About this tag
The sata hard drives tag on WindowsForum.com collects discussion about reusing older spinning disks in practical Windows setups. A recent thread looks at repurposing 1TB and 2TB SATA drives for cold storage, covering Windows SMART tests, checksums, and backup rules for data accessed only occasionally. The emphasis is on treating such drives as a convenient extra copy rather than a primary archive, with separate 3-2-1 backups still in place. Readers interested in giving spare SATA hard drives a second life, checking their health, or planning low-cost storage will find relevant guidance here.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Repurpose Old SATA Hard Drives for Cold Storage: Windows SMART Tests, Checksums and Backup Rules

    You probably have a 1TB or 2TB hard drive sitting in a drawer, and it may be more useful than you'd guess. In a new XDA Developers column, Ty Sherback explains how he moved years of Counter-Strike demos, video clips, game backups and save files onto two old SATA hard drives, one 1TB and one 2TB...