Hi. I'm new here, and still relatively new with computer hardware. I just recently came across a spare Hard Drive that my friend didn't want any more. It still works but it hasn't been formatted so it still has an OS and a bunch of files etc. I've been looking to get a portable storage device as something to keep files on when I reformat my computer (instead of going through the tedious process of burning dozens of GBs worth of files onto discs). Since I'm a cheap bastard, though, I was thinking there might be some way to convert my new spare HD into a portable storage device. So to be more concise, how should I go about wiping all the crap off of the spare HD (if possible without going through the rigamarole of installing it into my PC) and, once I get the crap off, is there any way to turn it into a portable storage device? Thanks in advance Oh, thought I shuold mention the specs of the HD in case its important- The SpinPoint V60 series embraces a micro-processor which has a Dual DSP (Digital Signal Processor) function and improves data processing capacity drastically as compared to current products, through parallel processing of HDD data and Servo signal. Formatted Capacity = 60GB Dual DSP (Digital Signal Processor) Ultra DMA-100 Compatible 5,400 rpm Spindle Speed 8.9 ms Average Seek Time S.M.A.R.T. Compliant InpacGuard™ NoiseGuard™ SilentSeek™ Thats from the samsung website. The HD has WinXP Home on it too, if thats important.
if your talkin abotu an internal drive. there is not a way to like plug it into the back of your puter and it there like a real external. you have to open up your puter plug in power and ide cable. the drive will show up in my computer. you can just select all the crap and right click and hit delete. so if u want to hook it up to power and ide everytime u use a computer. sure it will work. otherwise not really.
I haven't used them myself but, as per below, there are kits available that can convert an IDE hard-drive into a hot-swappable external storage device. Try these for starters: http://www.lockstep.com/Backup/support-set-up-removable-hard-drive.html http://hardryve.blogspot.com/2005/05/vantec-ez-swap-sata-aluminum-mobil.html http://www.addonics.com/products/hd.asp http://www.usbgear.com/usbgear-usb-drive-enclosure.html http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004Y2P5/002-2481835-1929628?v=glance http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/prices.aspx?itemId=1713986&stext= And I'm sure there are many others.
you can use one of these http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__AMS_...External_Enclosure_Model_DS2316B2BK,__6939243 most of the external enclosures are crap but this is really awesome
carrying on with this toppic.... i have a 30 gig external drive (from a laptop held in a case that converts it to usb2) everything works fine. But of course there is a security issue, all someone else needs to do is plug it in to any computer and all the files are accessable- does anyone know of a way to secure this data easily? TIA!
