Posts Tagged ‘USB Enclosure’
Posts Tagged ‘USB Enclosure’
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Hard Drive Caddy’s (sometimes also referred to as HDD cases or enclosures) are growing in popularity all the time. Not surprising really given how easy they are to use and the relatively low cost of the caddies.
Hard drive enclosures tend to be used in two different situations:
- To recover data from a salvaged hard drive and then to reuse the hard drive in the caddy to create a back up solution.
- Used in conjunction with a new hard disk drive you can create your own back up solution cheaper than you would by buying a “packaged” solution from some of the leading brands.
If you’ve bought a new PC then you must either ensure the hard disk drive in your old PC is removed and destroyed before you take it to a re-cycling centre or alternatively take it out, pop it into a caddy, format the disk and create yourself a handy and inexpensive back up solution. Whilst the hard disk you’ve salvaged might only be small in comparison to your new PC a salvaged 120GB hard disk drive will hold up to 30,000 songs, 150 hours of video, or 25,000 photos. Given you’ve got to remove the hard drive anyway it seems a real shame not to make use of it!
If you do use an enclosure with a new hard disk then you could install say a 1.5TB hard disk into the caddy thus making yourself an inexpensive back up monster.
For many the true benefit of a HDD caddy is that it enables you recover data from a hard disk taken out of an old PC. When you are using a salvaged Hard Disk Drive then if you are using an IDE, ATA or PATA Hard Disk Drives then you need to make sure that the jumper settings on the hard disk drive are set to “master” and not “cable select” or “slave”. If you don’t get the jumper settings correct then the caddy won’t be recognised when connected to the PC.
Whilst you might expect the hard disk drives to be set to “master” as by default its not always the case so its definitely worth checking the disk before you use a caddy. If you need to change the jumper settings it’s easy to do and only takes a few seconds. Most Hard Disk Drive manufactures will have put a self explanatory label on top of the hard drive showing how the jumper needs to be set up to create the “master” “slave” and “cable select” options.
Jumpers are just metal pins that have small black plastic sleeves that slot on them.
Hard disk drive caddy’s usually connect to your PC via a USB cable but there are options available that also support Firewire and e-SATA. For most USB 2.0 is all that’s needed not least because you’ll pay a premium for a caddy with a range of connection options.
When the caddy is connected to your PC via a USB cable it works in pretty much the same way that a USB flash drive works – a new drive letter is dynamically created and you can then copy, save, drag and drop data to the hard disk drive.
Note that the newer standards of SATA hard disk drives have no jumper setting to worry about
Tags: HDD Caddy, hdd case, hdd enclosure, usb caddy, USB Enclosure, USB IDE, usb sata
Posted in HDD Enclosures | No Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Whether you have an old internal IDE hard drive or you’ve just recently purchased a new SATA hard drive. If your anything like me then you’ll have two or maybe even three hard drives laying around… They seem to accumilate pretty quickly when having to upgrade for a bigger size or faster unit. The other problem is many motherboards will only support up to two hard drives. Let’s say for instance your internal hard drive was USB powered, there’d be no limit to have many you can have! And with our special offers on USB Hubs, you can connnect as many as your USB ports allow!
We have two great options for making use of them!
- Hard Drive Enclosures
Hard Drive Enclosures (also known as Hard Drive Caddy’s) are rigid cases that Hard Disk Drives “sit” inside. They are designed to support standard Hard Disk Drives of all types and sizes and once installed inside the enclosure, the enclosure can be connected to the computer via USB, Firewire or e-SATA.We have a large range of Hard Drive Enclosures…
| HiPoint 3.5″ IDE USB 2.0 External HDD Enclosure
The new HiPoint 3.5″ IDE USB 2.0 External HDD Enclosure offers an easy and fast way to add storage in the office or at home. Quick and simple installation allows you to instantly store and share music, videos, images and any other file(s).
Simple setup and endless possibilities make the HiPoint 3.5″ IDE USB 2.0 External HDD Enclosure the perfect solution for your home and small office. The HiPoint 3.5″ IDE USB 2.0 External HDD Enclosure replaces many other devices and is designed to setup easily without network administrator knowledge. |
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| £16.99 |
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| Probox SATA Hard Drive Enclosure
This version of the new Probox range of SATA Hard Drive enclosures from Hotway will support any SATA Hard disk drive up to 1.5TB. Data transfer from the Hard Drive Case to the PC is via USB 2.0. The HDD case is manufactured from Aluminum which is lightweight, rigid and has superior heat dissipation capabilities – so, no fan needed meaning near silent running! Suitable for Mac or PC. Cables, a UK Power Supply and VAT is included in the price!
