How to Connect Laptop Hard Drive to Desktop

Last Updated/Fact Checked on July 26, 2021 by Irslan

The question is “How to Connect Laptop Hard Drive to Desktop?” The master brainiest in modern times was laptop and desktop computers. All of these things offered forums for both their growth and industrial development. While the physical components operate similarly, they vary in size and other factors to comfort the user at their earnest boundary.

The laptop hard drives can be divided into three IDE, SATA, and solid-state drives (SSD and SSHD). Although these drives are commonly found in this generation, desktop motherboards are the critical challenge.

Only if the motherboard supports and offers an option to connect the hard disk can it be connected? There are chances that a laptop will seriously damage it and must recover hard disk files.

Obstacles

Previously used PS2 connector or add-on support for attaching other hardware components is not appropriate for laptop hard drives. They do not have access to laptop hard drives and endorse a maximum data transfer rate of 100 Mbps. 

The motherboard should be at least IDE and SATA compatible to connect laptop hard disks. It’s a complicated method for connecting SATA and SSD laptop hard drives to IDE compatibility only in motherboards.

Techniques involved

The laptop hard disks can be conveniently attached using connectors to the desktop motherboards. Connectors and adapters that connect laptop hard drives with the motherboards are nothing but serial busses and sync devices. There are two ways to connect the hard drives.

  • Directly with the motherboard
  • Through USB devices

The connectors and adapters used to rely on it. Suppose you can use IDE to IDE, SATA to IDE, and SSD to IDE style connector to connect if the motherboard does not have USB support. If the board supports USB, the connection is not a complicated problem, and the CPU cabinet and wiring need not be opened.


How to Connect Laptop Hard Drive to Desktop

The laptop hard disk is almost the same as the hard drive of the laptop. The only significant difference is its scale. 3.5-inch drives are used in desktop systems, while laptop makers use 2.5-inch drives to conserve space.

And because the laptop drive is much smaller than the desktop drive, it cannot be repaired and locked correctly inside the desktop drive case. Installing a laptop hard disk on a desktop device unit includes purchasing a special 2.5-inch mounting bracket.

This bracket must be mounted and locked in a place of a 3.5-inch hard drive. After that, you must climb to the bracket your 2.5-inch drive.


How to Hook Up Hard Drives on a Desktop Computer

Many computers on the desktop have several drive bays, each one with a hard drive. Typically if you have a 3.5-inch hard drive and a 3.5-inch drive bay, it slides in. However, if your drive is smaller than your bay, you will need an adapter to make it work. Internal connections are generally straightforward, with one data and one power cable required. Of course, although installing an internal drive is reasonably short, it is even easier to add storage to computers with external drives in your business – plug them in and use them.

External Drives

1) Plug the power adapter into the power outlet and plug the cable into the motor’s power input. If the drive is driven or turned on, set it to “On”. This phase can be skipped if the drive is driven by USB.

2) Link the data cable at the back of the hard disk to the corresponding port. Most of the hard drives use a USB or an external Serial Advanced Technology cable. In any case, it can be inserted only one way, so it mustn’t be forced.

3) Connect the other end of the cable on your device with the respective USB or SATA port. It’s ready for use once your computer recognizes the drive.

Internal Drives

1) Contact a metal component, like the back panel, on your computer chassis to mount and remove any static electricity from your body.

2) Shut down and unplug your computer from the wall.

3) Remove the case’s front and side cover so that internal drive bays can easily be reached.

4) Slide the new hard drive into a 3.5-inch open drive bay and lock it using four mounting screws. If you have a 2.5-inch hard drive or need a 5-inch bay for your disk, install a set of adapter rails that connect on the sides or the bottom of the drive to suit the giant bay. Then you can screw the rails into the assembly bay.

5) Attach the SATA data cable to the SATA data connector of your drive. The data connector on the back of the drive is smaller. The portion that holds the connectors inside the socket on your drive or motherboard is like a capital L with a very short tail. It prevents you from wrongly inserting the cable.

6) Attach a SATA power cable from your device’s power supply to the SATA power connector of your drive. The SATA power connector is much broader, however than the data connector. Attach a four-pin Molex-to-SATA power adapter with an overall white four-pin connector that comes from your motherboard if your power supply does not have an extra SATA power connector.

7) Attach the other end of the SATA data cable to your motherboard’s open SATA connection. If your machine’s motherboard is out of the SATA ports, a card with additional internal ports must be inserted.

8) Replace and plug in the cover of your machine. Your drive is crocheting now.


How to Connect Laptop Hard Drive to Desktop Through USB.

The laptop hard drive can be connected to the desktop computer via a USB connector, so you do not need to disassemble the disk. There are many ways to do this, but we shall tell you the three key ones in this article.

ADAPTER USING

Special adapters that allow you to connect a 2.5-inch hard drive to the USB connector can easily be found in any computer store. These adapters still have satellite connections and power connectors.

Removable CASE USING

It is similar to the previous one, except in this case you do not use an adapter but a complete case to connect your laptop drive to your desktop. You can find SATA and power connectors in such a situation.

This case must contain a hard drive, after which you only have to use the USB cable to connect the drive to the device. With a removable case, the hard drive can be attached to the machine and avoid damage if it crashes.

USING DOCKING STATION

The most fascinating and costly choice for users who frequently need to connect hard drives to a computer & you can even find docking stations that allow you to attach several 2.5 or 3.5-inch drives simultaneously. Some docking stations will enable you to connect multiple hard drives of different sizes simultaneously.

Here are the easiest ways to connect a laptop hard disk to a desktop. It is safer to have a particular docking station if you have to deal with this very often. If the laptop drive has to be permanently inserted into the device unit, the drive’s disassembly and attachment are more straightforward so that no USB connector is installed.


Connector and adapter types:

They are also available for bundling in PC hardware stores and e-commerce websites at low prices. The category is classified according to its functionality. They are IDE, IDE, SATA, IDE, USB, SATA, IDE, SATA, SATA, SATA, USB, IDE, SSD, and SATA.

Benefits:

  • Using data recovery tools at the time data recovery from the damaged laptop.
  • Although the laptop is damaged and cannot be substituted for it, it is efficient to connect HDD to the desktop PC.
  • Further disk storage space

The drawbacks:

  • The laptop can contain an entirely different operating system. A master-slave issue occurs when attaching directly to the motherboard
  • The desktop PC with USB ports in add-on cards doesn’t support USB laptop HDD
  • Connectors and adapters for laptop hard drives with eSATA and SATA technologies are challenging to locate.
  • Master-slave misunderstanding when booting two separate hard disks and operating systems

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