Can an external hard drive storage be converted to the main drive?

[trevor2clever9]

I'm wondering if there's a way to put all the storage in my external drive to the main drive. I was just wondering if it was possible, not sure if I'm sounding really dumb right now. I ask because I seem to remember being able to do this with flash drives if I'm not wrong.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, trevor2clerver9! Welcome to tom's hardware and Happy New Year!!! 😀

[strike]What you are asking about is possible, but you'd have to know a few things before you try that out. Basically external drives are the same as 2.5" (like the drives used in laptops for example) internal drives in an external enclosure. They use SATA connections as well, so you should be able to connect them to your motherboard just as any other internal drive.
However, you should know that taking a drive out of its original enclosure would most probably void its warranty. Also, some manufacturers use proprietary connectors, which would make it impossible for you to connect the drive internally or use it with any other external enclosure, besides the one it came with. Another thing you should take into account, is that if the external drive has hardware encryption, the data will be inaccessible without the HDD's original enclosure.
So if you decide to do that, please do so at your own discretion.[/strike]

edit It seems like I've made a terrible mistake, for which I'm sorry. I thought you meant to use an external drive as an internal one. I don't know how I've missed the flash drive part. If the external drive is always connected or has the same letter, you could even set your default download path of your browser to a folder on your external HDD, or simply copy-paste the data.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[photonboy]

Yes.

If you want to move files onto the main drive then you simply COPY (or CUT) and PASTE those files into a suitable folder on the main drive. Provided there's enough space on the drive there is no problem.

(I could discuss "what if" scenarios but just try it and see if you can copy the files)

 

[trevor2clever9]

Yes.

If you want to move files onto the main drive then you simply COPY (or CUT) and PASTE those files into a suitable folder on the main drive. Provided there's enough space on the drive there is no problem.

(I could discuss "what if" scenarios but just try it and see if you can copy the files)

Sorry for the late response, but I was also wondering, if I copied my steamapps folder to the external drive, is it safe to delete that folder from the main drive? Would I have to put the entire Steam folder in the external drive?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well, if I were you, I'd first check the whole procedure on moving Steam and Steam games to a different location. If everything's done right, you should be OK. Here's how to do that: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129

 

[photonboy]

Well, if I were you, I'd first check the whole procedure on moving Steam and Steam games to a different location. If everything's done right, you should be OK. Here's how to do that: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129

Saving the Steamapps folder works just fine to prevent downloading the games again (though your Save Games are mostly in the "Documents" or "Documents-> My Games" folders so I copy my entire Documents folder then move stuff back as needed.)

The link is probably right, but I did this:

1. Move Steamapps folder to another drive
2. Reinstall Windows
3. Reinstall Steam and login, then close again
4. Move Steamapps folder back (or create an additional Steam folder to another drive and move the Steamapps folder there instead; done via "Stream->Settings-> Downloads-> Steam library folders)
5. Start Steam
6. Verify each games contents before starting (right-click game-> properties-> local files-> verify integrity of game cache
7. Move back game saves if needed