Take apart USB hard drive/use it as main hdd

[aldernon]

well i got my new build from new egg, but they shipped my hdd differently, and due to the long weekend, i wont get it for a week...

instead of buying a new sata drive locally, im thinking i have a 750 gig lacie usb hard drive. Is there any way i can use it as a temp disk to install windows on? ALSO, has anyone ever taken one apart and used it as an internal drive? Isnt it just a sata disk with a board on it to give usb connectivity?

Thanks!

 

[hikaricloud]

Should be a SATA drive. Not sure how to take apart that specific drive, though.

 

[aldernon]

i love this forum, because right after i ask a question i just run off and figure out a solution before i check to see anyones replies

I took the thing apart and it is infact sata2, and im trying to install vista64 now.
Ill post back with results.

 

[hikaricloud]

Lol, nice. Good luck.

 

[zedman3d]

Let us know what brand of HDD is inside that Lacie too if you can. Thanks.

 

[aldernon]

its a samsung. The windows install is being VERY slow tho... im not sure whats causing it. Its progressing, but the loads between prompts are a few minutes. Would this be the hard drive maybe? its 7200 RPM, 3gbs sata2. Bought it this year.

 

[Burn]

i did the same thing with my 500 gig, works like a charm

 

[aldernon]

yeah, it all worked fine. Dont know what vista's problem was when i was installing, but its all good now =D

 

[saltynay]

normally the drives they put into external harddrives are a lot slower then there standard internal models as its a usb bandwidth it doesn't matter that its a slower drive. If its going to be your main OS drive then I wouldn't reccomend you use it permanently as it will be generally slower then the one you have ordered. As a temporary fix though its ideal and you can use drive imaging software to transfer your install onto the new drive once it comes.

 

[hikaricloud]

^^ I second that.