RE: Checklist for Reformatting

[Fred Ridder <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

In response to Diane Evans, Gene Kim-Eng wrote:
 
> I'd get an external USB enclosure. You buy the new HD,
> plug it into the laptop and configure, then plug the old HD 
> into the enclosure and into USB. Price as low as $25.
 
If your intention is to swap the drives between an external
USB enclosure and your laptop, there are two things you 
*must* pay attention to.
 
First is whether the drive in the USB enclosure is actually 
removable from the enclosure. The otherwise excellent (I
have one...) Western Digital Passport drives recommended 
in another post are *NOT* removable from their enclosure 
because the case is a very compact and close-fitting 
2-piece plastic clamshell that appears to be welded closed. 
You're almost certain to ruin the case if you tried to pry 
it apart, and there's also a pretty great risk that you'd 
damage the drive in the process, too.
 
Second is whether the drive in the USB enclosure is the 
same interface as the one in your laptop. Chances are 
good that the one in the USB box will be SATA (unless
it's a real cheapie), and if your laptop is more than 2
years old the chances are good that it uses an IDE drive.
At which point you wouldn't be able to do any swapping.
 
-Fred Ridder
 
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