Making a window for your hard drive... Just because

eHow version Here: http://www.ehow.com/how_5155826_make-clear-cover-hard-drive.html

I don’t know about you, but every time I hear the hard drive on my computer working, I want to know exactly what its doing. Sure, I’ve seen the stock pictures of a hard drive that come on every box, but a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to see the real thing. My interest had stemmed from an obscure reference to customized, see-through hard drives, and now that I had a few friends to help me, I could really try this.

Forget that. Throw out the obscure reference and the friends, because they didn’t help anyway. It was the impulse of the moment, and the lack of things to do that really prompted me to try this. It took two nights, a ruined hard drive, and some Plexiglas to achieve the effect I craved. Without a doubt, if I do this again, it won’t be without some serious changes. Read on and I’ll show you how I did it.

The first thing we need to do is understand how the hard drive works in the first place. Many of us know that computers store data in 1s and 0s, but our knowledge doesn’t go much past that. Since this hub isn’t about how a computer works, it will suffice to say that those 1s and 0s are stored on the hard drive for the long term. Every one of your programs, like Microsoft Word and Excel, as well as your videos and pictures, are stored in long, miniscule string of 1s and 0s on the surface of a spinning disk inside your hard drive. The information is stored magnetically, and a sensor, called the read/write head, is able to determine what is written there. Since the disk typically spins at several thousand rpm, and the read/write head sits only 3 nanometers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_read-and-write_head) above the disk itself, it is imperative to treat the disk with care, especially when you are ripping it open, like us.

One more warning: if you ever had any warranty on your hard drive, this action will completely void the warranty. Also, do not do this to any disk that you have stored or will be storing important information on. It is very risky, and the final product is only intended for pretty eye candy, although you can take your own chances with installing programs on it.

So by now you should have a hard drive that you want to customize. I certainly gave you enough time (and warning!). The first thing to do is decide where you want this clear window. I chose to cut a hole in the top cover of my hard drive, but others have replaced the entire cover, although this can be trickier. Either way, the first thing to do is remove the cover of the hard drive.

There should be anywhere from four to eight screws holding the top cover to the base. The disk itself is fastened to the base, so removing the cover should have no ill effects. However, some drives do have an extra screw or two attached to the top cover, so you’ll have to take your chances with that. Mine did, but it didn’t turn out to be a big deal.

Once you have the cover off, hide the rest of the drive somewhere that no human, dog, cat, or brother can get at it, because even the smallest bit of dirt or dust can ruin the disk. That’s also why you shouldn’t touch it or fiddle with it.

Now the real work comes. Somehow, you have to cut a hole in the top cover, and replace it with Plexiglas. Since this is the way I did it, I won’t be giving advice on how to replace the entire cover with Plexiglas, although you may consider that a better effect.

It is recommended that while you do this, you don’t have two awfully bored friends hanging around. Believe me, I know. While I was trying to decide how to cut out the hole in the hard drive cover, they were stapling things left right and center with reckless abandon, like they’d never seen a staple gun before.

I did come up with a decent solution, however. What worked for me was to drill a hole in the cover, well inside of where I wanted the hole to be, and then cut out the hole with a scroll saw or jig saw equipped with a metal cutting blade. I used the scroll saw, and produced my hole in the top without too much trouble.

The next part involves Plexiglas, so you’ll need to buy some. You can usually get this at a typical hardware store, and for a job this size, it’s not very expensive at all.

What we need to do now is cut out a piece of Plexiglas that matches the hole we cut in the top of the hard drive. This can be done fairly painlessly by using a permanent marker and tracing the hole onto the plastic that covers the Plexiglas. It’s important to remember that you’ll need a piece bigger than the hole, so draw another line a half inch or so outside of the traced line.

Now, you need to take that outside line and cut along it. You can do this with a band saw, scroll saw, or jig saw, whatever works best for you. I found that the band saw worked the best for me, so that might be a good place to start. While you cut the Plexiglas, try to keep the work piece clamped very well, or held tightly. Plexiglas is very brittle, and too much vibration will shatter the piece, ruining you work. Trust me. I know.

With my hard drive, I had to cut two holes in the Plexiglas, to mount the screws that originally attached to the top cover. If you need to do this as well, make sure you use a smaller bit first, and then move to your larger bit. Also, keep the drill turning fast, but only put slight pressure on the Plexiglas, or it will shatter.

Now it’s time to attach the Plexiglas window to the top cover. Listen up. This is important! Do NOT use superglue. Superglue leaves a residue on surface anywhere near it, and there are two surfaces that you do not want that residue on. First, your Plexiglas is supposed to be clear, not white with superglue. Second, your hard drive will be ruined if you have superglue drying anywhere near it.

Yes, that’s how I ruined my hard drive. However, I did redo it, and although it still doesn’t store anything, I can watch the read/write head move back and forth over the disk, so I’m happy. For now.

What works great for attaching the clear cover is clear silicon adhesive. I used the stuff that is intended for building aquariums, because that’s what was the cheapest. It dries pretty quickly, and creates a great bond that doesn’t look anything like the superglue. You do have to be careful though, that you don’t get the glue where you don’t want it to be, like on the clear cover. No, I didn’t make that mistake myself (finally!) but I am warning you.

After the window is attached, and the glue dried, you can go find that hidden base, that should still be safe from dirt and dust. Attach the now-completed cover with Plexiglas window, and screw it down tight. You should be good to go!

(You can unchain the little brother and let the friends out of their cages now.)