How to make an Ext. Firewire HD?

[matt.bauer]

I have a HD removed from my Tivo during an upgrade and repair. The specs look very similar to the internal HD on my iMac:
40.0GB AT Quantam Fireball.lct (Part# QML40000LD-A)

I would like to make an external firewire drive out of it. I have seen enclosures on the internet from about $40 to $100.

Here are my questions:
1. I am not experienced in dealing with Hardware issues other than installing RAM or an Airport Card. Is this easy to do?

2. Any suggestions on a good low price enclosure to buy and where?

3. This drive crashed on my Tivo, but the guy that fixed it said it could be reformatted and used. Is this the case?

4. If connected via firewire will it be just as fast as the internal drive on my iMac DV 400? Will I be able to edit iMovies and listen to mp3s stored on this drive?

Thanks for the help.

 

[vniow]

Re: How to make an Ext. Firewire HD?

Originally posted by matt.bauer
1. I am not experienced in dealing with Hardware issues other than installing RAM or an Airport Card. Is this easy to do?

2. Any suggestions on a good low price enclosure to buy and where?

If you're familiar with a screwdriver, then its not going to be much trouble.

Here's a link to some good ones that I know of:

http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Page.cfm?Parent=685&Title=&Template=1

 

[virividox]

weibetech makes great enclusures

 

[solvs]

www.newegg.com has some good ones. Cheap, fast shipping, and they have reviews from others who have bought the same things.

As V said, OWC has some good ones too.

The drive may be fine after being formated, but I wouldn't trust it too much. If it was a software problem, you'll be fine. If it's a hardware problem, you may lose everything you put on it. If it's just a scratch disk or back up, no biggie. You can always buy another one after it dies for pretty cheap, and put it in the same fw case.

 

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by virividox
weibetech makes great enclusures

Link?

 

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by solvs
www.newegg.com has some good ones. Cheap, fast shipping, and they have reviews from others who have bought the same things...

For what it's worth, here's a link to their Firewire enclosures...