How to Connect an Internal Hard Drive Externally

Choose an internal hard drive.

Mount the drive into the enclosure.

ForSATAormSATAdrives, you should see a single SATA connection like those inside the PC.

A 3.5 and a 2.5 inch internal hard drive.

Plug in the connections.

The connections you better make differ depending on the jot down of hard drive connector you have.

ForPATAdrives (EIDE or IDE), there’s a 40-pin connector and a 4-pin power connector.

Components of an external hard drive enclosure.

Both types of connectors are keyed to be plugged in one way only.

Seal the hard drive enclosure.

After it’s connected, seal the enclosure tight once again, with the internal hard drive inside.

Inserting a hard drive into the external interface.

You now have an internal hard drive acting as a portableexternal storage machine.

All that remains is to connect the enclosure to the PC.

The enclosure comes with whatever cords are necessary to connect it to a PC.

An external hard drive with a screwdriver.

Usually, it’s aUSBcable, which provides both connectivity and power to the drive.

Connect the enclosure to the PC.

Connect the USB cable to the PC, and allow the drive to come on.

An external hard drive with a USB cable.

If it has a power switch, turn it on.

Plug and play the hard drive.

If your PC does not recognize the drive, there may be a formatting problem.

An external hard drive connected to a laptop.

You’ll need toformat the driveproperly to suit your machine.

Learninghow to format a hard driveis easy.

Why Consider Using an Internal Drive Externally?

Windows 10 dialog on how to handle a new hard drive.