Converting Internal Hard Drive To External WITHOUT CASE

[Outlaws12]

When this is done, can you later add a case without the drive space becoming unallocated/unreadable? Basiclly will it cause you to lose all the data on the drive (or become a major PITA) to get the data back because of the "new" sata usb connector that comes with a new case.

FYI... The internal hard drive was converted into an external drive using a USB to SSD/SATA/IDE Universal Adapter.

Thanks

 

[billmcct]

How could you ever lose data from disconnecting a wire? I regularly swap several drives using the same wire.

 

[SIW2]

Some external hard disks have encryption and other complications. Not unreasonable to ask if trying to swap a different disk into the case might not be straightforward.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

When this is done, can you later add a case without the drive space becoming unallocated/unreadable? Basiclly will it cause you to lose all the data on the drive (or become a major PITA) to get the data back because of the "new" sata usb connector that comes with a new case.

FYI... The internal hard drive was converted into an external drive using a USB to SSD/SATA/IDE Universal Adapter.

Thanks

I'm confused. Are you asking a question like "How do I.....?" or just making a statement.


As far as operating a HD outside of a PC Case, I do it all the time. All you need is the correct length of SATA Data cable and power cable extension.
In the pic I've attached, I'm cloning one HD to another HD while both are sitting on the desk next to my tower. I use a similar technique for installing a new OS to a test drive. Works like a champ. NO adapters required.



Happy Computing!


TM

 

[file3456]

Your fear about possible data corruption from using a dedicated hard drive case may have merit. I say that because I've seen my fair share of help forums where a drive that worked one day didn't work the next using a USB connection of some sorts. While just putting the HDD in its own case shouldn't cause any issues, I think it might be something to do with the chipset in the case its self and Windows will then render the drive unallocated. So with that, and to be extra sure this doesn't pose an issue, out of abundance of caution, I would make sure you did your research and buy a good, reputable HDD case. I would also backup the data on that HDD just to be absolutely sure.

Again, this shouldn't be a problem, but I've seen it happen. I use a 2.5" HDD case myself and have had no issues. But then again, I used the case straight away and not going from the USB/SATA route to the case.

When you compare reviews on HDD cases and find yourself at Amazon, use fakespot.com to get a grade on the quality of reviews. This isn't a grade on the product. This is a grade on the reviews on whether the reviews can be trusted or not. My rule of thumb is that if a product has less than a C grade I'll look for a different product. I also compare and contrast reviews from more than one site. So from say Amazon to Newegg to even eBay if they have the reviews. Also note that YouTube videos may be by reviewers who have been paid by the company to praise a product. So do your best to judge whether a YouTube review is unbiased or not.

Since I don't trust one single backup, I make multiple backups so that you don't have a single point of failure. I also check those backups and make sure they work.

 

[Outlaws12]

I think most of you all understand what I'm saying, and I do my fair share of research before posting questions on sites. I was trying to make the question as short and clear as I could. Don't have the case yet but I can tell you that you can't just take the small pcb board/power connector from a WD External and throw it on the "converted ext drive" basically using an old WD case , which is the same concept as buying a aftermarket case and connecting through that. I'm not saying there isn't a work around, just telling ya my experience. I didn't want to put files on a drive and then have to redo it again if a "new" case would cause it not to read right. Thanks for the replies!

 

[Snick]

Another reason I don't like WD Drives!

My Opinion!

 

[dg1261]

I can tell you that you can't just take the small pcb board/power connector from a WD External and throw it on the "converted ext drive" basically using an old WD case , which is the same concept as buying a aftermarket case and connecting through that.

It's not quite the same concept. WD external drives are notorious for using encryption on the interface board, regardless of whether the user enables encryption or not. That means even unencrypted user data coming through the WD interface board gets stored on the disk drive inside in encrypted form. That forecloses the possibility of removing the disk from the case and reading it from another computer (or via another external case).

However, in many models the disk drive inside the case is just a normal SATA drive.* It can still be reformatted and used anywhere a normal SATA drive can go, including in an aftermarket case. The limitation is you cannot read the existing contents of the drive if removed from the WD case, but you can reformat it and reuse it.

Most aftermarket cases just do the USB-to-SATA translation and no encryption, so you can take any ordinary SATA drive -- even a drive extricated from a WD case -- and put it in the aftermarket case, format it, and use it like any other external drive. Without encryption, the drive can subsequently be transferred to another aftermarket case or into an internal drive bay in a computer, and its contents will still be readable without any problem. So it's not a problem with aftermarket cases, it's a problem specifically with WD's interface boards.


* (Caveat: disk drives intended for some external products are lately being produced without a SATA interface and restricted solely to USB use. But that's another story, and I believe is outside the scope of this thread.)