HARD DRIVES

Can I replace hard disk inside External Hard Drive?

I want to know if my External HD, such as Buffalo DriveStation Combo TurboUSB and WD MYBOOK ESSENTIAL break down in the future, can I replace hard drive inside with other brands of HD? Thanks.
Because these external hard drive are bundled together, not like we buy a external case and a hard disk and assemble them.
If in the future the hard disk inside corrupt, I want to replace it with a new hard drive instead of throw it away, means can reuse the case.

Sometimes it’s difficult to get the enclosure open but yeah, there’s just a regular hard drive inside. (The small ones have laptop hard discs in them instead of full-size ones but other than that they’re basically the same.)

Basically they’re just a plastic enclosure with a USB-to-IDE (or SATA) connection. (Check out the link below for a visual idea of what it might look like.) The hard drive will be hermetically sealed so you don’t have to worry about getting dust or stuff in as long as you don’t take it apart. Once you get the enclosure open just unplug the hard disc, put a different one in, screw it back together and you’re done.

Here’s a picture that clearly shows the enclosure (its in two pieces, one on the left and the other on the right) and the hard disc (between the two pieces of the enclosure).

http://www.wap.org/journal/rollyourownhd/Figure3lg.jpg

Buffalo Drivestation Combo Review