How to Use a Laptop Hard Drive Enclosure

Gone are the days when external hard drive enclosures are so expensive that it was cheaper to simply buy a larger hard drive. Today, a USB connected hard drive enclosure can be purchased for less than ten dollars. These are perfect when you purchase a new laptop and do not want the hassle of transferring the data from the old computer to the new one.

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Step 1

Remove the hard drive from the old laptop if necessary. Since laptop sized hard drive enclosures are generally very thin, it may be necessary to remove any caddy holding the hard drive.
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Step 2

Connect the adapter on the top lid of the enclosure to the hard drive. Make sure it seats well, but don’t use excessive force.
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Step 3

Slide the hard drive into the enclosure until the lid is seated in place. If provided, screw the small screws in the proper holes to hold everything in place.
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Step 4

Attach one end of the USB cord to the enclosure and the other end to your laptop.
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Step 5

Boot your computer normally. You should be able to find the extra hard drive in "My Computer."


Tips & Warnings

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Most newer computers and operating systems allow you to add or remove the USB drive without shutting the system off or rebooting.
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Adding an external drive to your laptop gives you extra security for back-ups or for sensitive data. If traveling keep the enclosure packed separate from the laptop.
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There are few size limitations on what size hard drive can be used in an enclosure.
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They also make enclosures for full size, desk top computers for around the same amount of money.
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Check eBay for the best deals on laptop hard drive enclosures.

How do I choose an external hard drive enclosure?

Question:

How do I choose an external hard drive enclosure?

I currently have an old PC which has some information on it I need, but the computer won't boot. I know the hard drive still works and so I'm going with an external hard drive enclosure, but I'm not sure what I need.

The hard drive is a Quantum Fireball AS Plus, Quantum part number looks like QMP40000AS-A, serial # is 194141631577

Any help is greatly appreciated


Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Since the pc is old, this is going to be an IDE drive. You want an enclosure that supports IDE (or ATA) 3.5" drives. Additionally, you're looking for an external connection that is supported by the computer you're going to attach it to, like usb or firewire. Most common is usb.

You might also consider using the enclosure in the future with another drive (or drives) as a backup location, so maybe you want to get one that supports both ATA and SATA (since SATA is becoming the most common).

I have lots of enclosures and drives... more drives than enclosures. Good for backups and clones. That's why I suggest considering one that supports both ATA (for your current need) and SATA (for possible future stuff).

Other Answers:

1. What you need to look for depends on the size of the hard drive most anymore cover almost any size.Get one with a fan,some even have two.You will read that because they're aluminum they don't get hot,don't you believe it.If you run one for 4 or 5 hours,they get so hot you can barely touch the case.
2. The hard drive is an IDE aka ATA U100 hard drive. Its not SATA, so don't get a SATA enclosure. I shop generally at newegg.com the bytecc is decent... N82E16817145385
3. Just read some of the review on the cases. I would stay away from the sub $20 cases.. They tend to lock up on the usb port and cause errors. (crappy chipset in the case)
4. any external enclosure works fine on your hdd. just make sure that u get the IDE(PATA) enclosure, as it doesnt support SATA/SATA 2.try to get a quality (mostly expensive) enclosure as they usually offer better quality for prolong used.