dropped external hard drive

[curleydel]

Hi all, My 2 month old 500G iomega HD got knocked off shelf and fell about 3 ft to wooden desk and as luck would have it fell on the 2 connections bending the usb connector. I unscrewed the box and the usb plug has been pushed in against the circuit board. The question is can I completely disconnect the HD from the casing and make it an internal HD or could I buy a different enclosure. The HD switches on and makes the right noises but won't register on the computer.
Many thanks Derek

 

[Gees]

If the drive is undamaged simply buy a new external enclosure. Thats the easiest way forward.

Provided your machine has the correct connectors then you can use the drive inside the box.

 

[Spark123]

When you tried it in your machine how did you connect it i.e. IDE? Was it on the same ribbon as another HDD? Did you remember to set the jumpers? Did you detect the hard disk in bios?

 

[curleydel]

Sorry I didn't explain myself properly, It's an external HD
Derek.

 

[TheOriginalTonkaToy]

If the drive heads or platters weren't damaged by the impact then you can connect it internally (assuming that the interfaces are compatible), or as already suggested, buy a new enclosure. You've certainly got nothing to lose by trying anyway Best of luck

 

[Deluks]

Is it a sata or IDE connection on the drive? (if you don't know try wikipedia.com)

Your computer will almost certainly have the option to add another IDE drive (unless it's quite new) and will probably have the option to add a Sata drive, (unless it's quite old)

 

[curleydel]

The HD in the computer is Sata, but the broken Iomega external one is 12 volt, is that what computers run on.
Del

 

[TheOriginalTonkaToy]

The HD in the computer is Sata, but the broken Iomega external one is 12 volt, is that what computers run on.
Del

12v will be the DC power supply voltage for the external enclosure. You'll have to open the case and look at the actual drive to see whether it's an IDE or SATA type.