How to Connect a Laptop Hard Drive to an External HD Enclosure
Getting a 2.5 inch laptop drive to work outside of a laptop used to be an exercise in futility. The wiring was different, and the size difference made it a difficult process at best. Today, only the size difference remains as an obstacle. SATA (Serial AT Attachment) hard drives use the same interface, no matter their size, and any enclosure that can accept a full size SATA drive will work fine with a laptop drive, as the interface is the same. However, if you have a 2.5 inch enclosure, use that instead.
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Instructions
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Installing The Drive
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1
Using a Phillips screwdriver, open up the SATA enclosure. Not all enclosures need tools to open, but most do.
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2
Attach the laptop SATA drive to the interface inside the enclosure. This will either be a single plastic piece about two inches long, or separate cables for power and interface. Both will fit.
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3
Do not attempt to force the drive on the 3.5 inch attachment points. You will damage it. If the enclosure has attachment points that line up with the 2.5 inch drive, use them instead.
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Don't bother closing the enclosure, as this is a temporary setup. As long as everything is connected properly, it will work once power and the cable to the computer are attached.
Connecting The Enclosure
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5
Plug in the power cable that came with the enclosure.
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Plug in the cable that attaches the enclosure to the computer. This may be E-SATA (External SATA,) Firewire or USB. USB is the most common. Plug it into the appropriate port on the computer.
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Turn on the computer and the enclosure.
Using The Drive
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Access the drive. On Windows, it will show up in "My Computer" as another drive letter. On a Mac, it will appear on your desktop.
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Complete whatever maintenance to the drive is needed.
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10
Disconnect the drive from the computer when you are done.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want to use the drive as a permanent external hard drive, you'll need to acquire an enclosure designed for a 2.5 inch hard drive. If your hard drive uses PATA (Parallel AT Attachment) you can purchase an adapter that will allow it to function with a SATA enclosure.
Don't touch anything inside the enclosure while it is running. You may receive an electrical shock, or damage the hard drive and enclosure.
