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How Do You Use Your Spare Drive Bays? 135

Posted by Cliff from the getting-the-most-from-that-extra-space dept.
red_flea asks: "I've got a couple of CDROM bays that I'm not using. Besides another CD or DVD ROM drive, what else can you put there? I know some people who use that space to cool their Cheetah or Raptor drives. Anything else? Please reply with gratuitous linking to products, articles or modder blogs."
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How Do You Use Your Spare Drive Bays? More

How Do You Use Your Spare Drive Bays?

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  • Sandwich Warmer (Score:4, Funny)

    by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:32AM (#13537265)

    Keeps my grilled cheese nice and tosty warm.

    • Re:Sandwich Warmer (Score:2, Insightful)

      by brohan ( 773443 )
      In the cold cannadian winter I use it to keep my fingertips from freezing.

      But on a more serious note; Using the drive bay for fan control is silly, there is software like SpeedFan that can do it for you. And at least for me hard drive cooling isn't an issue at all. Mine are always under 30C. Also, having a fan near the HDD bay would ruin the airflow that most PC's have.

  • I always wanted.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by \\ ( 118555 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:39AM (#13537329) Homepage
    I always wanted a fu-fme [fu-fme.com], but sadly they aren't OS X compatible. :(

    On a more serious note, I'm considering one of these [gearlive.com]to help convert the mounds and mounds of greek cassette tapes my parents have from the 60's. If only something like that existed for 8-tracks..

  • big fan (Score:1, Interesting)

    by flyneye ( 84093 )
    I jam a house current 110,3 in. fan in there. fastened with nuts and bolts to the drive space covers.seems to put much more air through than a dinky 12v.

  • E-Z Bake (Score:4, Funny)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) * on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:41AM (#13537338)
    If it can't be empty, you should definatly go with the "oven drive".

    http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/ezbake.shtml [thinkgeek.com]

  • wires (Score:3, Interesting)

    by myukew ( 823565 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:41AM (#13537342) Homepage
    I stuff all the wires which I don't need there. I hope that improves the air circulation...

  • Place holder (Score:4, Funny)

    by zenray ( 9262 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:41AM (#13537346) Journal
    I activatly use my spare drive spaces as place holders for future expansion points.

  • suspension (Score:5, Interesting)

    by alexo ( 9335 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:41AM (#13537350) Journal

    Well, you could suspend [silentpcreview.com] your 3.5" drives in a 5.25" cage to get rid of vibration (reducing noise).

    I was thinking of suspending a smallish 3.5" cage inside the 5.25" one.

    Anyone knows where one can get old, possibly broken, computers for free in the Toronto area for such experiments?

  • Sound Blaster Platinum (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lexarius ( 560925 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:42AM (#13537358)
    How about one of these [creative.com]?
    • Well I don't have the X-Fi, but I do have the Platinum. I think I used that drive bay thing once since I bought it (a year or two ago). Though the 7.1 speakers where great for playing Doom3 or Half-Life 2 (Ravenholm) in the dark!

  • Ideas (Score:3, Funny)

    by RealityMogul ( 663835 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:42AM (#13537362)
    Mini Fridge (if you have a very nice cooling system), otherwise you could use it to make beef jerky.
    Smoker? - Hummidor
    CD Storage - duh

    How about a drive bay book - about drive bays!

  • This is impossible. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pig Hogger ( 10379 ) <(moc.liamg) (ta) (reggoh.gip)> on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:48AM (#13537419) Journal
    This can't be. You cannot be a geek AND have a spare drive bay in your system.
    • Agreed.

      AND you can't be calling them "Spare cd-rom drive bays". That kinda' limits them to being filled by cd drives doesn't it. :)

      More seriously, _CRIKIES_ man. You can't ask someone "Hey dude... I wann'a ba a gekk. What can I stick in the empty slot so I can be ubercool". Also, If it involves any prepackaged item from Fries/CompUSA, you lose.

      What do _you_ want in there? What are _you_ inerested in?

      Dang man, be yourself.

