An ultra-miniature hard disk from Hitachi Global Systems. The Microdrive was developed and introduced by IBM in 1998 and acquired by Hitachi in 2002. The Microdrive uses a single platter the size of an American quarter that holds up to 8GB. Using one or two GMR heads, the entire mechanism is built into a Type II CompactFlash form factor.
Size Matters
The tiny elements inside such a small drive offer quite an advantage. Because the actuator has 50 times less inertia than one used in a larger drive, it can ramp up to full speed in half a second. As a result, the drive can stop spinning when data are not being accessed, which conserves power in handheld devices. See actuator and CompactFlash.
The Microdrive
While solid state devices continue to amaze us, the Microdrive is a marvel of electromechanical technology. The platter stops rotating to conserve power, but can ramp up to full speed in half a second.
Size Matters
The tiny elements inside such a small drive offer quite an advantage. Because the actuator has 50 times less inertia than one used in a larger drive, it can ramp up to full speed in half a second. As a result, the drive can stop spinning when data are not being accessed, which conserves power in handheld devices. See actuator and CompactFlash.
The Microdrive
While solid state devices continue to amaze us, the Microdrive is a marvel of electromechanical technology. The platter stops rotating to conserve power, but can ramp up to full speed in half a second.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Sanmaxi Memory Card Data Recovery 5.0.1 (Windows)
- Memory card data recovery software recovers your deleted files, folders from all major types of digital multimedia memory cards and supports all major brands of cards like MMC, xD Picture Card, MicroDrive, MicroSD, MiniSD, Compact Flash. It supports all digital media brands including Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Konica, Fuji, Sony, Samsung,...
- Software downloads 2009-10-01
- Flash File Recovery 4.2 build 320 (Windows)
- Need a sure solution for recovering lost, corrupted or accidentally deleted photographs? Flash File Recovery is a 100% risk-free application that salvages images from digital cameras or flash memory cards. The program first scans selected storage media, identifying all recoverable photographs. It then displays them as thumbnails. After you register...
- Software downloads 2009-06-04
- PixFix 3.5 build 8078 (Windows)
- PixFix--free photo recovery software (for images up to 1mb) will recover lost corrupted or deleted photos from hard disks, cameras, USB memory sticks and media cards, even when they've been reformatted or corrupted. A low cost upgrade ($9.95) is available to recover the largest of photos and also unlocks the...
- Software downloads 2009-05-04
- CardRecovery 5.20 (Windows)
- CardRecovery is a photo recovery software for digital memory card used by digital camera. It can effectively recover lost, deleted, corrupted or formatted photos from various memory cards. It supports most memory card types including SmartMedia, Compact Flash CF, Secure Digital Card SD, Memory Stick, MicroDrive, xD Picture Card, Multimedia...
- Software downloads 2009-02-15
- Flash Recovery Toolbox 1.0.7 (Windows)
- The software is designed to recover files deleted from removable media and hard drives with the FAT file system. Software recovers deleted data from the following removable media: -Secure Digital Card SD cards -xD Picture Card -CompactFlash (type I/II) CF cards -Sony Memory Stick -Multimedia Card MMC cards -PC Card...
- Software downloads 2009-01-30
- FlashPhoenix Photo Recovery 2.1 (Windows)
- Need a sure solution for recovering lost, corrupted or accidentally deleted photographs? FlashPhoenix Photo Recovery is a 100% risk-free application that salvages images from digital cameras or flash memory cards. The program first scans selected storage media, identifying all recoverable photographs. It then displays them as thumbnails. After you register...
- Software downloads 2008-11-10
- TestDisk & PhotoRec 6.10 (Windows)
- TestDisk is a powerful data recovery utility. It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error such as accidentally erasing your Partition Table. PhotoRec is file data recovery software...
- Software downloads 2008-07-29
- PowerDrive 425 (Mobile)
- PowerDrive is an application for PalmOne LifeDrive devices that will allow you to repartition your device to have a bigger RAM area or a bigger internal drive area. It will also allow use of ANY other CF card instead of the original microdrive for size and speed improvements, naturally. To...
- Software downloads 2008-07-27
- ZT Affinity 7221Xa
- The $600 ZT Affinity 7221Xa is the cheaper sibling of the recently reviewed ZT Affinity 7225Xi-35. Its fixed configuration includes most of what we expect to find in a system in this price range. Like the 7225Xi-35, the 7221Xa is geared toward those who need a simple desktop with basic...
- Product reviews 2008-07-17
- CardRaider 2.0.3 (Mac)
- You have found the easiest and most affordable way to recover deleted photos and movies from your digital camera, memory card or thumb drive. CardRaider's familiar Mac OS X interface makes it simple to detect and unerase lost pictures. Instant electronic order fulfillment means that your photos will be...
