Sometimes you need more space to keep important files, or you have a spare hard drive from an old laptop that you want to add to your desktop. Then you started to wonder if you could use the hard drive from your laptop on your desktop. Yes, a Laptop Hard Drive Work is on A Desktop. You can use the hard drive from your laptop to add more space to your desktop.
A few days ago, I also added a hard drive from a laptop to my desktop to give it more space, and it worked perfectly. It also speeds up the way data is sent. I can help you with this by telling you what I know from my own life.
But you should make sure the hard drive will work with your desktop before you add it. So, let’s not waste any more time and get right to the main points. Please read the whole post if you want to know how to connect the hard drive from your laptop to your desktop.
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Does a Laptop Hard Drive work on a Desktop?
Yes, a laptop hard drive works on a desktop. Even though the hard drive in a laptop is smaller, it can be used as a storage device for a desktop PC if it is compatible. With a SATA cable and SATA data, you can connect your laptop’s hard drive to your desktop.
There are two different kinds of personal computers: laptops and desktops. They used pretty much the same technology to run. When it comes to storing data, both of these types of computers use something called a “hard drive,” which is a magnetically coated platter.
Both hard drives use platters that spin to store data. But their sizes are different. The hard drives in laptops are pretty small.
Since both of them use the same technology, it might be possible for them to swap hard drives. If you have an old laptop that you don’t use anymore, you can add the hard drive to your PC.
You might think about how to connect the hard drive of your laptop to your desktop. It’s not a hard thing to do.
This is pretty easy for you to do. Find out how to connect the hard drive of your laptop to your desktop.
How to Connect a Laptop Hard Drive to your Desktop?
There are two ways to connect your laptop’s hard drive to your desktop. If you only want to connect it for a short time, you can use a USB cable to connect it to your Desktop. But you can also connect it to the motherboard of your desktop for good.
Some motherboards don’t have USB support, so you can connect the motherboard using IDE to IDE or SATA to IDE.
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Here are the two ways to connect the hard drive of your laptop to your desktop:
- Connect via a USB cable.
- Connect with the Motherboard
Connect Via a USB Cable
Sometimes you need temporary extra space to store a lot of things for work. To fix the problem, you can connect the hard drive from your laptop that is not being used. Just connect the HDD to your desktop using a USB cable.
If you connect the HDD with the USB cable, you don’t have to take apart any of your Desktop’s parts. There are a few ways to connect an HDD with a USB cable, but here are three ways to hook up an HDD with a USB cable:
Connect Via a USB Cable
The easiest and most convenient way to connect a hard drive is with a removable case. All the plugs (SATA and power) are already in the case, so the process is almost automatic.
First, you have to find an HDD case that works with your laptop’s HDD. Once you have one, you can get this from a computer store or order it online from a real e-commerce store.
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Then you had to learn the ways to connect. It’s a pretty easy way to do it. Put the hard drive in the case and connect it to the case’s USB port. The case is not only a connector, but it also keeps your HDD safe.
Before you buy one for your HDD, you should check the size and make sure it works with the cable connectors.
Connect Via a Docking Station
This is another main way to connect the hard drive of a laptop to a desktop. A docking station is an adapter that lets a computer connect to another device through a universal port. So, a docking station lets you connect your hard drive.
You can connect more than one HDD to the docking system at the same time, which is another benefit. You can connect different-sized hard drives to the Desktop by putting them in the dock.
A docking system can be bought in a computer store or online. If you want to buy it online, make sure to read the product review first. Always try to buy a docking system that can hold more than one hard drive at once.
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Connect With an Adaptor
The most common and oldest way to connect a hard drive to a desktop is with an adaptor. Just connect the hard drive to the adapter and plug the adapter’s USB cable into the PC’s USB port.
There are many adapters on the market, but you should always choose the right one. In your local windows store, you can find a suitable 2.5-inch hard drive adapter with a USB cable.
Don’t forget to make sure the cable will work before you use it. If the USB ports on your PC are USB 3.0, then you should use a USB 3.0 adapter that is compatible.
These are the three most common ways to use a USB to connect your laptop hard drive to your desktop. Also, you can hook it up to your motherboard. In the next part of the post, I’ll talk about the specifics.
Connect With the Motherboard
As I already said, both types of computers use the same technology to save information. So, it makes sense that the hard drives in both devices are pretty much the same, except for one big difference.
How Big the hard drives in laptops aren’t as big as the ones in desktops. But it doesn’t change the way you connect.
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You can connect the hard drive from your laptop to your desktop unless the two don’t work together. So check to see if your motherboard and hard disk work well together.
Start the process of connecting the HDD if the HDD matches. Before you can do that, you need to get the right cables and adapter. Check the specs of both the hard drive and the motherboard before buying.
Since the HDD in a laptop is smaller than the one in a desktop, it won’t fit in a regular hard disk case. So, get one for your laptop as well.
Now, start moving forward. Here are the steps to connect the hard drive of a laptop to the motherboard of a desktop:
- Take the hard drive out of your laptop.
- Shut down the computer and open the case of the CPU.
- Hook it up to the PC’s adapter.
- Use the right cables to connect the hard drive to the motherboard.
- Start the computer.
- Check how the HDD is set up in BIOS.
Here are the steps for connecting the HDD to the motherboard.
If the HDD connector is compatible, these ways will work. The biggest problem with connecting the HDD to the desktop is that they don’t work well together.
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Barriers
It is not possible to connect a laptop hard drive to a motherboard that has PS2 or Add-on support for connecting hardware. Because most laptops have SDE or SATA ports for connecting hard drives. Now, they also work with SSD.
So, at least for this connection, your desktop motherboard can work with IDE and SATA. You can move data at a good rate. You can hook up an SSD to a desktop that only has an IDE port.
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Conclusion
One of the smartest changes in technology is the rise of laptops and desktops. These are the two different kinds of personal computers. But their parts are the same, except that their sizes are different.
So, if the parts are compatible, you can use some parts from a laptop on a desktop. One of them is the hard drive. I tried to explain how to connect a laptop’s hard drive to a desktop in this post.
I hope the post is real and helpful. I also hope it will help you when you try to connect the HDD from your laptop to your desktop PC.
