HDD GURU FORUMS

Hi,

I have a box of misc laptop HDD`s

Is there a way of connecting them
externally and then run diagnostics to
see if they work?

I dont want to have to put each one
in my laptop and load windows to see
it they can be used

As you can tell I`m new this to (55 y/o)
who want`s to learn

Thanks in advance for both you your
time and trouble

neil

Do you have a desktop PC available? If not, you would need a drive dock or USB-SATA/IDE adapter to connect the drive to the laptop, on which you could run any number of different diagnostic programs. Easiest would be CrystalDisk Info, or gSmartControl, but HDDScan would be best, IMHO, because you could do a read/verify as well as check SMART status. If you do have a desktop PC available, you can just connect the drive to an open SATA or IDE port and do the same thing. That would save buying the dock/adapter. (BTW, I'm 75 y.o. )

Thanks Larry

Thanks for all that help and info

thought i`d missed the bus

neil

I wouldn't use a USB adaptor to test the drives, as USB is not reliable for drive testing.

I would get an old desktop PC for testing and plug the drives directly to the motherboard either by SATA (2.5 laptop drives use the same SATA port/cable as a desktop SATA drive) or if the drive is 2.5 IDE there are cables and adaptors to convert 2.5 IDE to 3.5 IDE.

Then i would follow my testing method described here

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32170

Good luck.

If Neil's laptop has an eSATA connector, he could use an eSATA dock. That would be faster than using a USB 2.0 dock. If it has USB 3.0, he could use a dual drive USB 3.0 dock and do two at a time.

Thanks everyone,

For all the advice, I bought
a usb docking station but
the drivers disk does not
show as .exe when loaded
just 15 individual files, does
this sound right? Do I have
to go to each file and see if
there is an application icon
and install each one individuall

Thanks again for all the help

neil

I don't recall ever having to install drivers for a docking station. When you plug it in, insert a drive into the dock and power it on, what happens?

if you can provide a list of files it can help to say what your disc is for. could be recovery software or some kind of security software, or even just the manual on CD. but I haven't needed drivers either before..

for an easy list, go to the folder the files are in. hold shift and right-click and choose "open command window here". then type dir /a > c:\cd_list.txt
you can then just copy paste the folder list here