Question Converting a laptop's hard drive to an external one ?

[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

 

[Misgar]

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

Yes. Some external hard disks are housed in shock-resistant, drop proof/water proof cases, to reduce the likelihood of accidental damage.
https://www.amazon.com/LaCie-Rugged-External-Portable-LAC9000298/dp/B00IRV005E

Portable drives containing spinning disks are still more likely to suffer damage than portable SSDs with no mechanical moving parts inside.

I moved over several years ago from WD and Seagate 4TB 2.5" USB3 portable laptop drives to Crucial X6 SSDs (now available as faster X9 and X10). The prices of SSDs is coming down, but they may still be more expensive per GB than some spinning disks.

I have two questions:

1- Is this safe?

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

1). In my estimation, portable spinning disk drives are not as safe as portable SSDs when it comes to shock resistance. When a spinning hard disk is running, it's more susceptible to permanent damage (head crash) from bumps and knocks.

However, if an SSD dies completely on you, it's highly unlikely you'll get any data back. A recovery agency might be able to retrieve some/most/all your files from a dead spinning disk drive, if the platters are intact.

2). Sometimes you only get a 2-year warranty with a USB3 spinning hard disk, but a 3-year warranty with exactly the same model when bought as a separate item. In part, you're paying for a longer warranty. Also, a manufacturer can offload excess stock in USB enclosures, that aren't selling well as external drives.

When buying portable drives for "shucking" you can't be certain of the exact disk model number inside, until you interrogate the drive. You might get an Enterprise class drive (a real bargain) or a commercial drive with known life expectancy issues. You take pot luck with USB drives.

I've had good results with Inateck USB enclosures with SATA hard disks and SSDs.
https://inateck.com/collections/har...losure-with-usb-3-2-6gbps-transmission-fe2014

Inateck enclosures usually come with UASP.
https://www.minitool.com/lib/uasp.html

I've also tried a few AliExpress USB SATA enclosures for $3 or less. They are cheap and flimsy. No guarantee as to how long they'll work.

When travelling around over bumpy rough roads in Jeeps, I feel happier with portable SSDs in my luggage instead of HDDs, but I still make multiple copies of all files on at least 3 different drives. In addition, a couple of Crucial X6 SSDs are much lighter than a pair of 4TB Seagate HDDs.