external hard drive?

N

neur0x

New Member
hey,

i was just wondering whether it is possible to take an external hard drive apart and make it an internal hard drive. i have a 160GB ext. laying around and thought i might put it to some use since it was giving me a partmgr.sys error upon booting the computer up when it was connect through USB
 
Dude, if you're not sure, don't try and answer the question...

Basically every external USB drive I've seen is just a basic IDE drive, so it should work just fine in your computer. Just be sure the jumper is set correctly(master/slave depending on the channel and what not)
 
alright, thanks for the info. i think im gonna just take a peek inside and see what i have to work with. the only thing im not sure about is whether ill be needing to put a "shell" or whatever around it or not or if its just going to be a plain, unprotected hard disk when i open it up.
 
When you open up the external drives case, the HD will be inside protected by its metal shell. There should be a power and IDE cable connected to the HD. It should look the same as the HD already installed in your computer and will connect the same way as well. Just make sure the pins are set correctly and you should have no trouble adding it as an internal drive.
 
I've never seen any type of shell other than the plain outside, but most of my experience is with plain enclosures, not premade ones. I would show you what mine looks like, but I'm afraid to open it(plastic tabs breaking and all...) But there are pictures around of these enclosures on the net...
 
Most (or all) external hard drives are simply a normal 3.5" IDE Hard Drive, which is hooked up to a special IDE-to-USB/Firewire converter, which is contained in the plastic or metal shell.
 
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