can I replace any hard drive in a usb 3.0 portable enclosure?

[holden j caufield]

Hi I have a few portable usb 3.0 enclosures with 750 to 1.5 tb hard drives in them. I now need a bigger hd to put in my laptop optical bay. Can I just take out those usb hard drives (pretty sure I can) and replace them with any 2.5 500gb sata drive (I have plenty of those).

I'm wondering if there is any whitelist on the usb enclosure that would prevent it from reading another manufacturers drive?

Thanks

 

[jkauff]

As long as the enclosures aren't factory-sealed, it should be easy. With USB 3.0, though, you'll be disappointed with the speed if you don't use at least a SATA 2 drive.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Are these enclosures that you have purchased separately, or integrated with the drive? Some of the integrated enclosures have drives where the USB interface comes right off of the drive, instead of having an interface converter in the enclosure. WD are known for this.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Often you can carefully crack one open and it's basically a USB to SATA converter inside with the proper plugs for a standard drive. I suppose it's possible they would do some kind of firmware lock on the drive though but if you have a portable enclosure where the drive failed it wont hurt anything to try.

Personally I'm a fan of buying a separate enclosure and separate drive that way it guarantees it will work.

 

[jkauff]

WD are known for this.

That wouldn't surprise me. I have a couple of WD MyBook drives, and the drive end of the USB cable is proprietary. There's no way to get the enclosure open to look, in any case.

 

[bryanl]

That wouldn't surprise me. I have a couple of WD MyBook drives, and the drive end of the USB cable is proprietary. There's no way to get the enclosure open to look, in any case.

I don't know about portable Mybooks, but portable Elements use standard cables with a mini USB connector at one end, the same cables included with many USB memory card readers.

As for opening the enclosure, there should be a Youtube video describing the process.

 

[holden j caufield]

got a few of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822178251

anyone one taken a part one? Seems like there are no screws(unless it's under the rubber fee).

 

[bryanl]

got a few of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822178251

anyone one taken a part one? Seems like there are no screws(unless it's under the rubber fee).

It seems you are correct: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-Lezceyh0

 

[razel]

Yes, I bought and taken apart several of those Expansion 2.5" portables. I love them. The drive inside is a standard Samsung/Seagate 9mm SATA 2.5" drive, AF format, without any NCQ restrictions unlike some Seagate's previous external drives.

The case is flimsy plastic, held on by clips. Just use a old credit card or club card to wedge a few clips loose under the seam. Wiggle that side around and you are good to go. It doesn't take much effort and you can assemble back together and still have it look new.

 

[holden j caufield]

cool thx. For some reason the drive + integrated enclosure is cheaper than some bare drives.