Use external hard drive inside laptop

[HisDudeness]

I'd wish to upgrade my Asus U36SG's internal drive, and put the original one in an external enclosure to use it via USB. I could buy an 2.5" HDD and a 2.5" tray separately to accomplish this. However, I've already got a WD My Passport 2.0TB external disk. I wish I could swap the two drives to save some bucks.

Problem number 1: can the WD20NMVW inside the My Passport fit into my U36SG? The drive is 1.4 cm tall

Problem number 2: the WD20NMVW, being engineered for being used inside the My Passport tray only, has got no SATA interface, but only an USB one (Micro-B). Is there any tiny adapter which can allow me to plug it into my U36SG's SATA input, all in the space made to accomodate a 2.5" drive?

 

[jbaker22]

It will work if you carefully remove the hdd for the enclosure. It does have sata inside.

 

[HisDudeness]

It will work if you carefully remove the hdd for the enclosure. It does have sata inside.

I opened it, but it doesn't seem to have it. Here's an image of it from the internet, as I do not want to remove it once again to take a photo, every time I slightly cosmetically damage the enclosure and risk breaking one pin.

 

[jbaker22]

I have never seen that weird connector. I am sorry I gave you a false hope, it does not work. If you can afford an ssd, I would recommend this samsung 850 evo. It is not as tall, so it will only work if the laptop has screws to mount it to a caddy. It is a few more dollars than the cheapest 7200 rpm 1tb hdd.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147372&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=EXPRESS043016&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS043016-_-EMC-043016-Index-_-InternalSSDs-_-20147372-S3A1D

 

[HisDudeness]

I have never seen that weird connector. I am sorry I gave you a false hope, it does not work. If you can afford an ssd, I would recommend this samsung 850 evo. It is not as tall, so it will only work if the laptop has screws to mount it to a caddy. It is a few more dollars than the cheapest 7200 rpm 1tb hdd.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147372&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=EXPRESS043016&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS043016-_-EMC-043016-Index-_-InternalSSDs-_-20147372-S3A1D

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AT17T6656&cm_re=1tb_hdd-_-22-145-875-_-Product

No problem, I already knew it doesn't have SATA, so you didn0t give me any false hope. However, I don't really care for speed as I do for space (my 500GB HDD is already proving itself insufficient), so I wouldn't spend money to get a 250GB one. I'd rather have a 2TB slow 5400RPM HDD.

Also, I don't know if the WD20NMVW fits in, I have no idea about the U36SG's HDD slot dimensions, I mentioned the model in case someone knew it and could tell me. I didn't check myself as there's no cover to remove to access the HDD, I have to open my laptop in half, separating the monitor from the rest and unplugging a lot of connectors and cables, so I don't feel confident in opening it unless it's the only time I really have to, to replace the HDD.

 

[jbaker22]

Here is a page that shows what is involved in your process, and the size of the hdd is 9mm. I found a 7mm 1tb laptop hdd for your laptop. You can use your old hdd as an external drive too. It is possible with a cd drive caddy you can have two drives if asus connects their cd drive with sata.

hdd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6SP4063231&cm_re=7mm_1tb_hdd-_-9SIA6SP4063231-_-Product

how to:http://planetjon.ca/2012/06/17/how-to-put-an-ssd-harddrive-in-asus-u36sg-ultrabook/

hdd enclosure: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-Backup-Plus-Slim-Portable-SuperSpeed-USB-3-0-2-5-Hard-Drive-Enclosure/371175132639?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D777000%26algo%3DABA.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D36017%26meid%3D8c7c3ffc440b4bf4b6e44aac2094b0f3%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D401078162807

 

[kedwa30]

My solution would be to duct tape the external drive to the lid. Or glue it.
But there are USB to SATA converters and even if the drive and converter wouldn't fit inside the drive bay, you could build an extension to your case with lots of glue and bits of wood.
Alternatively, you could connect your external drive to your WiFi router and access the drive over the network. Not every wifi router has a USB port for sharing a drive, but many do.
While my preferred solution might look funny, there are options.