• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Can a desktop SATA HD be connected to a laptop internally?

C

chrstrbrts

Senior member
Hello,

I was wondering whether or not it's possible to connect a desktop SATA HD to a laptop motherboard SATA connector internally.

I know that I can connect an HD externally with a SATA to USB converter.

But I want to run the OS stored on the desktop HD on the laptop, and as far as I know an external USB connection won't support the required data transfer rate.

So, I want to know if there is some sort of female SATA to male SATA cable that will let me attach the desktop drive to the laptop's SATA connector.

Thanks.
 
Wouldn't be a lot easier and no risk of breaking the laptop to run this HDD in another desktop? If you don't have a spare desktop you could probably buy an old second hand one off ebay for the price of any parts you may need to mackle an adapter up.

Or could you look at virtualising the HDD?
 
Coup27 said:
Wouldn't be a lot easier and no risk of breaking the laptop to run this HDD in another desktop? If you don't have a spare desktop you could probably buy an old second hand one off ebay for the price of any parts you may need to mackle an adapter up.

Or could you look at virtualising the HDD?
Click to expand...

Perhaps.

So, you're saying that it can't be done?
 
I'm not saying it cannot be done but I believe you're going to have to mackle something together to do it and there's no guarantee it will work.

I think you're better off looking for a desktop or into virtualising the HDD.

I also presume you are aware that if you boot an installation on a different machine than the one you installed it on you are going to get a load of errors?
 
Last edited:
The sata connection is the same, but I doubt that most laptops are designed to supply the extra power needed by 3.5" drives, let alone have the physica space to hold the larger device.
 
Why not just clone the desktop 3.5-in SATA drive to a 2.5-in SATA drive and be done with it? OTOH, the chances of your desktop OS running the laptop are slim and none.
 
corkyg said:
OTOH, the chances of your desktop OS running the laptop are slim and none.
Click to expand...
Agreed. OP - something like vmware converter will take a physical machine and virtualise it and will deal with the dissimilar hardware issue you will have trying to run the OS in a machine other than what it was installed on. I don't think vmware converter is free but there maybe some free open source programs if you look around.

You could possibly do something with an imaging program like Acronis True Image which allows a restoration to dissimilar hardware. I've never used that feature myself so I can't tell you how well it works.
 
Been there, done that (well, tried anyways) on more than 1 occasion....

It's just not worth the trouble, and not always gonna work depending on how the connectors in the lapper are situated.

Plus the issues with bios/firmware/drivers/licensing/power requirement differences etc make it even more of a PiTa 😀
 
The answer is no (probably). The 2.5" Laptop drives (and SSDs) only use +5V. 3.5" Desktop drives also require +12V. The SATA connector may have pinouts for the +12V, but I'd be shocked if your average laptop actually have +12V running to the actual SATA connector on the motherboard. There wouldn't be any reason to do so. I did once try to connect a 3.5" drive to a laptop that had it's SATA cable seperate from the motherboard, and it didn't even spin up so that basically confirmed my suspicion (for that model anyway). At the very least, if it actually DOES have +12v, I doubt they can supply the amperage required to run a desktop drive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top