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    Transform internal HD to external HD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by HandBanana, Sep 15, 2007.

  1. HandBanana

    HandBanana Notebook Consultant

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    well i took apart my old computer because it was crap and very very slow. plus i was very bored and was tired of playing games. so i decided to take apart the whole computer haha.

    everything in it a piece of crap. the only thing that i thought might be useful is the hard drive. i think it's only 20GB but w/e. i wanna do this just to learn and experiment.

    so how do i transform this baby into an external hard drive? what tools would i need? what will i have to buy?

    btw my old computer was a comaq. first desktop ever in my household. dad bought for me in 5th grade, so like 8 years ago. graphics card was something crappy, probably integrated 32MB and RAM was like 128MB -__-
     
    HandBanana, Sep 15, 2007
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  2. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Desktop or laptop compu ?
     
    wearetheborg, Sep 15, 2007
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  3. HandBanana

    HandBanana Notebook Consultant

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    i took it out of a desktop. i wanna make it an external hard drive for a laptop. is that possible? and if so how can i do it?
     
    HandBanana, Sep 15, 2007
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  4. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

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    you can buy an external inclosure from a store and just pop the drive in. however, i wouldnt recommend this as the enclosures cost more than your drive is worth. you would be better off spending a bit more and getting a much larger external hard drive already made.
     
    nizzy1115, Sep 15, 2007
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  5. chesieofdarock

    chesieofdarock Notebook Deity

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    not really i got a full metal hd enclosure for the 60gb hd from my old hp for $5 on newegg.com
    I would reccomend you just get one of those
     
    chesieofdarock, Sep 15, 2007
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  6. HandBanana

    HandBanana Notebook Consultant

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    okay so i buy a hard drive enclosure and then what? what else do i need besides that and do i have to install or something?
     
    HandBanana, Sep 15, 2007
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  7. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Link ?

    OP - make sure to get a 3.5" or 5.25" enclosure. the 2.5" are for laptop HDDs. The 3.5" ones usualy go for 20-40$

    OP - I agree with others in that 20GB is just worth salvaging, with the overhead of external enclosures. If you minimise the $/GB, it be best to get newer higher capacity HDD and put that in the external enclosure.

    Nothing to install, I think you have to set the HDD jumper (a pin) to master - check with the enclsoure instructions. And thats it (and maybe format the HDD if new)
     
    wearetheborg, Sep 16, 2007
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  8. HandBanana

    HandBanana Notebook Consultant

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    okay cool thanks. my friend's old desktop died on him or something. new power supply didnt solve the issue. it just wouldnt turn on. so he's gonna take his old hard drive and make it into an external so he can get all the stuff.

    so a 3.5" is good rite?
     
    HandBanana, Sep 16, 2007
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  9. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yup, a 3.5" or a 5.25" are good.
     
    wearetheborg, Sep 16, 2007
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