Can I use the 2.5" HDD in my desktop? My case supports 3.5"

[vchov]

I bought a Toshiba 500GB External Hard Drive from Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149090&Tpk=toshiba%20500GB%202.5%20external) and I just opened the enclosure to find the 2.5" HDD inside. I'm assembling a new system and I'm short on money. I can afford all the parts except for the HDD and the Optical Drive(The money I could have used for them will be used on Keyboard and Mouse, HDMI, and Headset because of the pre Black Friday Sale). I thought that maybe there was a casing I could put around the Toshiba hard drive so it would fit in the 3.5" drive bay and would convert the power to 5V. Is that possible? If not, I was wondering about if it matters how I connect my hard drive to the computer. I mean, does it matter how I connect it to my computer if I'm trying to boot from it? Can it be connected through USB so I don't need to make it internal? Thank you for helping!

 

[cjl]

Is it a SATA drive? If so, you can just hook everything up and you're good to go. If it's PATA, you'll need an adapter.

 

[vchov]

Is it a SATA drive? If so, you can just hook everything up and you're good to go. If it's PATA, you'll need an adapter.

I just checked the hard drive for model number, and it said it was MK5055GSX. I searched for it on Newegg and it says that it's a SATA drive: (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149087). It says 5V for power on it. Do I need any sort of adaptor for the power? My PSU says one of the outputs is 5V@28A, but the SATA connectors don't show a voltage. Will the PSU only give out as much voltage as needed? My PSU is the CMPSU-750TX 750W(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006). Thanks!

 

[cjl]

If it is SATA, you should be able to plug the SATA connectors to the drive with no adapter and it will work fine. The SATA power connector has a ground, a 3.3V, a 5V, and a 12V. The drive will use the 5V and 3.3V, and it will just not use the 12V line. A desktop drive would use the 12V as well.

 

[vchov]

Thanks! Now I just need to back up everything on that hard drive and put Ubuntu 9.10 on it until I can get a different hard drive as well as a copy of Windows 7. If only Windows was open source, right? I wouldn't mind the bloatware as much as long as the OS was free of price and restrictions of the sort.

 

[cjl]

What bloatware?

Windows doesn't have any bloatware if you install it straight off a disk. The bloatware comes from OEMs.

 

[vchov]

It doesn't? I never installed from a disk before. Do you still not get bloatware if the disk is an OEM version for system builders?

 

[jsc]

You have two kinds of Windows oem disks. You have the ones that look for the specific brand of computer they are being installed on - like a Dell disk trying to be installed on a Toshiba laptop. And you have the generic Windows disks.

Bloatware generally comes on what are known as recovery disks.

 

[vchov]

Oh, my cousin got a virus on her Toshiba laptop so I used the recovery disk for her. Speaking of computers and OS's, are there any kinds of computers made so a different OS can't be installed on it? I've had trouble installing Linux Mint 7 as well as Ubuntu 9.10 on two different Toshiba laptops.