Category: Geeks r Us
Hey there folks,
So, this is a stab in the dark here, since I realize that it's hardly a common thing to do, but I was wondering if anyone here has ever used a Seagate Backup Plus external drive as a desktop internal drive? This would of course mean that the drive has been taken out of its case and put inside the computer itself. I know it's doable, because I've run into several entries on Google about it...but the one thing I can't figure out is exactly how people have done it. The main problem is that most new hard drives are connected to a motherboard by a SATA cable... But the only connection that I can see on the drive is an ESata port. Is there a SATA connection on this thing and I'm just not seeing it? Or would I have to get a Sata to ESata converter? Of course then there's the question of how to power the drive... And to make things worse, I'm pretty new when it comes to internal computer hardware and how it all fits together.
Again, I realize this is a rather unusual operation I'm trying to do here.. Still, if anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!
Rip the enclosure apart and you'll find a standard 3.5 SATA drive inside. Next, open your computer, install it into a spare drive bay and connect a SATA & power cable to it. This assumes that you:
Have a spare 3.5 drive bay. If you don't but you have a 5.25 bay you can get an adaptor to make the drive fit snuggly.
Have a spare SATA cable inside your case. This is quite unlikely so you will need to purchase one.
Have a spare 15 pin SATA connector on your power supply. If not you can get cables that take input from one SATA power connector & provide two connectors for you to connect drives to. Failing that, you could purchase a molex > SATA adaptor that converts an older 4 pin molex connector to a newer SATA one.
Have a spare SATA port on your motherboard. This is quite likely but if not you will need to purchase a SATA controlor which will in turn require a free PCIE (preferred) or PCI (slower) slot.
Have the required screws to screw the drive in place. Don't attempt to use the drive without screwing it in as long term exposure to the sort of vibrations that a loose drive will be generating will damage the drive.
If you're not confident in installing the drive yourself, it really is very easy for a sighted person to do and there are many videos on Youtube that show the process. Said sighted person doesn't have to know about computer hardware as it really isn't that hard.
Good luck & post if you run into any problems.
Additionally, depending on how the drive is formatted & the bridge in the enclosure, when installed internally you may loos access to your data. If this happens, remove the drive, connect it to the enclosure, backup the data, reinstall the drive, remove then recreate your partition/s then copy the data back over. The older the drive the less likely that this will happen.
Thanks so much for the reply! That at least helps me with the installation side of things. The thing is, I took the drive out of its enclosure, but the only connecter on the drive itself is an ESata port, not Sata. Do you think the ESata connecter can be removed? Would there be a Sata port hiding behind it? That's what's gotten me truly confused at this point.
Sounds like the bridgeboard on the drive is still connected; try pulling it off. It's going to be incredibley hard for me to give you instructions given that I don't have the drive infront of me & without meaning to cause offence it seems like you haven't felt an internal hard drive before.
If it can't be pulled off, it may be attached to some plastic / metal runs that will be screwed onto the sides of the drive. If you have sighted help, it might be worth doing a Google image search for a hard drive so that they will know what a drive is meant to look like. Using said photo as a comparison, said sighted person could determin what part of your drive is different and if it can be removed.
Good luck.
No offense taken at all. It's true, I've never done anything like this before. I'm a moderate to advanced user on the software side of computers, but when it comes to hardware... Not so much. Anyways, I'm gonna try to take this drive apart again and see if I can remove the bridgeboard. Will keep you posted. Thanks so much for all your help!
Well, at long last, I've finally managed to get my drive installed and operational inside my computer! IT turns out I was actually being stupid... The port which I thought was ESata were actually two ports right next to one another... Anyways, I got the right cables in, screwed it into place on its bay, and voila! Slowing storage drive humming along next to my primary but tiny SSD drive. Thanks so much for all the help!