"Jeff Gaines" <whitedragon@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:xn0fptlt93p60c000@xxxxxx
Quote:
> On 05/05/2008 in message <O7GdnX4gPtmzW4PVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@xxxxxx> pbl
> wrote:
> Quote:
>>I need to get a new external HDD for my laptop and I'm thinking of getting
>>an eSATA drive. My question is this: Can any HDD be turned into an eSATA
>>drive by housing it an enclosure which has an eSATA port or is there
>>something special about SATA drives? I'm not sure whether I should buy an
>>already enclosed SATA or buy the HDD and the enclosure separately (cheaper
>>option). Thanks for your help.
>
> A good external enclosure is the ANTEC MX-1 EC, it's on Amazon UK at:
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/ANTEC-COOLED.../dp/B000PJ4JDK
>
> It does USB2 and eSATA and has a built in fan for cooling, you need to add
> your own HD. You also need an eSATA connection on your laptop so make sure
> you do (I would think they are rare on laptops).
>
> Whether or not eSATA will work depends on how your computer is set up. If
> you want hot plugging you need to have your SATA ports set up in the BIOS
> as AHCI. If they are set up as ATA or Normal or Off (depending on the
> terminology used in your BIOS) then you won't get hot plugging, although
> turning the PC off, plugging the eSATA drive in and then turning the PC on
> again should allow you to see the drive.
>
> Changing to AHCI on an already installed system is not trivial, although
> it can be done. If you want to do it then post again and people will point
> you to the various guides that exist. Don't just change your BIOS settings
> whatever you do or you may not be able to boot your PC!
>
> PS - You should set Windows mail to post in plain text to newsgroups.
>
> --
> Jeff Gaines
> Damerham Hampshire UK I second the recommendation of the ANTEC MX-1 enclosure. I have one on my
desk and it keeps the drive cooler than the ones inside my tower and will
work with SATA drives up to 750Gb. I also found that hot plugging worked on
my computer with the sata ports set to IDE mode. I am using a gigabyte
GA-P35-DS4 motherboard with Vista 64.