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todd · 11-15-2005, 09:39 PM

I'm a little confused about how exactly an external hard drive encloser works, and what you use it for (other than a perminant external hard drive).

I have 2 hard drives in my computer, one 40 gig and one 20 gig. I'm going to be doing a bit of traveling, and would like to take all my files with me and be able to access them on any other computer. My first thought was to see if there was such thing as just some kind of cable that turns IDE into USB. But then I got to thinking, what about an external enclosure?

How exactly does an external enclosre work? Do I just pop my hard drive in there connecting it to an IDE slot, then pop the USB cord into a computer? Will any normal hard drive work, or do you need a special "external" formatted drive to put in there? Is it ok to use these enclosures for a temporary solution (like a week or so) before returning them back into my computer?

Also, would a normal desktop hard drive fit in a 2'' enclosure, or would a 3.5'' be needed?

Thanks a lot!

11-15-2005, 09:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
todd Addict Location: Chicago	External enclosure = portable HD? I'm a little confused about how exactly an external hard drive encloser works, and what you use it for (other than a perminant external hard drive). I have 2 hard drives in my computer, one 40 gig and one 20 gig. I'm going to be doing a bit of traveling, and would like to take all my files with me and be able to access them on any other computer. My first thought was to see if there was such thing as just some kind of cable that turns IDE into USB. But then I got to thinking, what about an external enclosure? How exactly does an external enclosre work? Do I just pop my hard drive in there connecting it to an IDE slot, then pop the USB cord into a computer? Will any normal hard drive work, or do you need a special "external" formatted drive to put in there? Is it ok to use these enclosures for a temporary solution (like a week or so) before returning them back into my computer? Also, would a normal desktop hard drive fit in a 2'' enclosure, or would a 3.5'' be needed? Thanks a lot!