Porch Enclosure

I pulled out hard drive on my Compaq Presario 2100 laptop to retrieve the files off it. I got a 2.5" IDE HDD enclosure for it and it doesn’t fit! Did I buy the wrong one or am I doing something wrong? Please any help! Thanks!
What doesn’t fit is the conectors /slots. The one on the enclosure looks like pins fit into it. The one on the hard drive doesnt have pins, but a slot.

before you purchased a parts or hardware for the replacement for your laptop, you must bring the damage hardware to the store so they can refer what kind of hardware you can purchased and replaced.. then you might need a computer technician to do the replacement because we technician have a proper procedure in assemble and disassemble a system machine hardware.. we prevent the ESD.. the virus comes from your body.. if the ESD from your body goes to the hardware you bought even though it is a brandnew.. it might be damage.. before you hold the hardware you must first hold a metal object for the ESD..hope that helps..

My problem is i cant access my laptop so i’ am planning to buy an enclosure so i can copy the files on my hard disk . what if their is an installed windows xp which expired that’s the reason why i cant access my laptop. is it possible that the time i plug it on other laptop it will only function as a external device and can i copy my files? does it not affect the performance of the other laptop?
please help

Yes - you can buy an external enclosure and use your old hard drive as a portable hard drive. Just make sure you get the right type of enclosure (IDE or SATA) that matches your hard drive.

An expired (i.e. unauthorized) version of Windows on that external drive won’t cause a problem. It’s just another set of files as far as your running computer is concerned.

If you just need to get the files off an old disk, and don’t want to make a portable drive out of it, there’s an excellent general purpose adapter that works with any type of laptop/desktop/IDE/SATA drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156102

i want an external enclosure with a *fan* and can’t seem to find one for a 2.5 hard drive. so i figured i would just get one for a 3.5 hard drive. that way i can use it with all my hard drives, but i don’t know if that will work.

What type of harddrive do you have ?
PATA (IDE) drives connector are different between the 2.5" and the 3.5". But on SATA drives they’re the same.

So you can run 2.5" SATA drives in 3.5" enclosures, but not if you have PATAs (IDEs)

I have an Intel 40Gb SSD and I am wondering if I can use it in a USB 2.5" external enclosure. I don’t want to use it as a boot drive, just to hold programs to carry for install onto other systems. Thanks.
@Shukui: All SSDs are SATA…and it will be great when some USB 3 externals come out.

As long as your enclosure is SATA compatible, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t use an SSD in an external enclosure, the let down will be write and read performance because if it’s over USB 2.0 your limited to the specifications of the standard although if you have the ability to use eSATA you will definitely get more speed out of it although regardless you will never see the true power of an SSD while it’s external.

I have a hard drive from my broken laptop that I have moved over into an HDD external enclosure but can not access my files.
I have moved a hard drive from a broken laptop to and external enclosure and I can not seem to access the files on it. I have connected it via USB and the external enclosure displays power. The PC also detects that hardware is attached.

1) When you plug it in does the drive get found by the operating system (new hardware found etc) ? If not then check all the connections.
2) If they seem ok try on another computer.
3) go to the mycompute>manage>disk manager plug in and see if you can see the disk from there, if you can then right click on it and select open.

I asked a question heard and someone suggest me to get a External Enclosure.

Question: What is a External Enclosure and what does it do?
I read that you can put a hard drive that have info in it and be able to read what is inside the hard drive

Check out for more Tips & Tricks in the Below Mentioned Blog.

I don’t believe I have any interior SATA cables and am using a new hard drive I just bought fresh out of package. I know I have to setup a partition but is there a way to do it in an external enclosure that I already own(and was planning on using to run the drive)?

I tried plugging it in and firing it up and it recognizes its a Mass storage device but cannot access it.

After connecting external HDD, go to Disk Management in Computer Management in Windows. The external drive should show up in lower right portion of Computer Management window. Right click on the drive and you will have the options to partition and format the drive. Once formatted and assigned a volume label, it should show up in upper right part as additional drive(s).

Is it just like a case for your external hard-drive? Does it do anything extra that the external hdd can’t do without it?
Oh i probably should have wikied this lol.

It has the circuitry in it that enables USB or Esata to power up and run the hard drive, and also provides protection from elements and people with peanut butter on their fingers.

You could run the hard drive outside the case, but you would have to connect it to the cables inside, including the power cable, and then, the drive would just be hanging and in the way.

So the case is not just a case, it has a small circuit board inside and a special plug to match the hard drive (IDE or SATA), so if you bought a case, it would have to match the hard drive plugs, IDE or SATA
And the case makes wiping the peanut butter off easier.

I took out the hard drive from my old apple computer. it is an maxtor Model # 5T060H6 60GB heard drive. I would like to use it as a external hard drive. I think this model is a Ultra-ATA. What type of external enclosure or dock or any way to access the Hard drive would you recommend.

I do not want to spend too much money because i already have a large external hard drive.

thank you

I believe the cheapest way would be to get a USB to IDE adapter and power supply.
See the link posted in the sources below.

I can’t sell the xbox, which is the obvious thing to do, even though I have no intention of ever putting it back together if I can use the hard drive. Please don’t even ask why. I have an empty external enclosure, but I don’t want to open up the xbox to see if it is compatible unless I know it will work. I assume someone has already done this and has the answer.

yep, its just a regular 5400rpm 3.5" drive in there