Can I Make a Drive USB-Attachable?
This question from Blake Leeper came in for Extreme Tech editor Loyd Case:
I have a 60GB laptop drive that I salvaged from my dead notebook. It has some of my files on it–pictures and valuable stuff like that. I was wondering if there was a way I could turn it into an external hard drive. I read the article titled “Build an External Hard Drive.” The article was a little helpful, but I was hoping I could plug it in through a USB port. I was also wondering if there were any stores by me that would have the parts I need. Stores that are around me are WalMart, Comp USA, Circuit City, Staples, and Radio Shack.
See Loyd’s reply after the jump.
Loyd’s reply:
The short answer is, Yes.
What you need is an external drive case that supports USB connectivity. There are dozens of these on the market, and most are pretty similar. What I’d recommend is getting an external drive case that supports multiple connections. You can even find cases that support USB 2.0, FireWire, and eSATA. This will give you additional flexibility in the future.
These cases aren′t very expensive, either. A USB-only case should cost you $30 to $75 at retail. Installing a hard drive into one of these cases is quite similar to the procedure outlined in the PC Mag article you’ve already read.
Original post by Jared Preusz