Removed (working) internal hard drive - any use ?

hanwellmike

In preparation for taking my old desktop to the dump, I removed the internal hard drive for security reasons. I was going to take a hammer to it but it was working when I last used the desktop and I am wondering whether I could adapt it to be an external drive with usb connection for a reasonable cost.

The drive dates from 2003 and is a Seagate Barracuda ST. As it is only 120gb capacity, I would not want to spend more than say £15-20 for it to be worth the trouble. Any advice would be appreciated.

Big_Ed

You need something like this. I think wherever you buy it from it will be around the £10 mark.

hanwellmike

Thanks Big Ed. I have done a bit more research and was heading in that direction.

My old drive is a Seagate Barracuda ATA V, Model ST3120023A which I think is a SATA drive.

Do you know if it is important whether my old drive is SATA or PATA (in relation to this new bit of kit) ?

Big_Ed

Looks to be PATA. But to confirm look at the back:



Top drive is SATA, and bottom one is PATA.

Yep it matters because they are different connectors. SATA will need a SATA caddy and IDE will need the IDE one. They cost about the same though.

hanwellmike

Your picture tells me that it is a PATA drive. Many thanks Big Ed. Is PATA and IDE the same thing then ? I have seen a few enclosures on Amazon which appear to be SATA / IDE compatible.

Big_Ed

No probs. Yep, PATA and IDE mean the same thing. SATA is different.

hanwellmike

Cheers mate ! I will give it a go in the next few days .........

Niv

Why do you want it as an external drive? If you want extra storage on your new desktop you can simply internally install it and set it to slave, this will cost nothing compared to converting it to an external drive.

Just a thought.

Niv

hanwellmike

Niv - tanks for the suggestion. I do not have the confidence to meddle with my new desktop (plus I already have lots of capacity) but I don't mind trying to make the old drive work 'externally'. I have in mind attaching the old drive to my new tv which has USB record facility.

Figment

hanwellmike wrote: »

Niv - tanks for the suggestion. I do not have the confidence to meddle with my new desktop (plus I already have lots of capacity) but I don't mind trying to make the old drive work 'externally'. I have in mind attaching the old drive to my new tv which has USB record facility.

You may have to reformat the drive to do this.

Avoriaz

I have a few old PATA 3.5 inch caddies that I no longer have any use for.

If you live near Chichester you can have one.

Do you live in Hanwell near Greenford and West Ealing? I lived there in the early 1980s.