You just replaced him hard drive σας στον υπολογιστή σας, και έχετε στα χέρια σας ένα παλιό, φαινομενικά άχρηστο, γυμνό σκληρό δίσκο. Μην το πετάξετε!
It takes little money and little effort and knowledge to convert an old (or new) hard disk to an external drive. Let's see how:
Why Obtain an External Hard Drive?
Κατ ‘αρχάς γιατί μπορείτε!. Είναι εξαιρετικά φθηνό να το χρησιμοποιήσετε ως εξωτερική μονάδα, δεδομένου ότι το μεγαλύτερο κόστος ενός συστήματος εξωτερικού δίσκου το κατέχει ο disc και το μικρότερο κόστος έως ασήμαντο το κατέχει η θήκη. Μπορείτε δηλαδή να πάτε μέχρι το κοντινό σας κατάστημα ηλεκτρονικών ειδών και να αγοράσετε μία θήκη με κόστος που κυμαίνεται από 7 ευρώ και πάνω.
Secondly, you can get quality control and specifications with respect to the ready external hard drives. It's a common secret in the hardware industry that ready-made external hard drives rarely contain premium drives, and even if you like a particular company and you only equip your system with it, it does not mean that if you buy a ready-made foreign hard drive of the company will get the mattress of its materials. If you use an old hard drive or even buy a new hard disk you know exactly what you are getting.
Third, if you have a disk that contains data that you want to retrieve, you can easily use the outer shell to mount the hard disk and recover it. Of course, you can place the drive internally on your computer, but it is a bit more time-consuming, and it's likely that it can not be performed on some machines. And, on most laptops, it's impossible to add an extra indoor unit.
Finally, you will buy a case that will have a long-term value, since you can place inside it any unit you want. When you buy a ready outdoor unit, the case is in perfect combination with the hard drive it carries inside it and sometimes it is literally glued together. You can not just open the case of a Western Digital MyBook and put any old unit you have. So when you want to upgrade your external drive to another time, all you have to do is replace the disc rather than buy a whole new product.
With all this in mind, let's see how you will make an assessment of your old disc and thoughts about choosing the case.
Select the disc
If in your drawers you have a stack of old drives that dust off by taking up space in your office and thinking of buying a case for one of them, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Your primary concern when reusing an old hard drive is to find someone who is in good standing. You should definitely check the SMART settings (a procedure similar to your HDD health history). If it turns out the unit has a lot of red flags, like thousands of damaged areas, you have to forget it and go to the next disk or buy a new one.
A very good free program that can directly check your disk status is CrystalDiskInfo
Select the case
Hard drives come in two sizes. In the form of 3,5″ usually intended for machinedesktop computers and are about the size of an average paperback novel. They are larger than those used in laptops, but are relatively cheaper for the amount of storage they can hold. They also require an external power source, which means you'll need to plug their external case into an outlet on your wall.
SSDs and mechanical hard drives for laptops come in a 2,5 μορφή format. These discs are about the size of a smartphone. Most 2.5 δίσ disks generally do not require an external power supply, so their cases can only contain one cable that connects to your computer and carries data and power.
The downside to these discs is that they usually have a smaller capacity (or if you want much more expensive in terms of capacity - price), and unlike 3,5 δίσ discs which have a set height, 2,5 δίσ discs can be 7 mm, 9,5 mm, even 12,5 mm high.
You realize that you need to identify the type of hard drive you have in your hands and buy the corresponding case.
Disk speed and capacity
Since you will probably have to connect the external hard drive via USB, driving speed will not make a huge difference in terms of performance. Technically, RPMs will have a small advantage over USB 3.0 connections (especially when searching for and recording too many small files), but for most people this difference is possibly negligible.
Drive speed is a factor in terms of wear and tear on the drive, however, since faster drives generate more heat. If you have several candidate drives to externalize then go for one with one slow speed (such as 5400 RPM) since you have a great chance of increasing the life of your disc over discs with higher spin speeds (such as 7200 and 10.000 RPM).