The Hard Drive Enclosure supports SATA Hard Drives up to a whopping 1.5TB (1,500 GB) !! |
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| £16.99 |
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| 3.5″ Mobile Disk USB 2.0 – SATA HDD Enclosure
This version of the new Probox range of SATA Hard Drive enclosures from Hotway will support any SATA Hard disk drive up to 1.5TB. Data transfer from the Hard Drive Case to the PC is via USB 2.0. The HDD case is manufactured from Aluminum which is lightweight, rigid and has superior heat dissipation capabilities – so, no fan needed meaning near silent running! Suitable for Mac or PC. Cables, a UK Power Supply and VAT is included in the price!
The Hard Drive Enclosure supports SATA Hard Drives up to a whopping 1.5TB (1,500 GB) !! |
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| £18.58 |
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- Cable Kits
| USB to eSATA Adapter with One-touch Backup
This simple USB dongle allows connectivity via USB to any eSATA device (typically a Hard Drive Case with an eSATA output) The kit Includes the eSATA cable (“i” type SATA Cable) to connect from the SATA device to the dongle and then in turn to the PC.
When connected to an external Hard Drive Enclosure with an eSATA interface you can copy or offload files from the Hard Drive to your PC easily and quickly.
Plug & Play Support for Win98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS v9.2 or higher |
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| £9.99 |
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| USB to SATA HDD Cable + eSATA Outputs (VE444)
This handy USB to SATA (Serial-ATA) adapter with a Power Supply allows you to recover, transfer and back-up data to/from any SATA Hard Disk Drive via a USB Port (or eSATA and an eSATA cable is supplied).
The connectivity to your PC is via USB 2.0 or eSATA (the eSata cable is supplied). eSATA offers 3x the speed of USB 2.0. Don’t have an eSATA connection on your PC? Add all the connectivity a professional needs with our multi funtion panel or for Laptops with one of our SATA Express Cards
The adapter and all cables are supplied (see image gallery for full details). The USB to SATA adapter is easy to use and manufactured from high quality components and its USB 2.0 ready. |
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| £17.99 |
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| USB 2.0 IDE & SATA Cable (with Power Supply)
This is an incredibly handy USB to SATA and IDE Adapter and Converter Cable solution for SATA and ATA, IDE Hard Drives. The USB to SATA and IDE Kit Includes an eSATA to SATA cable (Type I – Type L) and a Power Supply unit for the hard drives.
The USB to IDE/SATA Kit allows you to transfer files from computer or notebook easily and with no fuss, back up files, or store large file archives on hard drives. Its perfect for techies or anyone that needs access to a hard drive, or a fast way to add another SATA or IDE device. The hi-speed USB 2.0 interface provides an almost universal connection for any Windows or Macintosh workstation. The adapter supports all existing Serial ATA SATA drives or IDE drives. Its fine for 2.5″ Hard Disks (laptop sized HDD’s) or 3.5″ Hard Disks (typically found in desktop PC’s or towers). |
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| £18.95 |
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Help & Advice – Hard Drive Caddy’s
Not sure which Caddy you need???
Guide to choosing the right HDD Enclosure
Not sure how to format a HDD???
Help & advice on HDD formatting a hard drive
Not sure how to make a backup???
Help & advice on making backups
Tags: External HDD Caddy, Hard Drive Caddy, Hard Drive Enclosure, Hard Drive Enclosures, HD Enclosures, HDD Caddy, IDE Enclosure, sata docking, sata docking station, SATA Enclosure, SATA HDD, USB Enclosure, USB HD Enclosure, USB HDD Enclosure
Posted in HDD Enclosures, New Products, Sale Items, USB Enclosures, USB News | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
USBNow is a big supplier of HDD Enclosures (or ‘Caddys’ which they are also known as) but what makes us great is our huge selection. We stock some of the best solutions for your old/disused internal hard drives or CD/DVD rom drives. We also offer Hard Drive Enclosures in a host of different sizes. So what’s the size for you? Well, that depends entirely on the hard drive of course! From as little as £7.99!
Choose from the following:
Tags: External HDD Caddy, Firewire HD Enclosure, Hard Drive Caddy, Hard Drive Enclosure, hd caddys, HD Enclosures, HDD Caddy, HDD Enclosures, IDE Enclosure, IDE Hard Drive, IDE Hard Drive Enclosure, sata docking, sata docking station, SATA Enclosure, USB Enclosure, USB HD Enclosure, USB HDD Enclosure
Posted in HDD Enclosures, USB News | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
When it’s better not to use a Hard Drive Enclosure
Whilst Hard Drive enclosures are an excellent way of reusing your old hard disk drive and creating a back up solution there are times when their use is not appropriate.
