Bruinator Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 can a internal 2.5 hdd used as an external hdd to a pc and laptop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Eternal Tempest MVC Posted November 27, 2018 MVC Share Posted November 27, 2018 (edited) Yes, with an adapter, something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool-free-Enclosure-Optimized-EC-UASP/dp/B00OJ3UJ2S/ This (and many more enclosure / adapters out there) will turn an 2.5" drive in to an portable USB drive. goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted November 27, 2018 Moderator Share Posted November 27, 2018 2.5 SATA uses the same connector to the big ones. Unless you are talking about PATA drives... So, if you can use it internally, "there's an adapter for that" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted November 28, 2018 Supervisor Share Posted November 28, 2018 Hello, You can most absolutely use an internal 2.5" (laptop size) SATA HDD as an external hard disk drive by putting it into an USB external enclosure. Keep in mind that you will not likely be able to successfully boot Windows from it, but it is a great way of transferring large files between computers, or backing up data. Just over a week ago, I wrote an article on how to treat drives used like this to make sure they will be reliable and last a long time. You might find it of interest: HOWTO: The care and feeding of external USB 2.5" hard disk drives. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky DevTech 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 33 minutes ago, goretsky said: Hello, You can most absolutely use an internal 2.5" (laptop size) SATA HDD as an external hard disk drive by putting it into an USB external enclosure. Keep in mind that you will not likely be able to successfully boot Windows from it, but it is a great way of transferring large files between computers, or backing up data. Just over a week ago, I wrote an article on how to treat drives used like this to make sure they will be reliable and last a long time. You might find it of interest: HOWTO: The care and feeding of external USB 2.5" hard disk drives. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Here are two ideas to add to your article: 1. Since it is Spiceworks, you could mention the availability of the new ultra-tiny SSD externals as not only ultra portable, but as great vehicles for VM images on laptops tight for disk space. 2. TIP: On USB drives that are bought from the manufacture (i.e. not ones in an external case) the USB connector is actually part of the drive itself. If it gets loose from normal usage, the entire drive is toast. Semi-permanently attach the USB cable to the drive by using a cable tie or electrical tape etc to avoid connecting the cable and to prevent any movement at the drive connector. Looks a bit ugly, but saves drives from needless death! goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted November 28, 2018 Supervisor Share Posted November 28, 2018 Hello, I'm thinking about doing a follow-up post and will definitely add these. Thank you very much! Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 2 hours ago, goretsky said: Hello, I'm thinking about doing a follow-up post and will definitely add these. Thank you very much! Regards, Aryeh Goretsky I've been considering actually duct taping one or two of these metal wonders to the bottom of my laptop which is a thin Dell XPS 15 with a Samsung 960 PRO NVMe 512 and the cost of a 2 TB PRO is nasty vs a 1 TB or 2TB T5 Actually, I could probably cut a square hole in the bottom case where the battery is to create a cavity to nestle the T5 in, and with velcro or something then I could swap in different drives depending on VM workloads desired... Samsung T5 USB C - 540 MB/sec (same as SATA) in 256, 512, 1 TB, 2 TB https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/portable/t5/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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