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Potentially dead hard drive?

chargerjake
By chargerjake
in Storage Devices
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Hello all,

 

Awhile back my grandmother's old desktop pc broke (they don't know what happened), so they gave it to me, and I took it apart. I want to use the hard drive to install a copy of Windows 8 for my friend, except the hard drive could potentially be dead. I have a SATA notebook to usb, and I have tried using it on the internal hard drive. I couldn't feel the discs inside spin up or anything, so that issue could be because it says notebook adapter (On the back of the adapter, it also says '2.5 inches') My only other option would be to plug it into my own PC internally and see if it works. 

 

So, my ultimate question is: if I plug this supposedly broken internal hard drive internally to my computer, will it screw anything up with my computer? I don't want a giant 20 inch tall paperweight.

 

Thanks.

PC SETUP: | i5-4440 3.1 GHz | MSI Z97s Krait | EVGA GTX 970 | G.Skill Value 8GB | WDC Blue 500GB | NZXT S340

MOBILE SETUP: | Apple iPhone 6 | iOS 10b4 | Apple Watch Stainless Steel w/ Black Sport Band | WatchOS 3b4

 

Steam: chargerjake | Origin: chargerjake

 

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/409063-potentially-dead-hard-drive/
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Posted

USB 2.0 ports deliver 0.5A, USB 3.0 up to 0.9A, the average 3.5" HDD needs 1.2A or more.

Basically a 3.5" HDD needs more power than a USB port can deliver, so it makes sense that it won't spool up.

Either get an external housing or a docking station (always handy to have one of those around, TBH) or attach it directly to the PC.

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