Hard Drives enclosures are really designed as a permanent or semi permanent solution for your HDD. This is simply because the enclosures are designed to provide a “protective wrapper” around the Hard Drive that then allows you to carry it with you or in the case of larger enclosures for 3.5″ HDD’s to stand it on your desktop.
To use the enclosure you’ll typically need a screwdriver and a few minutes to open the case, carefully insert and connect the Hard Drive, secure the Hard Drive in place and then reseal the enclosure using the supplied screws. Not difficult to do but it does take a little time and its not something you want to be doing every day.
So, if you’ve got lots of Hard Drives that you want to use, to test or recover data from then a dedicated enclosure is probably not the way to go. Similarly if you’re an IT or support engineer and part of your job is to test Hard Drives an enclosure will use up valuable time and just be cumbersome. You’d also have to have an enclosure for each size and type of Hard Drive, e.g. 2.5″ Hard Drives, 3.5″ Hard Drive and then a version for IDE and a version for SATA – simply not practical.
A much simpler option in these circumstances is to use a USB to IDE and SATA Cable kit.
These IDE and SATA kits are worth their weight in gold because they support pretty much every Hard Drive you will encounter, they come with a power supply so that you can independently power the hard drive and they connect via the ubiquitous USB.
They’re not pretty to look at and you wouldn’t use then for a permanent connection but if you’re simply looking for a quick and effective way to test hard drives or to recover data from hard drives then these kits are an excellent solution.
They work with all current PC operating systems and with Macs and the easy set up means you can be up and running in seconds. (Remember for 3.5″ Hard Drives you’ll need to set the “jumpers” to Master before connecting the HDD or it will not be recognised).
Tags: External HDD Caddy, Firewire HD Enclosure, Hard Drive Caddy, Hard Drive Enclosure, HD Enclosures, HDD Caddy, IDE Enclosure, IDE Hard Drive Enclosure, sata docking, SATA Enclosure, USB Enclosure, USB HD Enclosure, USB HDD Enclosure
Posted in HDD Enclosures, USB Enclosures | No Comments »
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
Whilst the price of USB Memory Sticks continues to fall, the larger 16GB and 32GB versions are still pretty expensive. Whilst the more affordable 8GB memory sticks offer a reasonable amount of storage for many its not enough to act as a true back up solution. Lets face it today many people are downloading or copying music file, movies, photo’s, games and the occasional work file. All of this should be backed up and stored safely and USB Memory sticks just aren’t man enough for the job.
For some people backing up files is not enough because they need the data to be portable, so large back up hard drive solutions from companies like Maxtor, Lacie and Freecom that require a mains power unit are not really suitable. These products are excellent if they can positioned next to the PC you are backing the data up from but they’re really designed to stay in one place. Their size, weight and need for external power makes them unsuitable as a portable backup solution.
A more affordable and truly portable solution that does not compromise on quality or storage capacity is to use a 2.5” hard drive enclosure and a 2.5” (laptop sized) Hard Disk.
2.5" hard drive enclosure
A new 320GB 2.5” hard disk won’t costs a fortune and when combined with a laptop hard drive enclosure will give you a high capacity portable storage solution. But, the real cost saving opportunity is using an enclosure with a hard disk recovered from an old, discarded laptop – even if the hard disk you recover is only 80GB you’ll still end up with a back-up solution for the cost of an 8GB Memory stick!
Taking the hard drive out of the laptop is relatively easy providing you’re handy with a screwdriver and inserting it into a hard drive enclosure is equally easy – the connectors on the end of the hard drive just push into the interface inside the enclosure and typically a couple of screws hold it all in place.
If you’re using a new hard disk drive then it will need formatting before it can be used to store data on. Recovered hard disks typically just plug and play but make sure if the drive has jumper settings that its set to “master”.
hard drive enclosure
Good quality enclosures for 2.5” disks will be manufactured from aluminium (to aid heat dissipation), they’ll come with leather carrying case (to protect the case and contents) and all the necessary cables you need. The beauty of these smaller cases is that they don’t need a power “brick” to run. They draw all the power they need from the USB lead that connects them to the PC.
