| |
 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Introduction : |
|
| |
Have an old internal hard drive gathering dust?
Turn it into a speedy external drive in five simple steps. An internal hard drive is a terrible thing to waste. If you've got one sitting on a shelf (or about to land there after a system upgrade), it's easy to give that old drive new life. In just a few steps, you can slip the castoff into an inexpensive enclosure—and create a fully functional external drive that boosts your storage space and lets you take large amounts of data with you. |
|
| |
| |
Step 1: Choose the right enclosure |
|
| |
 |
Many newer drives employ SATA, which uses a much smaller connector (above). Older IDE drives connect via two rows of pins (below). |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
The two major factors that one should keep in mind before buying the external casing is to know the size and the interface the HDD uses. For instance if you are utilizing the HDD from a machine that is some 3 or more years old it has to be an IDE, you simply need to know the size of it, as there are two sizes available in IDE , 3.5” usually used in desktops and 2.5” in laptops. The SCSI HDD is the interface that is available these days in new |
|
| machines. There are three types of external casing available, one that supports only IDE, the second one supports SCSI and the third one supports both. If you have both SCSI and IDE spare HDD then better select the third external casing. |
| |
|
|
| |
 |
For covering an internal 3.5-inch IDE hard drive to an external unit, we used a Rs 700 X-Craft 350 USB casing. Now, consider the enclosure's external interface. Most enclosures support USB 2.0, and some also add FireWire. If your drive uses an internal SATA interface, consider an enclosure with an external SATA (eSATA) interface, which promises significantly faster maximum data-transfer rates than USB or FireWire. Few PCs have eSATA ports, though. One solution is to install a SATA interface card, for this your PC needs to have an open PCI slot, or your notebook an available CardBus PC Card slot. (This shall add around Rs 1500 for a PCI SATA card or Rs 2300 for a PC Card |
|
| equivalent.) Or, if your desktop already has internal SATA ports on its motherboard, you can install an inexpensive cable and bracket that extend one or more ports to the back of your PC's case, effectively creating an eSATA interface. |
| |
|
|
| |
 |
Other features to look for in an enclosure include a built-in cooling fan, which is extremely recommended (please see the image above), especially if you'll leave the drive running for long periods. Less-critical items include a stackable design, or decorative elements like LED lighting or transparent casing.
As for price, most hard drive enclosures range from Rs 300 to Rs 5000, depending on size, interface, build, features, and extras.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Step 2: Install the drive |
|
| |
 |
First, connect the data cable, then press the four-pin power cable into place. Use even, firm pressure. If you're handy with a screwdriver, installing your drive in the enclosure should present little trouble. Before doing so, however, make sure the drive's Master/Slave/Cable Select setting is configured correctly. (This applies only to IDE drives.) Look for a small grid of pins on the rear edge. Typically, two pins will be bridged by a removable bit of plastic called a "jumper." The enclosure's instructions should explain the required settings; based on our experiences, the jumper usually should be set to Master. Check the drive's manual or its maker's Web site if you're unclear how to set it.
Once done, simply open the enclosure, connect the drive to the internal interface and power-supply plugs, and secure it using the provided screws. The enclosure's instructions should walk you through the job, but the procedure varies little from one model to another. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Step 3: Plug it in |
|
| |
 |
You can format your new drive from Windows XP's Computer Management window. Be sure that the drive you're formatting is the new external one, not another drive or partition. Its time to connect the enclosure to your PC. First, plug in the enclosure's power supply (if it has one—many 2.5-inch drives draw power from the interface). When you switch on the enclosure's power, you should hear the hard drive spinning up. Now plug the enclosure into your PC's USB, FireWire, or eSATA port. If you're using a Mac or Windows XP/Vista system, the machine should automatically detect the drive. Windows 98 and Me systems will probably require a driver CD, which should come with the enclosure. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Step 4: Format and partition the drive |
|
| |
Before you can start using your repurposed drive, you may need to format it. A new drive will definitely need formatting; an older, already used drive may be good to go. The only sure-fire way to find out is to connect the enclosure, see if Windows recognizes the drive, and try to access it. If Windows doesn't immediately assign it a drive letter or let you access the contents, you'll need to reformat. (You may want to do that anyway, just to start with a clean slate.)
In Windows XP, right-click My Computer, and click Manage. (Alternately, click Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management.) Under the Storage section, click Disk Management, then look to the right-hand pane for your new drive—it should be the one with the black bar next to it. Right-click that bar, and select New Partition. This will launch the New Partition wizard, which will take you through formatting and partitioning the new drive. The process is the same in Windows Vista if you choose Classic View within Control Panel; otherwise, access the utility via Control Panel > "Create and format hard disk partitions."
Once formatting begins, grab a snack. It can take an hour or more, depending on capacity.
|
|
| |
Step 5: Use it! |
|
| |
Once formatting's done, you'll have a plug-and-play hard drive that functions like an internal drive. Test it by copying files to and from the drive.
As you may have noticed when it was an internal drive, your external drive's available capacity might fall shy of the manufacturer's specs. (A 320GB drive, for example, often shows only around 300GB available.) That's a common scenario owing to how drive sizes are calculated. You can't do anything about it, but know that it doesn't indicate a malfunction. |
|
| |
< Back |
|
|
|
|
