How to convert an internal hard disk into an external hard disk (Samsung)

The only difference between an internal and external hard disk is the casing for the external one. This means an external hard disk is not actually screwed inside your computer casing and stays in there while it is used as the computer's storage and boot media. Instead, it is inside a plastic casing (just like a small book) that has a USB and 12-volt power supply inputs. It is portable (main purpose) and you can use it as transferable storage device from one computer to another.

I have a Western Digital My Book external hard disk before. If you are reading on my previous posts, I already converted the hard disk inside it into an internal hard disk because of its storage capacity and amount of cache. However, there was an event that I needed an external hard disk. I am using my USB drive as a portable storage device but on that case, it could not hold the large file that I should be copying out from a computer. It seems that I need my external hard disk back again or not.

Because I am already using the hard disk that I removed from the My Book casing, I could not use it anymore. Therefore, I need to find another one and will try to convert it or the term should be "just putting it inside the casing." Luckily, I found an unused Samsung SATA hard drive.

BE SURE IT IS SATA

Most external hard disks are SATA drives. If you want to convert an internal, you should be sure it is SATA, not PATA (use Molex as power connector), or not IDE (using that big fat cable).

PUT IT INSIDE THE CASING

Assuming that you already tried to remove the original hard disk out of the casing, you will know how to return one. If you do not have a casing and you want to convert, you can buy one on computer shops. Putting the hard disk inside the casing is easy because it will not fit if you do it wrong. Screw it and be sure that the circuit board that contains the SATA and Power Connector is properly connected or aligned to the hard disk. It is like a Jig Saw Puzzle, so I believe you can do it just fine. Locked the casing back and you are now ready to test it.

TESTING

Be sure to have the USB connector and connect the USB interface to the computer and the other side to the external. Plug-in the 12-volt power adapter and connect it to the external in order to power it up. It has a different power source because you do not need to connect it inside the desktop. After you plug-in the USB to the computer, it should read your USB connector like you are connecting a normal USB drive. Open windows explorer and you should see your external hard drive as a removable device. You can start using it now.

IN CASE THE HARD DISK IS NOT RECOGNIZED or IMPROPER READ

If the external is not recognized, you may restart the computer, try to Boot on Safe Mode, and Repair your computer. You can also run check disk. If the storage capacity of the hard drive is not read properly, you can go to Disk Management and try to reformat it or create a new volume by deleting the previous one (if it has). You can also try Low Level Formatting to delete old partitions of the hard drive and fix some errors on it.