Can a Dell Laptop Disk Be Used on Another Computer?

Laptop drives, like those used in Dell computers, can be used in non-Dell machines.

Dell has manufactured a wide variety of laptops since 1991, selling millions of systems every year. The hard drives used in Dell laptops sold since 2001 fall into one of three standard configurations. It is possible to take these standardized laptop drives from Dell laptops and re-use them in other machines.

Types of Drive

Dell ships laptops with two kinds of hard drive. Magnetic hard disks are what one thinks of when hearing the words "hard drive." They store data on spinning magnetic platters sealed within a metal casing. Solid-state drives started seeing use in laptops in 2007 as a shock-resistant alternative to the magnetic hard drive. Solid-state disks, or SSDs, store data on an array of non-volatile or "flash" RAM that can hold information without using power.

Compatibility

Reusing a laptop disk requires knowing what it can be used with. Laptops usually support one of two differing connector standards for hard drives. PATA-44 is the laptop version of the Parallel-ATA standard that was used in both laptops and desktops. It uses a single 44-pin data and power cable. Serial-ATA is a desktop and laptop hard disk standard. SATA uses a 7-pin data connection and a 15-pin power connection for all SATA hard drives.

The Dell Mini 9 makes use of an unusual connector. The Mini 9's SSD appears to connect via a mini-PCI port inside the computer. Mechanically it is the same, but the connector is not electrically Mini-PCI. The connector was originally used on the Asus Eee Laptop for it's solid state disk.

Electrical Adapters

If the laptop disk that you remove and the computer you are planning to use it in have different hard drive connectors, an adapter can connect the drive to the computer. Adapters exist to connect PATA-44 drives to PATA-40 connectors, SATA to PATA-44 or 40 connectors, and even Asus Eee/Dell Mini 9 SSD drives to SATA. These adapters do not normally work in laptops due to limited space.

Physical Adapters

Most Dell laptop drives are 2.5 inches in width and a little over a centimeter tall. Laptops generally keep their hard drives in a small adapter known as a "caddy" to secure them against movement. When attempting to move a laptop drive into a desktop computer, a physical adapter is necessary to secure the laptop drive into the standard 3.5 inch desktop hard drive bay.

USB and Firewire adapters

In situations where there is no good way to permanently attach the Dell drive to it's new computer, an external adapter is in order. While adding a drive to another computer this way adds bulk and wires, it is a good alternative when internal addition is impossible. External disk adapters take the hard drive and convert it to connect via USB or Firewire so that the drive can be plugged into almost any modern machine. External adapters also usually come with some sort of casing to protect the drive from vibration or impact.

References

• Print Country: The History of Dell
• Ars Technica: Little, Big, and Green, a History of the Solid State Disk
• Tech Republic: The USB Drive Adapter: No Tool Kit Should Be Without One