    • That depends on how many bays your tower has. The poster says CDROM bays, should have said 5.25" bays. I have 4, one for my DVD+/-R, no need for another DVD/CD drive. Another bay has a 5.25" floppy drive for decrative purposes, still works. The third has a 9-in-1 removable/internal memory card reader. I havn't decided what to do with the last one. I have spare 3.5" drive mounting brackets so could put a zip drive there, also for decoration. I have two 200gb drives, nowhere near full(yet) so no need for ano

  • Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by CaptainPinko ( 753849 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:51AM (#13537434)

    I always thought it'd be awesome if I could get a raid-array for laptop harddrives. I figure if you inserted them vertically they'd only take two bays and you could probably fit 5 of them... not that I've ever seen that.

    But it would be realy nice, and what looks more 1337 than having redundant harddrives? With many nice large tower server cases with 5 or more drive bays open I think this could sell for the homeserver/self-hoste website crowd.

    Anyone know if this actually exists somewhere?

  • XT Harddisk. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Vo0k ( 760020 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:51AM (#13537435) Journal
    Storage: 5 megabytes
    Weight: 4 pounds,
    Spin-up sound: Impressive,
    Geekness factor: High,
    Power Usage: Excessive,
    Shutdown method: c:\dos\park.com,
    Interface: ISA card,
    Linux support: Yes,
    Windows support: No,
    Badsectors: Probably,
    Transfer rates: Who cares?
    • That was my first hard drive ever. Sent to a dumpster many years ago though.

      For the last 2 years of its life, I had to smack it on the faceplate while simultaneously flipping the power switch to get it to spin up.

      Still have an XT system in the attic though, but just a dual 5.25" floppy system, no HDD. Maybe in a couple hundred years it'll be a collectible.
  • I'm on a laptop you insensitive jerk!

    But if I had an extra drive bay and all the hard drive space I needed, I'd go with a tape deck.

    Alex.
  • I've thought about putting in those case clocks/temp guages/fans/etc, but I also kinda like the look of the bezel plate, and I don't want my machine making more noise (as a fan would necessarily do).

    You could try to stop (gasp!) adding to your machine.

  • An opening (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Monday September 12, 2005 @10:03AM (#13537521) Journal
    From time to time, I'll assemble a new old pc out of old parts and end up having a couple large openings left on the front of the system because I can't find the plastic covers for them. I'll just pretend it's good for airflow.

  • Yes, this is sick (Score:4, Funny)

    by RealityMogul ( 663835 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @10:08AM (#13537545)
    Ya know, its been a long running joke that geeks would marry their computers if they could.

    With that in mind, I propose making a drive bay mounting system for a fleshlight.

    Hey, at least it would be nice and warm all the time.
  • no content.
    • So? My HP Vectra doesn't have any normal size expansion bays. Didn't stop me from installing a 5.25inch DVD drive. A good drill and a file to make a hole large enough to stuff the wires through. Some strips of Velcro to attach the drive to computer frame. Works like a charme. Only downside is that I can't put the monitor on top of it anymore.
      Great way to make easy to upgrade hardware. Had a CD-rom drive on it first. Replacing it with the DVD drive took half a minute. No need for a screwdriver.

  • Four drive bays required. (Score:3, Funny)

    by infernalC ( 51228 ) <matthew@mellon.google@com> on Monday September 12, 2005 @10:20AM (#13537618) Homepage Journal
    If you have four drive bays available, may I hubly suggest kitticulture [bonsaikitten.com]? It's a wonderful hobby, and the space is just the right size for your project. The warmth of the CPU and the devices in the 3.5 inch bays will help your subject mature comfortably, and your PC will purr as never before! Mounting railas will help you to remove the project easily at maturity, and your pet can supply fluid to a liquid-cooling system for your CPU. Also, if you have available power leads from your PSU, you can help to stimulate muscle growth in your project while keeping the subject confined indefinitely.
  • I have used an empty removable ide caddie (with all the wiring removed) as a draw for storing jelly beans.

    Unfortunately the kilo (~2.2lb for you un-metric types out there) of Jelly Belly jelly beans only lasted until the morning of the third day in the office, so it was a jelly bean draw for only a short time...