There are branded bundles available to buy off the shelf but building your own is easy, it’s not intimidating, it’ll save you money and you have the chance to recycle an old hard disk
Tags: 2.5" enclosure, Hard Drive Enclosure, IDE Enclosure, SATA Enclosure, USB Enclosure, USB HDD Enclosure
Posted in USB News | No Comments »
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Hard Drive Enclosures are getting increasingly popular, which, given their cost and ease of use is not surprising. Enclosures are a great way to re-use on old or salvaged hard disk drive from a computer and whilst these older hard drives are always as large as the current models (in terms of storage capacity) it’s a real shame not to use them
Rear HDD Jumper Settings
By way of example a salvaged 120GB hard disk drive will hold up to 30,000 songs, 150 hours of video, or 25,000 photos and the old work file of course! So even at the rate that people are saving files today that’s still a huge amount of information that the hard drive is capable of storing.
Hard drive enclosures will of course support new hard disks as well as any salvaged hard disks you happen to have lying around at home or work. If you do use an enclosure with a new hard disk then you could install a 1.5TB hard disk into the enclosure and create a very substantial back-up solution
For most people though the real benefit of an enclosure is that it allows the recovery of data from a hard disk taken out of an old PC and it then allows you to use that same hard disk to create a new back-up solution. By doing this you get real cost benefits combined with a sense of satisfaction that you are re-cycling what would otherwise be a scrapped piece of hardware.
If you are using an IDE or ATA Hard Disks with an enclosure then it’s important that you set the jumper settings on the disk to “master” and not cable select or slave. If the jumper setting is incorrectly set then the hard disk will not be recognised when connected to the PC. The default setting when removing a hard disk from a PC is not always master and whilst it seems logical that any disk installed in an external enclosure is set to “salve” but it does need to be set to “master”.
Changing the jumper settings is easy to do and only takes a few seconds. Typically the hard disk manufacturers will have put a label on the top of the hard disk illustrating how you set the jumpers.
Jumpers are just metal pins that have small black plastic sleeves that slot on them.
SATA hard disks have no jumper setting to worry about
Tags: External HDD Caddy, Hard Drive Enclosure, IDE Enclosure, IDE Hard Drive Enclosure, SATA Enclosure, USB Enclosure
Posted in USB News | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Pretty much every computer has got a hard drive inside it. Think of the hard drive as the place onto which the operating system, programs and files are stored. It’s like one large storage and filing system for your computer with all of the stored data referenced and indexed for easy retrieval.
Hard Drives are getting bigger (in terms of storage capacity) because we’re all storing more information on them like music downloads, movies, family videos and pictures. They’re also bigger to cope with the “bloat” in Operating Systems and program files all of which are now significantly larger than they were just a few years ago.
Keeping this growing amount of data in one place where it’s prone to corruption, failure and theft is not a good idea. Add to this the threat of virus’s and Trojan security attack and then you realise that backing up your data on an external hard drive is not just a good idea its essential. Unfortunately too few people have considered this and its only when disaster strikes that the consequences of not having a back up are fully realised.
Backs up solitions don’t have to cost a fortune either. You can of course spend money on packaged hard drives from companies like Maxtor, Lacie and Freecom but a more cost effective solution is to buy an external had drive enclosure and use a hard drive salvaged from an old PC. Or if you don’t have an old PC just buy a new Hard Drive and an Enclosure and combine the two – both approaches will save you a significant amount of money.
An external hard drive enclosure is slightly larger than the hard drive itself, it will often come with a stand or carrying wallet and all the cables you need to connect it to your PC.
The hard drive and the enclosure sit outside of your computer and are connected to the computer through a high-speed interface cable, which enables the external hard drive to communicate with the computer by means of interfaces like USB and Fire Wire.
When it’s connected you can use the external drive just as you would the drive inside the computer but it has the added benefit of being removable and portable. So, you can store it securely or take it and your data with you.
Hard drives enclosures are available in two basic formats: SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) and IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics). IDE drives use a 40-pin connection. SATA is the standard for all new Hard Drives, it’s faster and transfers data at six times the speed of IDE external hard drive.
Whatever option you choose remember to back up on a regular basis.
Tags: Firewire HD Enclosure, Hard Drive Caddy, Hard Drive Enclosure, HDD Caddy, IDE, SATA Hard Drive Enclosure, USB Enclosure
Posted in USB News | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
The IDE Hard Disk was first introduced in the 1980’s and since then they have been the de facto hard drive used by PC manufacturers around the world. The ubiquity of the IDE/ATA standard and its global adoption has resulted in hundreds of millions of units being manufactured. Anyone who has bought or owned a PC since the mid 1980’s, whether for home of business use will have purchased a PC with an IDE/SAT hard drive inside it.
