Can "internal" HD be "external"?

[tpiini]

I'm getting rid of my desktop & going exclusive laptop. But... I recently added a 160 GB internal hard drive to my desktop as a backup. If I were to remove it, is there a cabling system I could get to use this drive with my laptop? I'm not current on computer goodies, but I guess what I'm wanting is something that I can "dock" the hard drive to & run something like a USB cable to my laptop. ???

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tom

[cgwahl]

Originally posted by tpiini
I'm getting rid of my desktop & going exclusive laptop. But... I recently added a 160 GB internal hard drive to my desktop as a backup. If I were to remove it, is there a cabling system I could get to use this drive with my laptop? I'm not current on computer goodies, but I guess what I'm wanting is something that I can "dock" the hard drive to & run something like a USB cable to my laptop. ???

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tom

You're going to want a hard drive case. Basically turns an internal HD into an external USB HD.

To give you an idea of what you're looking for (pricewise, etc.) here are a few areas to get you started.

I'm not recommending these places...I just did a search in Google to find some places that sell them so you can see what they look like.

Also, the type you're looking for will probably be a bit more expensive because you will want it to be more portable.


http://www.bizrate.com/buy/products__cat_id--466,keyword--Hard%20Drive%20Case.html

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/usb_hard-drive.html

http://www.dvshop.ca/drives/cases.html

http://www.bizrate.com/buy/products__cat_id--466,keyword--External%20Hard%20Drive%20Case.html

[tpiini]

Yep. That's what I was looking for.

Thanks,
Tom.


Now watch for my upcoming pile of stupid computer questions...

[darin2]

Make sure you get a case that will handle large hard drives. Some of the older/cheaper ones will not handle anything larger than 137GB.

[David_G17]

the whole thing can be external (see pic)

[David_G17]

here's one from arfcom, i think...

[Sulaco]

Make sure the one you get has a fan in it and is aluminum. The plastic ones and all of them without fans don't dissipate heat quickly enough to keep the drive cool. Heat kills hard drives dead.

[tpiini]

Thanks for the help. I ended up going to www.newegg.com and reading a buttload of reviews on all of their cases. I ended up buying an aluminum Bytecc. It doesn't have a fan, but all the reviews said that this particular model dissipates heat well without one. I got it yesterday, plugged it in, and had my old hard drive (and all my backed up files, thank you) running right away. And who says posting on GlockTalk is a waste of time???

Tom