    Bryn
  • ...one of those multiple flash card readers [tigerdirect.com] in a bay. Or a ramdisk.
  • I push floppies into my spare bay slot, and then call tech support to complain that my computer isn't working right...
  • Great for stats, gamers, and drivers works in linux!
    'nuff said [matrixorbital.ca]

  • I have a Mac Mini you insensive clod :p

    My P3 has 3 drive bays:
    1) DVD reader
    2) SCSI 4x CDR
    3) 3.5" drive in a 5.25" drive enclosure bay

    (I couldn't put the 3.5" floppy in the usual position because I have 3 hard disks)

    Once I put my 100MB Iomega Zip drive (external parallel-port) into an empty drive bay. It looked pretty ugly because the Zip drive I have is not nicely rectangular. But it did what I wanted at the time (less clutter, less cables, always available, freed power point).
  • You wanted links and pics, see here: http://www.themodwiki.org/index.php/External_Water _Cooling [themodwiki.org]

    I actually didn't have enough in case room, so I built an external water cooler.

    -Rick

  • Too basic... (Score:2, Informative)

    by vasqzr ( 619165 )

    I keep music CD's there.
  • With covers, they are called "Internal physical storage", without their cover they are called "Space reserved for ventilation purposes".

    In reality mine contain tapes, CD's, screwdrivers & whatever else should be very close to the computer without getting lost.
  • I fill em with more drives! 2 x 400 GB plus the superdrive.

  • 5 1/2" floppy (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mister_jpeg ( 46354 ) <jpgburroughs&hotmail,com> on Monday September 12, 2005 @11:36AM (#13538214) Homepage
    bonus points if it's hooked up.


    I love that these have a mechanical lever and they make mechanical farts when booting. Retro cool and functional.

    • Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      How do I fit the 5-1/2 inch floppy drive into my 5-1/4 inch drive bay?
    • I know you meant 5 1/4.

      Anyway, I hooked one into my system for a while and ripped images of old DOS disks I had lying around so as to presere them for the future. But one day I turned the power to my system back on after an outage and there was a flash of light, white smoke and the sweet smell of burnt silicon. The only thing that fried was the 5 1/4 floppy drive, so I count myself lucky.

    • Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2, Interesting)

      by 91degrees ( 207121 )
      A disk format with a maximum of 1.2MB storage is hardly all that useful in this day and age... Perhaps it would be possible to attach the cover to a DVD drive though (the type where you slide the disc into a slot), to get that retro look with modern functionality.
    • ahhh, good olde "B" drive, how I missed you.
      The drive itself is 5 7/8" I'll be cashing out those bonus points now. I'm starting to regret not getting the 5.25" 3.5" combo drive I saw at the Trenton Computer Festival, it would have went well with the Netgear 16port hub and the 486DX&SX chips.

    • Holy crap. My PC-XT drive matches my black case!

      That's going in!

      5 1/4" 360k DSDD here we come!

  • I like to fill my spare drive bays with these [yahoo.com] on my beige boxes, and these [xoxide.com] for my more modern and stylish systems. When these devices occupy your extra drive bays, you may have some money leftover when you find something useful to put in their place.

  • One of my systems has 4 drives mounted on 3.5" - 5.25" brackets, with a single 120mm fan in front of them; keeps them around 35c, which is a good deal better than the 50c badly ventilated drives seem to live at.

    The better solution is of course a case that doesn't suck and let your drives melt, but finding them can be tricky, especially when you want them to be fairly cheap and not suck in other ways.

  • Obligatory Reference (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ReverendLoki ( 663861 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @12:03PM (#13538458)
    I'm sort of surprised I haven't seen anyone mention the ubiquitous cup holder [thinkgeek.com] yet.

    Personally, i've always liked the idea of putting an LCD screen [earthlcd.com] that can pop out the front of your drive bay [logitec.co.jp]...

  • Small bottle of Sake, Warm Sake Good!

    Warm sake has been enjoyed in Japan for hundreds of years. Warm or hot sake is referred to in general as "kanzake." Warmth increases the effect of the alcohol in sake, which is probably why most westerners who have enjoyed warm sake say that it "packs a punch." In actual fact, most sake has about 18 percent alcohol, similar to most wines. The flavor of the sake is increased by heating, as is its dryness. Because of this dryness, warm or hot sake is the perfect companion
    • Interesting points about sake.

      But come on, most wine doesn't even go over 14% alcohol by volume. The difference between 14% and 18% is nearly as much as the difference between good Jack Daniels and crap [drunkard.com].

