I want a used hard drive - Advice?

I Need: hard drive for storage of non-essential files. 8gb to 15 gb .

Want: advice on where to buy one online or from someone on this forum board.

It can be slow (5200 rpm) b/c I run my programs on a 45gb 7200rpm drive that suits me fine and is only half full. I simply wish to be protected in case of a malicious virus or power surge or if my 45 giger goes "Boom!"

My only question is, should I avoid used drives? Will they die out like my old 4 giger did last year? I think used will be the best way to go for a use like this where I will only access the drive occasionally to read/write backup files.

 

Not quite the advice you were seeking, but have you thought of using Norton Ghost or DriveImage?

Daizy

 

You might want to consider either a pull out HD bay or an external HDD case. - In either of these the drives would only be active when attacked/installed so they wouldn't be running up hours while not really being used.

Also a removeable is more likely to survive a virus attack since its not available...

 

the problem with removable drives is that they're so expensive. and as far as norton ghost is concerned, i'd rather burn to cds than keep an image of my hd on ... my hd.

i just HAVE TO BELIEVE that there are thousands of 13 gig hds floating around on people's old 400mhz systems that are being phased out. where do they all go? surely someone is collecting and selling them!

 

Hi.

Actually removable drives are only $7.00. Well, $14.00 with shipping but if you buy more than one the shipping per unit is much less.

Check here.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=GN210

You have to buy the hard drive to put in this removable tray but any IDE hard drive of any size will fit one of these trays. Four screws like normal and it's mounted. I run my entire system with removable hard drives, even the C: drive. I can switch drives and boot any system I want on a completely different hard drive. They are perfect for transporting large amounts of data between home and work. Also for offline backup. Just write the data and pull the tray and put it on the shelf.

There's a blank tray in the computer. A hard drive is mounted in an insert unit and it inserts in the tray in the computer. Works perfectly. A key turns it on and off. All my hard drives are mounted in the trays.

These are hot-swapable but you have to reboot so the system can recognize the hard drive and get the size, etc. Just insert it before you boot and turn the key. I have used these with all OSs up to and including XP. These are NOT OS dependent. They are just another IDE drive mounted in the system.

 

Old, used hard disks are inherently closer to failure than a new one. Since data loss is what you are attempting to avoid, why would you want to use an old, used drive as your only backup?

New 80-Gig drives can be had for about $90 and removable drive bays can be had for under $20.

 

Actually "giles" hit my point on the nose. - I bought a dozen of the earlier version of those trays - no fans, intended for 5400 rpm drives for $2.95 ea.

And the points about used drives are correct, they have hours on them. Size vrs price the best deals are for the 5400 or 7200 rpm drives in the 60 - 100Gb range, and they may cost the same as a drive of less than 20Gb capacity.

Why buy used when you can get new (with warranty) for about the same price.

 

I guess I just want a used one b/c I'll almost never be accessing it - and the odds of BOTH drives failing at the same time are slim.

Besides, I'm a poooooor student !!! My hope is to buy a 10 giger for 10-20 dollars - much less than the 90 gigs are going for. besides, I have no use for that much more storage space.

Those removable bays look neat, I might consider those someday...