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How to Build an External Hard Drive

One of the simplest ways to give your laptop more hard drive space, or backup all of your important files without burning them to CD or DVD, is to build your own external hard drive. This hard drive would be able to connect to any computer with a spare USB port. You can easily as well as quickly transfer large files between computers, as well as also have a form of backup in the event something ever happens to your computer. This external hard drive will work on computers running Windows 2000/XP or Linux.

1. You must obtain an internal hard drive (from now on referred to as an HDD). The first step is to decide on one of the st as well as ard physical sizes for any HDD. If you already have a spare HDD laying around for this project, skip to step 3. There are basically 3 HDD sizes: 1.8", 2.5", as well as 3.5". 1.8" as well as 2.5" are the st as well as ard sizes for laptop HDD's. Laptop HDD's can be powered by the USB cable, so there is no AC adapter needed. Laptop HDD's are however more expensive than internal PC HDD's, so if you are not worried about size or another power cord, a desktop PC HDD may be the way to go.
2. Choose as well as purchase a compatible enclosure. Take into consideration the physical size of your HDD, as well as its interface (ATA100, ATA133, Serial ATA150, Serial ATA II, etc.). Decide on a connection type that suits the needs of all computers that will be connected. USB2.0 is currently a good st as well as ard, as well as it will work on any computer or laptop with a free USB connection. FireWire (IEEE1394) is even faster, however it is not as common in all computers yet. Be sure to also compare fan noise levels (if it has a fan, as well as if the noise level is displayed). For a HDD that will be running whenever your computer is turned on, a fan will be most likely a good thing to have, while HDD's used primarily for backup usually won't need one. Also check to see if there is a power switch on 3.5" enclosures. Without one, you will need to unplug the adapter to power down the drive. For backup this isn't a big deal, but some people using their drive for secondary storage might find it annoying to plug as well as unplug every time they start as well as shut down their computers.
3. Unwrap both your enclosure as well as HDD.
4. Follow your instructions on how to correctly open your enclosure.
5. Set your HDD to the Master setting (or Master/No Slave if one exists). This jumper setting is located between the Molex power connector (4 large round pins) as well as the ATA/SATA connector. You will see 2 rows of four or five small pins, as well as a small clip (jumper) connected to 2 of them. Pull out the jumper with a tool such as tweezers or a pencil, as well as place it in the Master position if it is not already there. A diagram of the different jumper settings can usually be found right on the top label of the HDD.
6. Connect your enclosure's Molex power connector as well as ATA/SATA ribbon cable to your HDD. Although it would be very hard to accidentally plug these in upside-down, take a moment to make sure that the ribbon cable as well as power connector are properly aligned before inserting them.
7. Screw the HDD into the enclosure. 4 or more screws were supplied with the enclosure. There will be 4 holes, 2 on each side of the HDD, as well as corresponding holes inside the enclosure.
8. Take one last look at the inside before you close it. Make sure you did not forget to connect anything. Read your instructions (you HAVE been reading them too, havent you? :) as well as make sure you covered all of the steps. It will be a pain to open it all over again because you forgot to change the jumper to Master or something.
9. Close the enclosure.
10. Connect the power cord (if one is necessary) as well as the USB or FireWire cord to your drive.
11. USB as well as FireWire are Plug- as well as -Play, meaning that you do not need to turn off the computer before connecting your drive. Connect the other ends of these cords to your computer as well as surge protector (you ARE using a surge protector, right? :).
12. Turn your computer on if it is not already. Go to My Computer. It is most likely on your desktop, but can also be found in the Start menu in Windows XP.
13. You should see a new device in the 'Devices with Removable Storage' section.
14. Right click on it as well as select Format (about half way down the list).
15. Format the drive using NTFS as the File System, as well as you can give it a Volume Label if you wish. Example: External, Secondary, Backup, etc. Be sure Quick Format is not selected. This will allow any bad sectors to be recognized as well as to be roped off from any data being stored later on.
16. Wait for formatting to complete. This may take longer for large drives.
17. Good Job! You have successfully built your own external hard drive.

• This wiki can also easily be applied to adding a Zip Drive, CD ROM/Burner, or DVD ROM/Burner. CD/DVD ROM's/Burners will only be supported by the 5.25" enclosure size. This enclosure size is special because it also supports HDD's. A Zip drive is 3.5" so you will need a bezel (sometimes supplied with your enclosure, but otherwise only a few dollars) to fill the void around the smaller drive as well as secure it to the enclosure. The drives mentioned here all can use a variety of ribbon cables as well as power connector sizes, so make sure your enclosure is compatible with the hardware you will insert.
• If your new drive has both USB as well as FireWire, only use one (the fastest one compatible with your computer(s)). If you are using USB, plug your cord in to your computer's USB High Speed (2.0) connector. If you do not have a High Speed connector, or use the wrong one, it will only mean that you will be transferring data more slowly between the drive as well as your computer.

• Make sure your enclosure has no HDD capacity limit (no larger than a certain number of Gigabytes (GB)), or that this limit does not conflict with your drive's capacity. Unfortunately, some older enclosures may have a somewhat low limit (say 132GB) as well as not advertise this. Be careful! And if you attempt to use a larger HDD, format it to this limit or lower, or you will most likely encounter sector read errors or something :(
• Never force the ribbon cable! There should be some resistance when connecting it, but if it won't go in, the pins may not be lined up correctly. If you do manage to bend the pins (hopefully not too many of them), take time to pry them back into place with a screw driver or something.
• You should always use all 4 screws when adding a HDD to any computer or enclosure, as well as make them tight. HDD's spin at a high RPM, as well as vibrations may occur if the drive is not properly secured. These vibrations can cause an annoying humming noise, as well as even damage to the drive over time.
• Keep movement of the drive to a minimum while it is turned on. This once again causes unnecessary vibrations.
• HDD's are very easy to break when dropped on to a hard floor or desk. The platters inside will shatter just like glass upon a large enough impact, as well as the small moving parts inside could also become jimmied. Keep your drive away from the very edge of your desk, as well as be careful when transporting it.

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Added: Thu Feb 02 2006

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