External to Internal

TheHutchTTU · Mar 21, 2014

I had a 3.5" 3TB external hard drive that I decided to try and convert to an internal HDD. It utilized a SATA bridge for power/data, so I was confident that it would not be in an issue.

After removing the external enclosure and connecting the power/SATA cable (to Intel controller), I booted up and went to initialize (GPT), but Windows would not let me. Is this due to the fact that there is data currently on the drive? What steps do I need to execute to achieve this goal? Thanks in advance.

Luke1978 · Mar 21, 2014

Are you trying to use it as a bot drive? Or just as storage?

TheHutchTTU · Mar 21, 2014

Storage

Automata · Mar 21, 2014

What do you mean by Windows would not let you?

TheHutchTTU · Mar 21, 2014

It gave me an error that said, "Device is not ready." or something along that line.

Automata · Mar 21, 2014

If you don't need the data off it, can you delete the existing partitions?

TheHutchTTU · Mar 21, 2014

I do need the data, and apparently initializing a disk erases the data. Maybe I should just keep it external :shrug:

ATMINSIDE · Mar 22, 2014

Just move the data off it to another drive, then put it into your desktop and initialize it.
Then just move everything back.

TheHutchTTU · Mar 22, 2014

That's the thing, I don't have another drive large enough. Although, Amazon has the same drive listed for $110 + Prime.

Automata · Mar 22, 2014

Can you assign the drive a letter in Disk Management? How does it show?

cullam3n · Mar 22, 2014

How many partitions does it show in the disk management? (start > run > diskmgmt.msc). I know some external 3TB drives will show up as 2TB + 1TB with an MBR instead of GPT, you just don't see it because the firmware on the sata bridge takes care of it.

What external drive is this anyway?

TheHutchTTU · Mar 22, 2014

I can't assign a drive letter and it shows up as unallocated

Automata · Mar 22, 2014

You will need to put it back in the external enclosure. The controller in it must be doing something that prevents you from mounting it internally. If you didn't need the data off the drive, you could just wipe it and assign a drive letter.

TheHutchTTU · Mar 22, 2014

That's what I was afraid of. Now I'm going to have a bare drive sitting on the SATA bridge :rofl:

External to Internal

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