Can my WD passport be installed into a computer instead of just a normal hard Drive

[Batman101]

Can you use a WD Passport 1TB (slim) as internal storage (I already have this). And if you can how would you do it because all it has is usb. I know I could have a small SSD and have the hard drive plugged it the  just download everything to that hard drive but I dont think that is very pratical.  

[john01dav]

If it can be opened at all and has a standard internal hard drive inside, it should work in theory. If have no idea if that is what WD does though and it may break everything to attempt to get it out depending on how Apple-like those products are.

 

Also, USB 3.0 can transfer data at 60MB/s, which is faster than most mechanical drives can read or write anyway -- so as long as you are using USB 3.0 rather than 2.0 (the port on your computer should be blue for 3.0), it should make no performance difference to run it externally.

[SnowyMus]

Probably, if you can figure out how to open it (looks like you can just use a flathead screwdriver to pry it open). From my experiences with opening up WD's external hard drives, they use full-sized 2.5" or 3.5" drives that have a USB adapter over the SATA port, which can be removed with screws. They cost considerably more, though.

 

Here's an old WD My Book:

[comicsansms]

16 minutes ago, john01dav said:

If it can be opened at all and has a standard internal hard drive inside, it should work in theory. If have no idea if that is what WD does though and it may break everything to attempt to get it out depending on how Apple-like those products are.

 

Also, USB 3.0 can transfer data at 60MB/s, which is faster than most mechanical drives can read or write anyway -- so as long as you are using USB 3.0 rather than 2.0 (the port on your computer should be blue for 3.0), it should make no performance difference to run it externally.

USB 3 reads and writes at 625MB/s or 5Gb/s

HDDs reads and writes at about 150MB/s or 1.2Gb/s,

 

You are right about an external HDD being just a standard 2.5" laptop HDD in an enclosure.

[B16CXHatch]

Current WD Passports cannot be disassembled and used as an internal. They are not a standard SATA drive in an enclosure. They have a different circuit board with no SATA connector. These drives are made to be USB only. I've taken apart a couple at work expecting to just pop them in a dock only to find the USB connector soldered directly to the HDD's circuit board with no SATA connector in sight. If you ever really look at them, you'll notice they tend to be a little shorter than others because there is no SATA to USB adapter board behind them.

[B16CXHatch]

In fact here's some pics form Legit Reviews:

 

 

[Batman101]

okay thank you

 

[Captain_WD]

On 10.06.2016 г. at 10:48 AM, Batman101 said:

~snip~

Hi there

 

A few words from me:
- Opening that WD My Passport would void any warranty that it may still have left so I'd check that first.

 

- The drive features hardware encryption so any data that's on the drive prior to the removal of the enclosure won't be available outside of it as it can only be read through the enclosure (due to the hardware encryption done form the enclosure itself rather than from the drive). If you manage to get the drive going outside of the enclosure you should still be able to use it, but won't be able to read any data and should format it completely. 

 

- The drive doesn't have a dedicated SATA interface on it so you would have to figure out how to work with the USB port. 

 

I would simply use the drive externally and get a separate internal drive if you need one. It's not really recommended to use these drives otside of the enclosure.

 

Post back if you need any other information. 

 

Captain_WD.