If your drive is rarely used, such as making copies security of the files once a month then the speed discrimination (and consequent heat) is not an issue. If you intend to use the drive continuously, then choose a slower disk.
Now, on the issue of disk capacity, there is only one real constraint you need to know. Old 2.0 cases do not have the hardware / firmware to support larger drives, so keep in mind for large discs (2TB +), prefer a newer technology case.
Interface
We are finished with this annoyance and most people are no longer a subject. Hard disks are internally connected to a computer either via a PATA or a SATA connection.
Οι συνδέσεις PATA (επίσης γνωστή ως ide) κυριάρχησε στην αγορά σκληρού δίσκου από τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1980 και μέχρι περίπου το 2005, και είχε μία μεγάλη συνδεσμοσειρά από ακίδες που έμοιαζε με ένα καλώδιο εκτυπωτή, όπως φαίνεται στον κάτω δίσκο της παραπάνω εικόνας. Επίσης στην άκρη του είχε και ένα πολύ μεγάλο βύσμα για την τροφοδοσία. Οι SATA που εισήχθησαν το 2003 και τώρα κυριαρχούν στην αγορά διαθέτουν ένα διπλό πολύ κοκαλιάρικο μακρόστενο βύσμα, όπως φαίνεται στην φωτογραφία πάνω από τον PATA σκληρό δίσκο. Τα δεδομένα μεταφέρονται στο στενό βύσμα και η παροχή μεταφέρεται μέσω του μεγαλύτερου βύσματος.
Οι πιθανότητες είναι να έχετε ένα δίσκο SATA, δεδομένου ότι είναι παλιός και μεταχειρισμένος except αν πρόκειται για μια νεότερη μονάδα που χρησιμοποιείται σε ένα πολύ παλιό υπολογιστή. Αλλά ελέγξτε τον δίσκο σας και συγκρίνετέ τον με την παραπάνω εικόνα, πριν αρχίσετε να ψάχνετε για ένα case.
Choosing the case
Μόλις εντοπισετε όλα τα σχετικά characteristics του hard disk σας, ήρθε η ώρα να αγοράσετε μία συμβατή θήκη. Κατά την επίσκεψή σας στο κατάστημα ηλεκτρονικών ειδών καλό θα ήταν να έχετε υπόψη σας τα παρακάτω. Αν και ο στόχος μας είναι να σας εκπαιδεύσουμε ως καταναλωτή, ώστε να μπορείτε να επιλέξετε ακριβώς τη σωστή θήκη για τις ανάγκες σας, δεν πρέπει να σας αφήσουμε ανενημέρωτους για το τι υπάρχει στα ράφια των καταστημάτων και γιαυτό έχουμε συμπεριλάβει μία ενότητα για ειδικές θήκες που σας προτείνουμε.
Interior Interface και μέγεθος δίσκου: Κατά την αγορά για μία εξωτερική θήκη για ένα hard disk, η πρώτη σκέψη σας είναι ότι πρέπει να επιλέξετε ένα περίβλημα του οποίου η σύνδεση να ταιριάζει στο interface και στο μέγεθος του δίσκου σας. Έχετε ένα φορητό σκληρό δίσκο 2,5″ με μια σύνδεση SATA τότε θέλετε μία θήκη για SATA 2,5. Αν έχετε ένα παλιό δίσκο 3.5″ με μια σύνδεση PATA τότε χρειάζεστε μία θήκη που υποστηρίζει 3,5 PATA / IDE .
Finally, those of you who buy a case for a 2.5 ″ disc should consider the aforementioned disc height version. Check the fine print on your case to see if the drive bay can accommodate 12,5mm, 9,5mm or 7mm discs, or all or some of the above. Fortunately, 12,5mm discs are quite rare, and almost every 2.5 λειτουργεί case works with both 9,5mm and 7mm thick discs.
