Most people use more than one computer (work and home for example) so it is necessary to have disks where the most important files or backups of photos, videos and images are stored. Obviously to obtain maximum space we can "transform" a computer hard disk into an external USB disk, so as to carry around all the files whatever the computer is used. In this guide we will show you all the methods to connect a hard disk to the computer via USB, without having to open the case every time to mount it inside (which is even more difficult in the case of laptops). We will first show you the differences between the form factors of the disks, then we will find various cables and devices that we can use to be able to transform a common hard disk into an external USB disk, connectable to any computer.
Types of hard drives
The first thing to know is that computer hard drives can come in two different forms: 2.5 "and 3.5" disks . After extracting or recovering an old disk, the first thing to do is identify it.
- 2.5 "discs are generally less than 3 centimeters thick and are designed to fit inside a laptop.
- The 3.5 "disks are larger and thicker, are over 3 centimeters thick and are designed to be placed inside a fixed PC.
By now only SATA disks are available, so in the rest of the guide we will show you the adapters and tools to be used to convert the SATA connector into a simple USB cable, thus connectable to any free USB port on the computer.
The only recommendation concerns the supply of energy: the 2.5-inch disks consume little and can be powered by any USB port, while the 3.5-inch disks require more electricity, therefore they should only be connected to USB 3.0 ports or we will have to use an additional USB cable only for energy (there are often Y cables with two USB sockets, one for data transfer and the other for power supply).
SATA-USB adapters
SATA disks, whatever size they have, are however all with the same attachment so they can be easily connected to any PC or laptop also via USB-SATA adapter . Keep in mind that any hard disk can be treated as an external disk without problems.
The simplest tools we can use to connect disks to the PC via USB are the SATA-USB adapters : to use them, simply connect them to the SATA connector of the hard disk and use the other end on any USB port on the computer. Often these adapters have a Y cable, so we will need two USB ports to connect the disk, or a power outlet (to be connected to a wall outlet).
There are also connectors called eSATA used for external hard drives but they are not very efficient because they lack power.
The best models of SATA-USB adapters are:
- Sabrent USB 3.0 SATA Hard Drive Adapter (9 €)
- Inateck USB 3.0 to SATA III Adapter for HDD SSD Hard Disks (10 €)
- UGREEN USB 3.0 to SATA adapter Supports UASP for HDD / SSD (18 €)
- Inateck - USB 3.0 to SATA converter adapter (19 €)
USB HDD CASE
From what has been said it is quite clear that a hard disk is always the same, both internal and external.
The only extra thing you buy when buying an external hard drive is the case, the box that contains the hard drive.
So, if you had an old disk and wanted to transform it into an external hard disk, all you have to do is buy it a case with USB connection that is found quite easily on Amazon for around 20 Euros.
Alternatively, if you already have an external disk, you can safely disassemble it, remove it from the case and insert another hard disk, perhaps temporarily to access the data. Even if it were not the same size, you can leave it open for the occasion.
The most convenient tool to reuse an old disk as an external USB disk, therefore, is an HDD case, also called HDD Enclosure .
To use the case, simply insert the disk into the plastic and metal body, close and use the included USB cable: in a few seconds we will have created our external hard disk and, compared to the simple adapter, the disk remains less exposed to shocks.
The best USB HDD cases for 2.5-inch drives are:
- EasyULT External Hard Drive Case 2.5 "(8 €)
- AmazonBasics - 2.5-inch SATA hard drive bay ($ 12)
- UGREEN External Hard Drive Case for USB C 3.1 Gen 2 (16 €)
- ELUTENG External Hard Disk Box for SATA HDD and SSD, USB Type C (17 €)
If instead we have a hard drive for PCs, let's see together the best USB HDD cases for 3.5-inch drives :
- LOETAD Case Hard Disk 3.5 '/ 2.5' USB 3.0 with USAP (€ 16)
- ORICO - 3.5-inch external hard drive case (19 €)
- Salcar - External USB 3.0 case for SATA hard drives (€ 20)
- UGREEN Hard Disk Case 3.5 '' and 2.5 '' Up to 10TB USB 3.0 (€ 23)
Docking station
The last type of tool we want to advise you to connect disks to your PC via USB is the disk docking station . It looks like a device with numerous slots at the top, where we can insert the disks from the side of the SATA connector (both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch disks are supported): they will fit inside and will remain in position, with half of the body exposed. All inserted disks can be managed with a single USB cable (usually USB 3.0), but will be visible separately from the Windows file manager or any other operating system. It is the best solution if we have many hard drives and we have an office PC: simply place the docking station near the computer and connect the hard drives on which we have stored our files.
In addition to the connection of the disks to the PC, the most advanced docking stations have an integrated cloning system, with which it is possible to copy all the files stored on a disk inside another disk connected to the dock, without using the PC .
The best HDD docking stations we can buy are:
- CSL-Computer Aplic - Docking Station | Clone HD Offline | USB 3.0 (€ 27)
- SALCAR USB 3.0 Offline Clone Docking Station 2-bay optimized for HDD / SSD Hard Disk (29 €)
- TECKNET USB 3.0 Offline Clone 2-bay Hard Disk Docking Station (33 €)
- SALCAR Aluminum HDD USB Dock SATA Dual bay Super Speed USB 3.0 (44 €)
Conclusions
We showed you this article all the best tools we can use to reuse old hard drives and use them as if they were external USB drives; based on our transport needs and the type of disk we own, we can choose from time to time between adapters, HDD cases and a large docking station.In another article we showed you how to install a second hard disk inside the computer, which is ideal for automatic backups. If, on the other hand, we are looking for ready-to-use external drives that are quick to exchange data, we refer you to our guide to the Best portable external SSDs .
