Internal hd to external

  • Thread starter Thread starter zachlr1
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zachlr1

I have an old laptop that I don't use anymore. I was hoping to use
some of the parts so the /whole/ thing wouldn't go to waste. How
cheap and easy would it be to convert that into an external hd?
Anyone know of a good place to find cases cheap?
 
I have an old laptop that I don't use anymore. I was hoping to use
some of the parts so the /whole/ thing wouldn't go to waste. How
cheap and easy would it be to convert that into an external hd?
Anyone know of a good place to find cases cheap?
Click to expand...


It wouldn't be cheap or easy, a laptop is not a USB-ATA nor
USB-SATA converter board. You would have to keep running
the whole laptop with an OS set to let it behave like a NAS,
a network attached (instead of USB or firewire or eSATA)
device.

The cheap easy thing to do is sell the notebook for
whatever you can get out of it, if it still works it's bound
to be worth at least the cost of an external drive enclosure
that is ready for your intended use. Granted, it would not
have a drive in it yet unless a complete kit was bought, but
an old small slow laptop hard drive isn't such a good
candidate for external storage either, and a small 100GB or
so hard drive can be had for fairly low cost these days.
 
I have an old laptop that I don't use anymore. I was hoping to use
some of the parts so the /whole/ thing wouldn't go to waste. How
cheap and easy would it be to convert that into an external hd?
Anyone know of a good place to find cases cheap?
Click to expand...

Simply pull the HDD out and install it into a 2.5" USB2.0, eSata or Firewire
enclosure.

There isn't much else useful in an old laptop. I use them for small Linux
servers. Already battery backed-up, low power, and can be connected to
remotely so I don't have to burden the system with any X-windows load.
 
I have an old laptop that I don't use anymore. I was hoping to use
some of the parts so the /whole/ thing wouldn't go to waste. How
cheap and easy would it be to convert that into an external hd?
Anyone know of a good place to find cases cheap?
Click to expand...

How large is the laptop disk? As Noozer has said you could pull it out and
put it a suitable enclosure (you might also need to get a 3.5 to 2.5
converter depending on the enclosure). Before you do that I suggest you
compare how much the enclosure will cost with the costs of usb disks. You
may find that it simply isn't worth it.

If you decide that it isn't worth it then if the laptop still works then you
might get more satisfaction selling it on ebay or giving it away on
freecycle.
 
I have an old laptop that I don't use anymore. I was hoping to use
some of the parts so the /whole/ thing wouldn't go to waste. How
cheap and easy would it be to convert that into an external hd?
Anyone know of a good place to find cases cheap?
Click to expand...

First this is probably not what you want to hear but old stuff is old stuff.

You didn't say what size/type the hd is. You could have gotten a usb
external 320G hd at a local retailer for $89.95 not to long ago and
prices keep going down. A 3.5 in caddy for an ide hd for the better
ones runs about $40 - $50 and the cheaper ones are in the $25 range.
For a 2.5 in hd the prices are a little higher, smaller is more expensive
go figure. HD space along with ram have dropped in price quite a
bit lately. Do a minimum install of linux on the laptop and make a
single use computer out of it (firewall, router, tiny server etc.....) or
sell it for what anyone will offer for it. Shipping a bulkier low cost
item on ebay is a killer. Local sales of builkier items like older
servers generally tends to be a better deal.

later.....
 
I've seen cases for less than 10 dollars, that is not much less then I
could get the whole laptop for anymore. And if i sold that, I
wouldn't have the hard drive anymore anyway. I'm not looking to have
a huge hard drive to download the internet on. I'm just trying to get
some more use out of old parts rather than letting it go to waste or
selling it for less than a tenth of what I bought it for.

I guess what I'm asking is: is it as easy as they make it sound? Buy
case, put hard drive in case, connect cables and what not, plug in,
download drivers, format it, and your done. Can this be done with a
case that is less than about 20 bucks?
 
I've seen cases for less than 10 dollars, that is not much less then I
could get the whole laptop for anymore.
Click to expand...

Practically any laptop that still works is worth $50 if not
more.

And if i sold that, I
wouldn't have the hard drive anymore anyway.
Click to expand...

If the laptop is old enough to be of little to no value, the
hard drive is old enough to be a liability, being at the end
of it's expected lifespan.

I'm not looking to have
a huge hard drive to download the internet on. I'm just trying to get
some more use out of old parts rather than letting it go to waste or
selling it for less than a tenth of what I bought it for.
Click to expand...

You can't help but sell for 1/10th of the original value
when buying tech gear then waiting several years to sell it.
The point is, if it were a good purchase, that you got the
value out of it until now. Same goes for buying an external
hard drive enclosure, you will get best use and life out of
a new product and putting a new drive in it.

I guess what I'm asking is: is it as easy as they make it sound? Buy
case, put hard drive in case, connect cables and what not, plug in,
download drivers, format it, and your done. Can this be done with a
case that is less than about 20 bucks?
Click to expand...

Yes, buy the case, put *a* hard drive in it (as mentioned
above, I wouldn't bother using such an old drive, rather one
with most of it's life ahead of it), plug in power and data
cables.

Depending on the operating system, for example
Win2k/XP/Vista, you don't need drivers.

As for formatting, if you're using a drive that was already
formatted, no need to do that again, but of course you could
just as easily as any other secondary drive in your system.

How old is your existing hard drive? If it's really small
and slow, it might even make as much sense to just use a
Compact Flash card or USB thumbdrive instead. Either are
far more reliable over the long term, and being highly
portable is nice too.

One example of a good value in the US for an external drive
is a Western Digital 400GB for $50 after a rebate at Staples
(B&M, not online). Tomorrow is the last day the rebate is
valid.
 
I've seen cases for less than 10 dollars, that is not much less then I
could get the whole laptop for anymore. And if i sold that, I
wouldn't have the hard drive anymore anyway. I'm not looking to have
a huge hard drive to download the internet on. I'm just trying to get
some more use out of old parts rather than letting it go to waste or
selling it for less than a tenth of what I bought it for.

I guess what I'm asking is: is it as easy as they make it sound? Buy
case, put hard drive in case, connect cables and what not, plug in,
download drivers, format it, and your done. Can this be done with a
case that is less than about 20 bucks?
Click to expand...

If you want to justify that this is cost effective then I'm dubious. If you
want to do this for the experience then at 10$ go for it.
 
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