External Interface: Secondly, it is important to match external interfaces. Do you want to connect your case via USB 3.0 via FireWire via an eSATA port (which is very fast but not available on multiple computers)?
In the photo above you can see a variety of common types of interface: on the left we have a 2,5 θ case with micro-B socket, in the center we have a bulky case that has a USB 2.0 type B connection and an eSATA, and finally on the left we have a 3.5 θ case with a USB 3.0 type B connection. Note that 3,5 ″ drives have a power outlet as they need enough power to run desktops.
Above all, carefully check the specifications of the case you are buying to ensure you get exactly what you need. Usually cheap cases may seem an opportunity until you realize that they are so cheap because they only contain a USB 2.0 connection.
Enclosure - Material: Hard disk cases come in two materials: plastic and metal. For infrequent and short-term use, it does not matter what material the housing is made of. But for outdoor units that will have a lot of use (especially if you plan to leave them on all day), a metal construction turns the housing into a large hard drive heatsink and is a must. Heat is the enemy of all electronics and every detail that can keep your hard drive cool is worth it.
So if you use your outer disk for long-term gaming sessions then an aluminum case makes fantastic heat dissipation. For short periods of backup, plastic housings are not particularly disturbing in terms of heat dissipation.
Finally, we suggest that you eliminate the thought of buying metal material for reasons of "durability". You will simply waste money without result. Think about the chances of accidentally dropping your external hard drive from your desk to the floor.
Αντί να πληρώσετε παραπανίσια λεφτά για μεταλλική protection από τις τοπικές πτώσεις ξοδέψτε αυτά τα χρήματα για να αγοράσετε μία κοκάλινη θήκη μεταφοράς όπου έχετε περισσότερες πιθανότητες να σας πέσει από τα χέρια κατά την μεταφορά τους από το σπίτι σας στο σπίτι του φίλου σας.
The alternative: Docks and Tethers
There are some separate hardware hardware solutions for external hard drives and it would be a failure to mention you. These are the docks and the Tethers cable. While a suitable case is designed for long and long-term use, sometimes you just want to run your old discs for fast reading or copying. In addition, Docks support multiple sizes of hard drives and often include features such as full copying with a click in case you want to clone a drive.
Επίσης αυτές οι λύσεις είναι ιδανικές για να κάνετε αντικατάσταση ενός σκληρού δίσκου τους συστήματός σας απλά κλωνοποιώντας τον και χωρίς σχεδόν καθόλου downtime παρά μόνο μία επανεκmovement. Τα εξαρτήματα αυτά δεν παρέχουν προστασία στην μονάδα (γενικά δεν περικλείουν πανταχόθεν τον hard disk με αποτέλεσμα να σκονίζεται και να είναι ευπαθής στο νερό).
Last Thought: At the end of your market research, you should not be afraid to spend some extra euros for better opportunities. The difference between an old USB 2.0 model with outdated features from a newer improved company model with a USB 3.0 connection, large disk support, and more is almost always a round of 5-10 euros. It's worth the extra cost and you'll understand when you'll need three hours more to transfer your movies with a USB 2.0
Place
If you have understood all of the above regarding the type of internal connections, the types of cases, etc., then the placement is now playful. If you buy a pouch that does not require a tool then you can literally put your hard drive in the case like you put the battery on your mobile phone.
In the above photo you can see two cases that do not require a screwdriver thanks to the compact design of the SATA data and power connection. You can open the tray, pull the tray in until it snaps into place, and then put the cover back on.
If the case has screws, there are usually two that hold the case head and, just like on a desktop, another four screws to mount and secure the tray in its case. At best, you'll need a cross-stroke and extra time of sixty seconds to install the unit.
Finally, if you buy a new drive, put it in its case and plug it into your computer, and you don't see anything, don't panic. The drive is not yet formatted and so is your operating system system it will ignore it until you do something. In such cases you should format the disk with Windows Disk Manager, or Disk Utility on OSX, or use a tool like Gparted on Linux. After formatting the drive should appear just like any other drive.
