If the drives are dead, I'd stick CF cards in them. You can get them cheap enough these days, even in sizes (8GB+) that are bigger than anything that came out in a mini. As long as you get an ATA/UDMA compatible card it should work. I run a SanDisk Extreme 16GB in mine, with that and the NewerTech battery I put in, I get great battery life. Just be very, very, very careful when taking it apart. Expecially when disconnecting/reconnecting things, and sliding the guts back in, lest you destroy the logic board. (as I did)