Hi group.
With all the computers being scrapped, there must be literally thousands of useless HDD's dumped every week in the UK alone.
So, things to do with them.
1) Maglev (take off heads, use one of the actuator magnets) 2) Hard drive speakers (see Afrotech's site for this one) 3) Novelty paperweight (take off lid, fill with casting resin) 4) Novelty keyring (old Microdrives work well for this) 5) Exhibit in computer museum 6) Drive failure mode analysis 7) Send back to manufacturer and get new drive under warranty 8) Strip down for useful connectors and SMD tantalums 9) Bulk sell the PCB's on Ebay for data recovery purposes 10) Sell them on Ebay for £0.99 each as "Faulty" :) 11) Fix them with Spinrite 6.0 and sell as refurbished drives 12) Stress relief (spin up to insane RPM and hit with hammer) 13) Novelty doorbell (put button in centre of platter) 14) Doorstop 15) Pack with Thermite and light it to see how much is left of drive 16) Maglev train (same principle as *1 but a row of them) 17) Miniature centrifuge (take off platters, add tube carrier unit) 18) Time capsule (write data, seal in durable case then bury in concrete) 19) Laser scanner (glue mirrors to the spindle motor/actuator arm) 20) Tesla Turbine (nice flat platters- might work!) 21) Spin-coating machines 22) Gyroscopes for small satellites 23) Ultra-high RPM sanding machines 24) CD Destroyer (fix CD clamp to spindle motor and pin to head arm) 25) Strip spindle motors out, and use for small R/C helicopters 26) High efficiency motors for solar water pumps 27) Attach propellors and use as wind turbinesPlease add to this :)
-A "Bother" said Pooh, as his Geiger counter went off the scale...