[1] It manufactured 5 and 10 megabyte "ruggedized" miniature hard drives for the laptop computer market.

"PrairieTek's single disk 40MB model, potentially a cost-effective competitive product, was...late to market.

This dynamic loading of the heads avoided the problem and was a carry over from a previous design used in 8 inch removable drives.

The company first went into the black in September 1990, at which point co-founder Steve Volk and the core group of engineers resigned to found Intégral Peripherals, to develop 1.8" drives.

The first round of layoffs started in February 1991, all production activity ceased at the end of June - and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 1991.