Once you've opened the old enclosure, remove any mounting screws from the tray that may be located on the sides or the bottom. In that case, you may need to use a spudger to separate the enclosure. There's also a chance that the enclosure uses tabs instead of screws. Check under rubber feet or other adhesive rubber covers. If you can't find any obvious screws, they may be hidden. Look for seams to give you clues on how the enclosure is put together. The most difficult part of the upgrade is figuring out how to crack open your old hard drive's enclosure. Remove the hard drive from the old enclosure We recommend you back up any data that may be on the drive before proceeding. It's also possible that you'll damage the original enclosure and or the internal hard drive. Here's how:ĭisclaimer: Opening your portable hard drive's enclosure will likely void your warranty. For as little as $15, you can double your drive's real-world performance. If you have an old USB 2.0 portable hard drive, you can increase its transfer rates by upgrading it to USB 3.0. The most common portable hard drives have USB 2.0 connections, which are great for compatibility, but terrible for performance. How to build your own external hard drive.