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How do I choose an external hard drive enclosure? - brocksamsonsrage I currently have an old PC which has some information on it I need, but the computer won't boot. I know the hard drive still works and so I'm going with an external hard drive enclosure, but I'm not sure what I need. The hard drive is a Quantum Fireball AS Plus, Quantum part number looks like QMP40000AS-A, serial # is 194141631577 Any help is greatly appreciated

Best Answer: Since the pc is old, this is going to be an IDE drive. You want an enclosure that supports IDE (or ATA) 3.5" drives. Additionally, you're looking for an external connection that is supported by the computer you're going to attach it to, like usb or firewire. Most common is usb. You might also consider using the enclosure in the future with another drive (or drives) as a backup location, so maybe you want to get one that supports both ATA and SATA (since SATA is becoming the most common). I have lots of enclosures and drives... more drives than enclosures. Good for backups and clones. That's why I suggest considering one that supports both ATA (for your current need) and SATA (for possible future stuff). - conehead

The hard drive is an IDE aka ATA U100 hard drive. Its not SATA, so don't get a SATA enclosure. I shop generally at newegg.com the bytecc is decent... N82E16817145385 Just read some of the review on the cases. I would stay away from the sub $20 cases.. They tend to lock up on the usb port and cause errors. (crappy chipset in the case) - outdoorslife

You need a IDE case-but get one with a little fan to cool your HDD-check in the link - Hermann E

What you need to look for depends on the size of the hard drive most anymore cover almost any size.Get one with a fan,some even have two.You will read that because they're aluminum they don't get hot,don't you believe it.If you run one for 4 or 5 hours,they get so hot you can barely touch the case. - golfer2

any external enclosure works fine on your hdd. just make sure that u get the IDE(PATA) enclosure, as it doesnt support SATA/SATA 2.try to get a quality (mostly expensive) enclosure as they usually offer better quality for prolong used. - domino

How old is the PC? If it is older than 4 years get a IDE enclosure. Some of the enclosures are SATA and IDE so those should work for you too. The 3.5" model should be fine. - los563

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