd will fail, so its always good to have a spare



Ourated?


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## 3991vhtes (Apr 1, 2008)

outdated*


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## mlee49 (Apr 1, 2008)

Sure its outdated. I never intended to game with it.  About all I wanted to get out of it was for internet.


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## 3991vhtes (Apr 1, 2008)

oh.. Then it's perfect for what you need...

I assumed you gamed on it, sorry


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## asb2106 (Apr 1, 2008)

mlee49 said:


> Sure its outdated. I never intended to game with it.  About all I wanted to get out of it was for internet.



and Im sure it did that pretty easily!  As long as your OS install is not bloated you can run XP and firefox pretty easily!  I have a athlon thunderbird 1.2 with 256 of pc100 and that thing is still kicking.  I gave it to my god-daughter so she could watch her Dora shows on it and play little games!  It is a clean install of XP, and the thing runs the web games and videos with ease!  She loves it.  My aunt and uncle thought it was a big deal that I gave up that machine, to me it just cleaned out a corner in the closet! 

Back to topic, sorry
I would just stick that HD into an external, use it for portable media and backup of important stuff(dont rely completely on it).  I would use it for programs that I use frequently, maybe some cleanup programs and virus scans and what not.  Incase you ever had to look at a friend or family members computer.  I do that with my old HDs until I find another use for them.


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## lemonadesoda (Apr 1, 2008)

80GB is very small these days.

Use if for your MP3 files... if its big enough. Put on "power management" to turn off drive after 5 mins if not in use. That way it will keep your PC quiet and draw less power unless your are actually playing/managing the MP3 files.

Or use it as a backup drive for critical data.

But dont bother using it for "production" use.


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## 3991vhtes (Apr 1, 2008)

80GB isn't too bad (well, compared to 1TB, it is )
- 80GB is better than what I'm running right now for HDD's 

My old 80Gig drive was whisper quiet too (for being a maxtor )


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## Scrizz (Apr 1, 2008)

I'd keep the drive as a backup.
lol I have like 8 ide HDs I use as portable storage lol


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## mlee49 (Apr 1, 2008)

I'll prob. get an external enclosure and keep it around for a while.  

Only one person wanted to see the shotgun route.... damn....:shadedshu

Close Enough


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## mlee49 (Apr 1, 2008)

Ok this is better....a .45 vs Hard drive


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## 3991vhtes (Apr 1, 2008)

You could always send the HDD to me


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## AKA_Dawg (Apr 2, 2008)

I would format it fat32 and put your xp page file on it. I've been very happy with this "tweak".


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## das müffin mann (Apr 2, 2008)

i would stick it in an external enclosure and back up some files on that bee-otch, that and it could be very handy having an 80gb portable drive


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## das müffin mann (Apr 2, 2008)

edit: posted twice


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 2, 2008)

AKA_Dawg said:


> I would format it fat32 and put your xp page file on it. I've been very happy with this "tweak".



I was just about to suggest this myself but it seems you beat me to the crunch 

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+1 with the page file it has a 50/50 chance of totally *wrecking your HDD over time since XP is gonna be doing a lodda reading & writing from it (pagefile shit) dependant on how intensively u use your pc but if u dont really care then thats fine.

*wrecking = wearing your hard drive out


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## Conti027 (Apr 2, 2008)

id throw it at someone, but thats me


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## FreedomEclipse (Apr 2, 2008)

Conti027 said:


> id throw it at someone, but thats me


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