ReCycle Old Computer Hard Drives?

[jmoores]

Hi All,

Not sure where to post, but I would like to use old computer hard drives (ie a 160GB Seagate that i pulled out of my home file server when I upgraded it to 320GB).

Questions:

1) Is this advisable at all?
2) What are the specs that the hard drive must have (ie PATA/IDE or SATA, 5200 vs 7200 rpm, cache size, etc)?
3) Are there any brands of stock hard drives that work better than others?
4) What should I use to format the hard drives or with InstantCake format the hard drives (I am assuming that the TIVO Hard Drive are LINUX?)?
5) What else should I know, and where is a good source to find out what I don't know (ie the detail tech specs...)?

Jim Moores :confused:

[classicsat]

1. Experts may say not. I have a drive I was using as storage (although sporadic, in a USB case).
2. PATA for Series 1/2, SATA for Series 3/TiVoHD. Other specs don't really matter. Most computer drives will exceed TiVos requirements.
3. I favor Samsung and WD.
4. MFSLive, if you have working system drives.

[ForrestB]

I wouldn't put a recycled hard drive in a Tivo. Since Tivo drives are writing/reading 24/7 - they get hammered a lot more than you typical PC hard drive. I'd expect a new Tivo hard drive to wear out in 5 years - you'll get less life from one that's already got thousands of hours on it.

[scandia101]

I wouldn't put a recycled hard drive in a Tivo. Since Tivo drives are writing/reading 24/7 - they get hammered a lot more than you typical PC hard drive. I'd expect a new Tivo hard drive to wear out in 5 years - you'll get less life from one that's already got thousands of hours on it.

You wouldn't, but many people do. Just like brand new drives, some have problems after a short while and others seem to run forever.