How to Convert an Internal Hard Drive Into an External Hard Drive
You may not know that an external hard drive is almost identical to the one inside your computer. The only difference is that it's in a cheap little box known as an "external enclosure." If you're upgrading hard drives in your laptop or desktop, you can pull out the old hard drive and convert it into an external hard drive.
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Instructions
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Take the internal hard drive out of the computer. Notice the connection side of it -- you're going to need to buy the appropriate enclosure. The most common types of connections are IDE and SATA. Buy the external hard drive enclosure that matches the connection type.
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Take the external hard drive enclosure out of the package. If it isn't already disassembled, carefully disassemble it. The unit typically consists of the enclosure case, interface (the computer chip-looking thing), a cable and sometimes heat sinks.
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Screw the heat sinks, if they were included, into the hard drive, facing the same direction. These will help keep your external hard drive from overheating.
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Plug the hard drive into the interface. If it's SATA, this will be super easy. If you're working with IDE, be very careful not to bend the pins. Depending on the size of the drive, some of the connections may go unused. It depends on whether or not the external hard drive is big enough to require a power source.
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Place the drive into the case. Some cases are built with a two-part design, while others use a slide-in design. Once the case is assembled, screw in the remaining screws to seal the external hard drive.
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Plug the cable from the external hard drive into your computer. Almost all external hard drives plug in using USB or FireWire. The hard drive will mount on the computer just like a store-bought external hard drive.
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Tips & Warnings
You may need to format the external hard drive after you plug it in for the first time.
References
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