Question Converting a laptop hard drive into an external hard drive

[hack3rcon]

Hello,
Instead of buying an external hard drive, you can convert a laptop hard drive into an external hard drive with a conversion box, which is more cost-effective. Is this the right thing to do?

Thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

Hello,
Instead of buying an external hard drive, you can convert a laptop hard drive into an external hard drive with a conversion box, which is more cost-effective. Is this the right thing to do?

Thank you.

1. What will you do with the laptop, now that it no longer has a drive?

2. Be prepared to completely reformat the drive. Very often, the USB enclosure uses different sector sizes than an internal drive.

 

[hack3rcon]

1. What will you do with the laptop, now that it no longer has a drive?

2. Be prepared to completely reformat the drive. Very often, the USB enclosure uses different sector sizes than an internal drive.

Hello,
Thank you so much for your reply.
To save money, I want to buy a laptop hard drive and convert it into an external desktop hard drive via a USB enclosure. I have two questions:

1- Is this safe?

2- Why are hard drives that are already manufactured externally more expensive?

 

[USAFRet]

Hello,
Thank you so much for your reply.
To save money, I want to buy a laptop hard drive and convert it into an external desktop hard drive via a USB enclosure. I have two questions:

1- Is this safe?

2- Why are hard drives that are already manufactured externally more expensive?

So not a drive from a laptop, just another bare 2.5" drive
Correct?

2- Why are hard drives that are already manufactured externally more expensive?

They are often LESS expensive.
What is available in your market?
What capacity are you looking at, and what is your budget?

 

[TerryLaze]

Also keep your expectations in check, even though usb 3.1 is very fast it's not going to be as fast as an internal drive and you can mostly only use it for storage, installing anything on them is doable but can have issues.

 

[hack3rcon]

So not a drive from a laptop, just another bare 2.5" drive
Correct?


They are often LESS expensive.
What is available in your market?
What capacity are you looking at, and what is your budget?

Yes. A 1TB Mobile HDD SATA.

All brands are available, but converting a hard drive via a USB enclosure is cheaper. I wanted to know if this is safe?

 

[USAFRet]

Examples:
1TB WD Blue Internal
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-1TB-Mobile-Hard-Drive/dp/B071F9MLJJ
$50

2TB Seagate External
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Portable-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B07CRG94G3
$70



But they are pretty much the same physical drive, inside the enclosure.
Yes, it is "safe".

 

[hack3rcon]

Examples:
1TB WD Blue Internal
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-1TB-Mobile-Hard-Drive/dp/B071F9MLJJ
$50

2TB Seagate External
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Portable-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B07CRG94G3
$70



But they are pretty much the same physical drive, inside the enclosure.
Yes, it is "safe".

Can we say that hard drives that are already built as external drives have any special features?

 

[USAFRet]

Can we say that hard drives that are already built as external drives have any special features?

No they do not.

I've shucked a 8TB drive from an external enclosure, and it was exactly the same drive as if I had bough it on its own.
Seagate 8TB, now 6 years old.

 

[hack3rcon]

No they do not.

I've shucked a 8TB drive from an external enclosure, and it was exactly the same drive as if I had bough it on its own.
Seagate 8TB, now 6 years old.

Perhaps the type of HDD case produced by famous companies is better.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Can we say that hard drives that are already built as external drives have any special features?

Not all external drives can be used as internal drives.
Some external drives have integrated USB controller. Those can not be connected with sata cables.

 

[USAFRet]

Perhaps the type of HDD case produced by famous companies is better.

Well, I wouldn't buy a no name case OR drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Perhaps the type of HDD case produced by famous companies is better.

Give us some examples of the devices you are looking to buy.
Links, please.

 

[hack3rcon]

Well, I wouldn't buy a no name case OR drive.

Well, if the hard drive is made by a well-known company and the converter case is good, then there's no problem.

 

[hack3rcon]

Give us some examples of the devices you are looking to buy.
Links, please.

Something like:

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Mobile-Laptop-Drive-128MB/dp/B01BVS75MK

https://a.co/d/iRPRVAY

 

[USAFRet]

Something like:

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Mobile-Laptop-Drive-128MB/dp/B01BVS75MK

https://a.co/d/iRPRVAY

I know nothing about that external thing, so probably would not buy it.

Internals:
WD Blue, 2TB - $74
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-2TB-Mobile-Hard-Drive/dp/B079BQS5WQ

Toshiba 2TB - $77
https://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HDWL120XZSTA-Laptop-Internal-Height/dp/B07CT5RDDX



Externals:
Seagate 2TB, $70
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Portable-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B07CRG94G3

WD Elements, 2TB, $80
https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-Portable-External/dp/B06W55K9N6