reformat hdd?

[gu_10]

Hey guys, I have a seagate barracuda 160gb hard drive from an old computer of mine that i intend to use as an external hdd for my new computer, now here's my question....I was looking at some 3.5" enclosures on Newegg and i read on some reviews that you had to reformat the harddrive inorder to use the enclosure, the particular one i am talkin bout is this one, Newegg.com - Galaxy METAL GEAR Metal Gear Box II 3506UC-Black 3.5" Black USB 2.0 External Enclosure - External Enclosures

So my question, can i use my old hdd in an external enclosure without having to lose all it's contents if so, can you suggest a 3.5" enclosure that would allow me to keep all my stuff.... thanks a lot guys

 

[carnageX]

I don't see why you would need to format it... are they talking about a brand new OEM drive that needs to be formatted?

 

[gu_10]

well im not sure, but what i understood from the consumer reviews was i believe some of the cheaper models required that the harddrive be formatted in order for the computer to recognize it or something like that...

 

[ohGrFreak]

It shouldn't matter at all, I have two different external enclosures and my computers have read all sorts of HDD's from them both, formatted, unformatted, some with o/s's installed even.