Reader Fred wants to know if a laptop hard drive can be plugged into a desktop PC. “The pin out appears to be the same,” he notes, “but there is no separate power-supply connector.” Short answer: yes.

For power this drive needs 24 volts at 6 amps, 5 volts at 4.5 amps, and -12 volts at 4 amps. Fitting the drive into the PDP-11 rack requires a little mechanical adjustment but after making some ...

This week I got an email from a reader who asks, "I have a stand-alone hard drive that cannot be accessed anymore. I've tried different laptops and different cables, but to no avail. The light is ...

Want to move your OS from an HDD to an SSD or copy data to a different drive? Here's how to do it safely. Palash has been writing about technology (and entertainment) for over a decade. His focus has ...