- Software downloads 2008-07-08
- Repair of my HTC Advantage Part 6
- I’ve posted a number of times about how the microdrive in my HTC Advantage did a magic act. It would appear and disappear from the system configuration which really confused Windows Mobile 6 and made my life a bit more difficult than it needed to be. I provided an update...
- Blog posts 2008-06-28
- Repair of my HTC Advantage Part 5
- I've posted a number of times about how the microdrive in my HTC Advantage did a magic act. It would appear and disappear from the system configuration which really confused Windows Mobile 6 and made my life a bit more difficult than it needed to be. I provided an update...
- Blog posts 2008-06-24
- Repair of my HTC Advantage Part 1
- While traveling over the weekend, I had the interesting experience of having the microdrive in my HTC Advantage die. This post is likely to be the first in a series chronicling my experiences with HTC's customer service. So far, so bad. As a bit of background, the Advantage had...
- Blog posts 2008-06-04
- Canon Selphy CP760
- The CP760 is Canon's latest addition to their Selphy line of portable photo printers. This particular model is a no-frills, basic printer aimed at families, children, and otherwise nontechy folks who want to print their digital photos but don't care to deal with a desktop inkjet. We had a lot...
- Product reviews 2008-05-28
- Review: HTC Advantage X7510 with 16GB flash drive, haptics keyboard and Windows Mobile 6.1
- Review: HTC Advantage X7510 with 16GB flash drive, haptics keyboard and Windows Mobile 6.1CDMAWill this be available in CDMA via Sprint?video drivers?I read Mr. Miller's review of the new HTC Advantage X7510 with great interest, because I own an X7501.I was hoping the article would discuss the problems users of...
- Discussion threads 2008-05-22
- Review: HTC Advantage X7510 with 16GB flash drive, haptics keyboard and Windows Mobile 6.1
- The most powerful Windows Mobile device I ever evaluated was the HTC Advantage X7501 that was released back in August of 2007 and I wrote quite an extensive review that was my most viewed blog post of 2007. The successor to the Advantage X7501, the X7510, was announced at Mobile...
- Blog posts 2008-05-22
- Mobius Seattle 2008; First impressions of the HTC Advantage X7510
- As I stated in my Mobius Seattle 2008 Day one post eric lin from HTC gave each one of the attendees the new HTC Advantage 7510 device. These may not come to the U.S. due to Qualcomm import issues, but you will be able to pick them up from U.S....
- Blog posts 2008-05-15
- DiskInternals Flash Recovery 3.8 (Windows)
- DiskInternals Flash Recovery is a flash memory file recovery tool that every digital camera owner should have handy. Essentially, this program is a “first aid kitâ€? for digital photographers and comes to the rescue at the exact moment when it’s needed. Unfortunately, photos are often accidentally deleted or lost...
- Software downloads 2008-05-12
- RescuePro Deluxe 4.2 (Windows)
- RescuePro Deluxe is an easy-to-use application that recovers images, movies, sound files, documents, mail, videos, music and more. Recover data even if files were deleted, lost, corrupted or formatted. The wizard driven, user-friendly graphic interface makes it easy to recover your files with just a few mouse clicks. This software...
- Software downloads 2008-04-19
- MediaRECOVER 4.0.0.9 (Mac)
- MediaRECOVER is a digital photo and data recovery program for the Mac OS X operating system. The program recovers lost photos, audio, and video from removable media used in digital cameras, PDA's, cellular phones, etc used on your Apple computer. Common media types supported by the program are: SmartMedia ,...
- Software downloads 2008-03-05
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online - Free Six-Month Trial for Eligible Organizations
-
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online provides fast online access, simple contact management and better sales performance for a low monthly cost - the best value on the market today.
- Learn more about the free, six-month trial offer>>
- Learn more about tools to grow your business
-
The Business Essentials Guide provides you useful tools and templates to help grow your business and save you time with automated shipping solutions.
- Save time with the UPS Business Essentials Guide
- Reduce risk. Reduce complexity. Increase reliability.
-
A simplified IT environment isn't just less complex. It's also more reliable. Standardize on a single Linux platform with SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell, and get the world's most interoperable Linux
- Learn more >>
- The best support in the Linux business
-
If Linux is going to power your mission-critical applications, you'd better have the best support known to business. Novell was rated the top provider of Linux technical support.
- Learn more >>
-
-
Smart Tech
Expert advice on innovations in healthcare and the green technologies that make it happen.
Find out more
-
Smart Business
Discussion and advice on management issues that revolve around making your world smarter and more useful.
More Smart Advice
-
Smart People
The best and worst moves in the management and strategy trenches.
Learn More
