External Hard Drive Re-Caseing

[Randox]

So, I have a 2TB external seagate hard drive, and its a piece of shit (but I didn't realize just how bad until I couldn't return it anymore, so I'm stuck with it).

 

What I have found out, is that every single one of them has a defect in the circuit board that affects power management, so every few minutes it will be unable to move its reader heads in a full arc, causing it to stall its data transfer and make a really irritating sound, and it will continue to do this until it fails completely and becomes a brick. However, it would see that the hard drive itself is perfectly fine, and I guess some people have actually put them in other manufacturers externals and they work just fine.

 

(in case anyone is wondering how I didn't notice this, there seems to be a 1/100 chance that when you plug it in, it will actually consistantly work without issue, and will go back to being shitty the next hundred times you try to power cycle it back into working. Also, every time it loses power, it becomes harder and harder to coax it back into working, so the problem is getting worse. I have copied the whole thing on my PC's 2TB hard drive and stopped using it, but this seems like a huge waste)

 

What I am wondering is if external usb hard drives can be used as internal hard drive (I don't have the faintest idea how to open the case without going at it with a saw). So I am hoping someone might know if this can be done (and how I would figure out how much power it needs since my computer does not have a lot of excess). I assume it can since it seems you can build externals with internals.

 

Or would it be easier to get something like this and just slap the hard drive in there. I'm not sure how much work is involved in either type of conversion.

 

EDIT: So apparently just making a post was enough to make me stop being lazy. I got the hard drive out, and after a couple minutes study of my computer, the cable pluggin in the current hard drive has two more connectors (which is funny because the hard drive bay only has room for two), so in theory I could probably plug it in within the hour, after I finagle the hard drive bay out of the case so I can drop another one in, and then perform whatever black magic is needed to make it go back in. I think I can even use the screws that we're holding the rubber pads onto it inside its case. And the thing even has installation instructions on it, so I'm going to power down and see if I can't do this without breaking anything (like going to make sure I am well grounded before I touch that case).

 

EDIT 2: Installed it without much trouble. I need a SATA data cable though before it will work (I didn't bother giving it power either), so that's on my to do list for tomorrow. With any luck, the hard drive will be nice and workable again by tomorrow evening, and my computer will have 4 TB's of data storage at its disposal :thumbsup:

[-Stary-]

Congrats on figuring it out! :thumbup:

 

External Hard drives are basically internal hard drives. Just, they have an added circuit board that changes their SATA or IDE interface to a Firewire/USB interface.

 

 

 

So, as you have noticed, you are perfectly capable of transferring your external hard drive, from it's case, to your own tower's case. Though, with a couple modifications as you stated.

 

 

With all honesty. If you put your external hard drive, in another external hard drive's case. It won't work properly. Unless say, it's the exact same model/brand, etc.

 

 

 

I'll come back to this tomorrow once you have done you 'to do list' to see if I can be of any more assistance. :D Good luck!

[Randox]

Oh, it all done now. The day after that post I went out and got a SATA data cable, since my case didn't have a spare tucked away inside of it (how awesome that would have been though). It works beutifully, though I noticed that its name is part of the drive, and not part of the adapter in its case, so it still has the name Expansion Drive and its icon still looks like its case.

 

And all my media is back on it. Was fun poking around in the case too. My motherboard has a few places left for expansion in the Memory and Disc drive area, though its lacks the slot for a second GPU. I'm just happy it had enough spare power, being a store bought. I was pretty sure it would based on a calc I found to help estimate its power usage, but I think it will need a bigger PSU before anything else goes in there (unless I suddenly develop an urge for another 4 GB of RAM, I'm sure it could handle a 4th stick).

[Ember]

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[-Stary-]

You can usually change the name and icon very easily on most devices.

 

 

As for the power usage. If it's being ran through a store-bought case/model you should [should*] he fine. However, if you try and over-do it and add in more things; ram, higher processor, graphics, etc. you WILL most likely need a new power supply. Just, make SURE that you get the correct one. Make sure it uses the same connector, and has a higher power wattage than the one you currently have.