Member Avatar for Member #5309

Hello all,
Been a lurker here for a while now, and decided to join in. I'm always finding good info here. I have a friend who has a spare 80G SATA internal drive from his desktop pc. He wants to use it for an external backup with his laptop. I figure he has to get an enclosure for the drive so as to have power to it..,and a SATA card for the laptop. But I don't use laptops and am not up on all the hardware -software for them. Does anyone know how to convert a drive over like this? Or do you know of any hardware we can use to do this.
Thnx in advance for any info on this. Much appreciated. Hawk

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Dani AI

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Practical checklist and tips that build on ’s thread and ’s idea, with focus on the parts people often miss.

Most desktop 80GB spinners are 3.5" drives and need a 12V supply—they will NOT run from a single USB port. That makes a powered 3.5" enclosure or a powered docking station the simplest, safest route. A 2.5" laptop drive is frequently bus-powered over USB, but a desktop drive is not. Extending internal SATA/power cables outside a laptop (the fun hack mentioned) works physically but is unreliable and risky for the drive and laptop — avoid that for anything important.

Practical options (ranked by convenience):

  • Powered 3.5" external enclosure: protects the drive and gives a stable power brick.
  • USB-to-SATA bridge plus separate 12V adapter: cheaper, good for temporary use.
  • Docking station: great if you swap drives frequently.
  • eSATA/Thunderbolt enclosure or adapter: use when the laptop supports those for better throughput; check drivers.

Quick step-by-step:

  • Confirm drive form factor (2.5" vs 3.5") and whether it contains data you need. Back it up before doing any format.
  • Choose an enclosure/dock/adapter that explicitly supports 3.5" SATA and supplies 12V.
  • Install the drive into the enclosure/dock, attach the power brick, connect to the laptop.
  • On Windows use Disk Management to assign a letter or format (NTFS for Windows-only, exFAT for cross-platform). On macOS use Disk Utility. Run a S.M.A.R.T. check to verify drive health before using it for backups.

Troubleshooting notes: if the drive spins but isn’t seen, check power, try another USB port or cable, and test the drive in a desktop. If the laptop owner already bought a multi-drive SATA card, confirm its form factor (ExpressCard/PC Card) and driver compatibility before relying on it—often the external route is simpler and more portable.

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Member Avatar for 1o0oBhP

Not thought about extending the cables with electric cabling? If you extend the SATA cabling and the power wiring theoretically you could then have a internal drive OUTSIDE of the laptop case. Though you'd have to sort out covering the unit and making allowance for the wires to exit the case somehow! You could BUY an external HD but wheres the fun in that! :)

Member Avatar for Member #5309

Thnx for the reply 1o0oBhP. I think I've got it figured out for him. He bought a 2 drive sata card for the laptop and I gave him a couple sites for HD enclosures. Appreciate the input.

Member Avatar for 1o0oBhP

smart move. Though i would be go custom for the enclosures as I like things to stand out! What storage does this laptop boast now?

Member Avatar for Member #5309

I'm not sure what he's running in it now. He never did say. But, I assume that he wants more space because of his asking about adding the ext HD. I'ts one of our members at icrontic.com where I post news and am a mod. He hasn't posted back yet, to tell us if he's got it set up. I try to ask for feedback on things like this so I know if I've helped or hindered the proccess.

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