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Power External Hard Drive from PC
Name: Wifler Date: January 11, 2007 at 13:59:36 Pacific OS: Win XP CPU/Ram: p4 2.8 1gig
Comment:
I have a spare 80gig hard drive which I want to use as backup storage, and I have got an external enclosure to put it in and run it USB. The enclosure is powered using the supplied DC cable. I was wondering, would it be possible to power the drive from a power cable coming from the PC's PSU and still run it USB, rather than using a mains adaptor?
The enclosure uses some kind adaptor which plugs into the hard drives power connector, so I was wondering if this is ok or will it cause a problem?
Name: oldfogey Date: January 11, 2007 at 14:12:58 Pacific
Reply:
Provided your PSU puts out enough power there should be no problem. You should be able to get an extension lead for the Molex connector.
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Response Number 2
Name: jam Date: January 11, 2007 at 14:17:13 Pacific
Reply:
I'm guessing it would work but my question is why bother? One of the ideas behind having an external HDD is portability, otherwise, why not just install the 80GB in the case as a slaved drive?
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Response Number 3
Name: jefro Date: January 11, 2007 at 14:31:42 Pacific
Reply:
There are issues with electrical safety as well as fire prevention.
Consider using the proper power supplies and don't re-invent the wheel.
I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.
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Response Number 4
Name: Doctor1954 Date: January 11, 2007 at 16:52:36 Pacific
Reply:
May not be relevant for you Wifler but a 2.5 inch USB drive (laptop HDD) will run off the power from the computer's USB and off the power from some powered USB hubs.
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