Using External as Internal Hard Drive

mynamesjeff · Jun 23, 2015

I've just removed my external drive from its' casing and need it to be installed in my PC (it holds data with an amount of about 2 TB out of 3 TB). I've realized after I registered the drive in Disk Management, I need to format the disk before I can use it.
The problem is, I don't have enough storage to back all of them up, so is there anyway I can use the disk as an internal drive without having to format it? If possible, without having to place it back to the external casing.
Thanks in advance
PS. I'm using Win 8.1

Someone Somewhere · Jun 23, 2015

This likely depends on the model of drive/enclosure. Some use encryption or other annoyances.

You should always have a backup of any data, though. Drives can fail at any time.

mynamesjeff · Jun 23, 2015

Someone Somewhere :

well the thing is, it was a backup drive... I was using a notebook but now since I got myself a PC, I feel like I'd rather use the drive as an internal cause I won't need an external that much anymore.
If it's gonna help, the drive was a WD MyBook 3 TB, inside is a WD30EZRX (WD Green 3 TB)

Someone Somewhere · Jun 24, 2015

If it's a backup drive, you should already have a copy of the content elsewhere.

WD enclosures encrypt the data (even if you don't set a password). You'll need to format it to use it outside the enclosure.

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Using External as Internal Hard Drive

mynamesjeff

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Someone Somewhere

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mynamesjeff

Reputable

Someone Somewhere

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