Can I turn a USB External HDD into an Internal SATA HDD?

[Yogi_DaBear221]

So I've got a 2TB Seagate Backup Plus I think its called which is just a USB HDD with a nice case, now back in the day my best friend and I would buy the sometimes cheaper external HDDs, take them out of the case which was just a USB to Sata adapter, and pop them in a system for use as internal HDDs in a pinch, but my question is, is this one still Sata on the inside? Could that be done with this one? I mean it wouldn't be a heart breaker if not, but I figure it couldn't hurt to just throw it into the system. 

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Portable-External-Photography-STDR2000101/dp/B00FRHTTIA/ref=pd_sbs_147_6/140-5492199-5720308?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00FRHTTIA&pd_rd_r=37088e33-7030-42c6-b2e6-2224ff017ae0&pd_rd_w=ZXRUC&pd_rd_wg=fhdeM&pf_rd_p=7cd8f929-4345-4bf2-a554-7d7588b3dd5f&pf_rd_r=AVXMCDQT5H20VD3KDR54&psc=1&refRID=AVXMCDQT5H20VD3KDR54

[Ralf]

Google/youtube is literately filled with Seagate Backup Plus Slim teardown/disassembly stuff/videos, there's a Samsung Spinpoint M9T Sata3 HD inside.

[SpookyCitrus]

Pretty much every external HDD including new ones is going to be a standard sata HDD or SSD inside of an external housing. If you remove the housing it should just be a standard laptop or desktop drive depending on the size and connectors, if it's just a single usb cable it will be a laptop drive, and if it has a usb connection and a power connection it will be a desktop drive.

[chato_raziel]

Check the comments, there's people that are saying exactly what you're asking.

It is SATA.

 

[maverick_brent]

I have recently done this with as hdd, its referred to as "shucking" You should be fine, sometimes the disk will require a reformat. but usually inside the enclosure is an adapter, a quick google search will probably find you a guide to tear down that specific model. 

[Jimkirk363]

Yes it is possible, i did it myself with a Seagate 6TB.

[mariushm]

Most of the times, you have a regular SATA HDD inside, and a small SATA to USB adapter board. So you can just open the case and unscrew/disconnect the adapter board.

 

Some modern hard drives have a feature which keeps the drive in a stand-by/sleep mode if there's some signal on the 3.3v pins in the sata power connector. So if the drive has this feature and you connect it to a regular SATA power connector from your power supply, the drive may never turn on and you may think it's dead.

The solution is simply to cover the 3.3v contacts in the SATA connector, or to use a Molex to sata adapter cable (because these adapter cables don't have 3.3v)

 

First 3 contacts are 3.3v but in the latest standards the 3rd contact is re-used for "disable power" / standby feature So covering that contact makes drive behave like regular sata drives. You can cover all 3 contacts though and it will be fine.