Disconnect internal hard drive externally

Tony K · 25 Nov 2017

Bree's idea is good, but if the data is that important to you, play2mefish's idea is best, but slide the drive out of a USB enclosure and place it in a safe. Then I'd make a copy and place it in good hands of a trusted friend or a bank vault box. One never knows with a house fire or theft. Also, I'd be wanting the option to connect to another machine if need be. Simple with a USB enclosure.

roy111 · 25 Nov 2017

anaron said:

I need a way to physically disconnect/reconnect an internal backup hard drive with out cracking open the case and unplugging it.

That would require some serious psychokinetic skill.

CountMike · 25 Nov 2017

A thing like this would be useful: Removable Hard Drive | eBay I have one with 3 bays with one of them always empty for backup disks. There are also switches for disks: Kingwin HDD Power Switch Module 6 Switches for 5.25 Inch Bay Ps6 | eBay
https://www.amazon.com/device-switch.../dp/B01MAX56SA
Or even: How To Build A SATA Hard Drive Switcher - YouTube

anaron · 25 Nov 2017

take the internal drive out of the computer and put it in an external drive case

I have used 4 LaCie usb drives for years with xp, win7 and it works great. Boot to the usb and restore the primary. No so good with win10. Successfully booting to usb drives in win10 sometimes works sometimes not. Cannot afford the uncertainty.

cut the power line, wire in a switch

This along the line of what I was thinking about doing but not sure if it would create any issues? Also which wire - yellow, red, black or orange?

CountMike · 25 Nov 2017

anaron said:

That is the way I have done it for years with xp, win7 and it works great. Boot to the usb and restore the primary. No so good with win10. Successfully booting to usb drives in win10 sometimes works sometimes not. Cannot afford the uncertainty.

This along the line of what I was thinking about doing but not sure if it would create any issues? Also which wire - yellow, red, black or orange?

You'd have to cut both, Yellow (12v) and Red (5v).

anaron · 25 Nov 2017

That would require some serious psychokinetic skill.

Roy, when you get to my age, the psychokinetic skills are pretty weak and don't work quite as good as they use to!

CountMike · 25 Nov 2017

anaron said:

Roy, when you get to my age, the psychokinetic skills are pretty weak and don't work quite as good as they use to!

Just the Force use you can !!!

sygnus21 · 25 Nov 2017

anaron said:

Do not want to take any chances of corruption or anything happening to the backup as it is perfectly setup as I want. Given the progress of various ransom ware, viruses, and windows 10 crashes, I want to isolate this drive as much as possible. Currently, I open the case and disconnect the power cable. The only time it is connected is when I have to restore the primary back to my original setup which is on an average of 6 to 8 times a month. [/COLOR]When the backup drive is connected, my internet is disconnected for even further protection. I do a lot of experimenting for some clients which can and does crash the primary drive on occasion. Once I am done with an experiment, I like to erase the primary and restore it with the clean backup. Over the years I have found this to be the best way to keep the system as clean as possible. Basically, I guess I am looking for a better way to physically disconnecting the power to the drive which will prevent any access to the backup.

That's an extreme look at things, but your system.

Good luck.

anaron · 25 Nov 2017

That's an extreme look at things, but your system.

Not really considering some of the things I have to expose my system to which I know before hand may very well crash the entire system.

Plankton · 25 Nov 2017

CountMike said:

A thing like this would be useful: Removable Hard Drive | eBay I have one with 3 bays with one of them always empty for backup disks. There are also switches for disks: Kingwin HDD Power Switch Module 6 Switches for 5.25 Inch Bay Ps6 | eBay
https://www.amazon.com/device-switch.../dp/B01MAX56SA
Or even: How To Build A SATA Hard Drive Switcher - YouTube

That's what I was thinking but a tad bit different. I recommend a docking station.....works the best IMO. Personally, I have a docking station built into my case and boy does it come in handy. Desktop docking stations are really inexpensive now days.