How to Turn an Old Hard Drive Into an External Drive

Here we can see, “How to Turn an Old Hard Drive Into an External Drive”

When faced with a slow and outdated computer, many users immediately replace the hard drive with a new one or a solid-state drive (SSD). However, for a better experience, some people choose to get a new computer. In any case, your old hard disc will be discarded.

Please do not discard the old hard disc; it is still functional. Making an outdated HDD into a USB drive is a more cost-effective and ecologically responsible option. Converting an internal hard disc to an external USB drive requires surprisingly little work.

How to Convert Internal HDD to External

Step 1: It is to remove your old hard drive and carefully remove the brackets and screws attached to it.

Step 2: It is to double-check the size of your internal hard drive (the laptop hard drive is usually 2.5 inches while the desktop hard drive is 3.5 inches). Then, confirm the hard drive’s interface (IDE, SATA, or PATA).

Step 3: Choose an appropriate external hard drive enclosure/internal hard drive to USB converter for your old hard drive.

Step 4: Gently attach the old hard drive to the enclosure.

Step 5: Use the USB cord to connect the enclosure to your desktop or laptop.

Step 6: Open Windows File Explorer and see if your drive is visible. If it appears, it indicates that it is ready to use.

That’s how you convert an internal hard drive to an external hard drive. You may now utilize the USB hard disc in the same way that you would any other external hard drive.

What to Consider When Buying an Enclosure

When purchasing an enclosure for converting a hard drive to USB, two factors should be considered: interface and size. The enclosure you buy must have the same connectivity and size as your hard drive.

• If the hard drive is removed from a laptop, the interface is likely to be SATA (although a limited number of laptop hard drives have an IDE interface), which is 2.5 inches. As a result, a 2.5″ SATA enclosure is required.
• If the hard drive was initially used on a desktop, it might have a PATA interface and a 3.5-inch size. You should opt for a 3.5″ enclosure that supports PATA/IDE at this time.

You may convert your old internal hard drive to an external drive and utilize it to store files, backup data, and store videos/games for your TV/PS4.

Conclusion

I hope you found this information helpful. Please fill out the form below if you have any queries or comments.

User Questions:

1. Can an external hard drive be utilized with a laptop hard drive?

Don’t throw away your “bare” drive if you’ve upgraded your laptop. You can use it as external storage again. Likewise, don’t throw away your misplaced hard drive.

2. Do hard drive platters have any value?

A premium grade of circuit board scrap is the logic boards from a scrap hard drive. Because they are more tightly packed with trace amounts of precious metals than computer motherboards, they are worth more (parts per million).

3. Are ancient hard discs worth anything?

If you try to sell an old hard drive, you’ll only get a fraction of what you paid for it, but it still has some worth if you retain it. Unfortunately, an outdated hard disc has limited monetary worth due to increased failure rates and lower-performing technology. The hard drive, on the other hand, maybe resurrected.

4. what do you do with old hard drives?

what do you do with old hard drives? from DataHoarder

5. Is it possible to use an old laptop hard drive as an external hard drive to transfer files to my new PC

Is it possible to use an old laptop hard drive as an external hard drive to transfer files to my new PC from buildapc