In the last few years a new contender, the SATA (Serial-ATA) Hard Drive has entered the fray and because it provides a significant improvement in data transfer rates it has now replaced the slower IDE disks as the disk of choice.
As well as being faster SATA hard disks also have a completely different physical interface (the way in which they connect to the PC or connect inside an enclosure). IDE/ATA Hard Drives are instantly recognisable from the 2 rows of 20 Pins on the end of the Hard Drive whereas SATA Hard Drives have two “spade type” connectors.
As PC’s with IDE Hard Drives installed reach the end of their natural life or fail it makes sense to salvage the hard drive from the PC and recover the data from the disk and then use the Hard Disk in an enclosure. By doing this not only are you able to take off your confidential and personal data, but also you can clean and reformat the disk and then create a cost effective back up and storage solution.
If its an IDE/ATA Hard Drive recovered from a laptop PC then by using an enclosure you create a truly portable back up solution for very little cost. Enclosures are easy to use, they connect to your PC via USB (or Firewire) they protect the Hard Drive is a case (typically aluminium) and they are either self powered from the USB cable or the larger versions come with a power supply unit.
There is a problem on the horizon with all of this. Whilst there are still hundreds of millions of IDE/ATA Hard Disks in use or awaiting salvage the manufacturers of IDE/ATA enclosures are beginning to reduce their investment in the IDE/ATA enclosures. Many factories have already switched off their production of IDE/ATA Hard Drive enclosures and are now only manufacturing SATA Hard Drive enclosures.
So, if you think you might have a need for an IDE/Enclosure it might be worth buying one sooner rather than later.
Tags: External HDD Caddy, Hard Drive Caddy, Hard Drive Enclosure, IDE Hard Drive Enclosure, USB Enclosure
Posted in USB News | No Comments »
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
There are lots of Hard Drive Enclosures available on the market for 2.5” and 3.5” Hard Drives. Often the distinguishing features between them (apart from the obvious size) are whether they are for IDE or SATA Hard Disk Drives and whether they connect via USB or USB and Firewire.
Of course for many the aesthetics of the Hard Drive Enclosure (also often referred to as a HDD caddy or HDD case) are important because you’ll often want the enclosure to match with the other bits of kit you’ve got on your desk or in your home office. For some features likes fans or flashing lights are also key.
One further consideration you might give is ease of use and ease of making back-ups to the Hard Drive in the Hard Drive Enclosure. The later point is particularly pertinent because for many the primary reason to buy an enclosure and build an external storage solution is data back up. Given how much information we now store on our PC’s including family photos, movies, music collections and of course work files, backing up our cherished data (and our work) is critical.
Ease of data backup is helped if you buy a hard drive enclosure with a built in “One-touch” back up button built into it. These enclosures are supplied with software that is easy to load and simple to use. The software allows you to define which directories, sub-directories, folders, files and even specific files that you want to back up. When you then press the backup button on the enclosure the files you have elected to back up with automatically be copied from your PC to the Hard Drive in the enclosure.
This feature, whilst not something everyone will need, is an excellent option. It takes the guesswork out of what you need to back up and because it’s so easy to do its far more likely you will actually back up your important data. A good routine to get into is to press the back-up button before you power off the PC for the day.
The fact an enclosure has a back-up button built in does not impair its use in any other way. You can still copy, save, retrieve data from the hard drive just as you would using any hard drive enclosure. There’s no compromise on the types of Hard Disk Drives that can be used, the connection options or the styling. What you will have do however is pay a small premium for a case with this feature but given the costs of not backing up your data it’s a small price to pay.
Find the correct HDD Enclosure for you. Take a look at some of the following:
External Drive Enclosures, 1.8″ Hard Drive Cases, 2.5″ Hard Drive Cases, 3.5″ Hard Drive Cases, 5.25″ Hard Drive & Optical Drive, IDE & SATA Cable Kits, Freecom Hard Drives, Fujitsu Hard Drives
Tags: 2.5" enclosure, 3.5" enclosure, External HDD Caddy, Firewire HD Enclosure, Hard Disk Drives, Hard Drive Caddy, Hard Drive Enclosure, HD Enclosures, HDD Caddy, IDE, IDE Enclosure, IDE Hard Drive, IDE Hard Drive Enclosure, IDE HDD, SATA, SATA Enclosure, SATA Hard Drive, SATA Hard Drive Enclosure, SATA HDD, USB Enclosure, USB HD Enclosure, USB HDD Enclosure
Posted in USB News | No Comments »