      So how much of the rest of what you're saying's true, and how much is BS?

      I've never been to Japan, but I once ate some tuna that was slightly undercooked, so that makes me an authority on calling you out, naturally.

      Aren't most sakes of quality (i.e. expensive) supposed to be served chilled?

  • Slap another computer in there. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by gklinger ( 571901 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @12:14PM (#13538558)
    Ever heard of the BriQ [beowulf.org]? (Picture [macobserver.com]) It's an entire PowerPC computer in a 5.25" drive form factor. Very cool. I'm not entirely sure if it is still available though as the link [terrasoftsolutions.com] I have bookmarked isn't coming up. Either way, I figured it warranted mentioning.
  • With these you can stick a 3.5" ATA or SATA HDD into a caddy which goes into a rack that fits in a 5.25" bay. These allow you to add/remove/swap drives without having to open up your case.

    Some allow hotswap. Some don't.

    Some are a bit flaky (but others are pretty reliable) so be warned - test first before you buy a whole bunch of them.
  • you could do this. [thermaltake.com]
  • I just looked up, and to my horrror I have a sand dollar sitting in the empty space above my CD drive.

    My grandfather's funeral notice is in there too...
  • ... which case has the most drive bays?
  • I like to impress people with my uber cool 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 combo floppy drive! Though I could never find one that would handle the 2.88 floppies!
    • If it's the combo I remember, it wouldn't write to 360k floppies either. It could read from them, but refused to write.

      Hell, even LS-120 drives won't do 2.88's. Good luck!
      • They write 360K floppies fine. It's just that because of the finer heads on the newer 1.2M drives, they write thinner tracks that 360K drives do not like. Reading them back from the combo drive (or another 1.2M drive works fine). But I have a 360K drive connected to a Catweasel card for writing REAL 360K disks! :)

  • Hiding presents. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Trixter ( 9555 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @03:35PM (#13540208) Homepage
    Seriously. I hide holiday and birthday presents in unused case space. My wife/kids would never even *think* of looking *inside my machines* for *any reason* as they aren't computer-savvy.

    Yes, I make sure nothing I put in there can melt/burn/dissolve/explode ;)

  • Nothing fancy in mine (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Piquan ( 49943 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @04:01PM (#13540436)
    While the cupholder+cig lighter, cassette deck, EZ-bake oven, etc are all cool, I go with some more practical stuff. First, I have a set of fans in one of my bays. The other bay holds dials to change the speed of my other fans.

    I'm serious about my cooling, but like to turn down the auxiliary fans when I'm watching a movie.

  • Car style 12V cigarette lighter
  • I last had empty drive bays on my Pentium III 800 system. I realized back then I didn't have a huge need for massive expansion in my desktop machine.

    After that, I went to a Shuttle XPC system. Plenty of internal space for what I need, and no wasted space. If I for some reason need more then 3 hard disks inside my box, it's probably time to add more space to the network server that sits in my basement instead of getting a bigger desktop case.
  • Don't you mean miniature 5.25" Hard Disk Bay?

    Err, wait... ...am I dating myself here?

    Ok, yes I once owned 5.25" 4MB MFM RLL drives. Shut up.

  • I don't have spare drive bays you insensi... oh. Wrong section.
  • On the non-OSS machne (needed for software that came with hardware such as the map transfer utility for the GPS) the OS cd with key (for audit), the motherboard CD, the flashcard reader driver, the EPROM burner CD, and other drivers CD's needed for system recovery.

    Keeping the CD's and keys with the machine makes a software audit easier. This copy and key are installed on this machine.

    It's like New Orleans.. It's not if the system will get hit hard, but when.

  • Drive bays: besides another CD or DVD ROM drive,

    what else can you put there? Anything else?

    In the mid 90's, the small British computer manufacturer Acorn (the company whose engineers originally invented the ARM Architecture [wikipedia.org]) wanted to demonstrate the adaptability of their case design [wikipedia.org].

    The stackable, expandable case, meant that a supposedly unlimited number of drive bays could be added - effectively a stand-alone rack for the home.

    Naturally, just adding a few extra drives is a bit deja vu, so instead,

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