Whenever computer users are forced to upgrade their PCs due to more demand for processing power, storage space, or memory, they are always left with the old parts of their PCs.
Unfortunately, RAM chips and computer processors are rather difficult to reuse unless you still have free slots on your motherboard. Internal hard drives, however, can be converted into external ones and still be used on the same PC.
Here are 6 steps that guide you on creating your own external hard drive and customizing it to your liking:
1. Obtain an Internal Hard Drive and Determine Its Size Generally, computer hard drives come in three standard sizes. These are the 1.8”, the 2.5”, and the 3.5”. The 1.8” and the 2.5” hard drives are suitable for laptops since they are smaller in size, and they also do not require power cords in order to function.
2. Find a Compatible Enclosure After determining the size of your internal hard drive, you can now go a step further and choose an enclosure that will protect the hard drive.
Though this is one of the steps where you can add a lot of customizations, you should be keen about the interface of your hard drive.
You will have to determine whether it is a Serial ATA or simply an ATA. You should also note that these interface types are branched. As such, under the Serial ATA, you will find Serial ATA150 and Serial ATA II.
3. Pick a Suitable Connection Type Besides choosing an enclosure that fancies you, you’ll have to choose a connection type that will work with your PC and other computers. If you settle for USB2.0, you’ll be on the safe side since USB2.0 is common among most computers and devices.
Choosing faster connection types such as FireWire may significantly improve your experience with the hard drive, but the downside is that you may not use your hard drive on all computers.
4. Assemble The Components A hard drive enclosure usually comes with an instruction on how to assemble all the parts correctly. Additionally, this step never takes more than a couple of minutes if you chose the right components.
5. Final Touches By now you should be having a functional external hard disk, but its appearance may still look a bit crude if you chose odd-matching components in the previous steps.
Though you can still opt to get a new hard drive enclosure, getting a rubber cover for your external hard drive will be more convenient. Rubber covers come in different colors and you can thus find a matching one for your PC. Moreover, these covers may also protect your hard drive from minor shocks.