How to transform an old hard drive into a backup or storage unit after an upgrade.

With the holidays just around the corner and the release of Microsoft new operating system Windows 7 a few weeks ago, a lot of people may be thinking about getting a new computer, or upgrade the hard drive in the old one to a bigger size.
One question that will probably come up, is what to do with the old computer, or in the case of an upgrade, to the old hard drive?
Either way, it is never a good idea to just toss the old computer or hard drive for the obvious security reasons. Because, even if you transfer all the files from the old computer to the new one or to the new hard drive, it is common knowledge that almost every bit of information that was stored there, is perfectly retrievable.
With that in mind, you will have a few options that vary in terms of time commitment: The first and less time consuming, would be to store the computer or the hard drive in a safe and secure location; the second option would be to pick a hammer and smash the old computer or hard drive to pieces; the third option would be to give the old hard drive a new life as a backup or storage unit. That last option which allows you to kill two birds with one stone, is what we will be talking about here.
At first, it may sound intimidating for a non techie, but it is a real simple procedure that most people should be able to do on their own. To set the scene straight, there is not a lot fixing to do here, all you need is a hard drive enclosure kit. An enclosure is nothing but a casing that will act as a shell to protect the drive and provide the necessary ports for power and cables for U.S.B. connectivity to a computer.
For a starter, the main thing to be concerned with, is to get a same size model (3.5-inch drive for a PC, or a 2.5-inch drive for a laptop) compatible with the old hard drive.
In doubt about what you may need, several sites like eHow.com, will give you the run down on how to choose a new drive, and how to install it in the newly purchased enclosure.
Speaking of purchase, hard drive enclosure prices start at about $15 and you can get from sites like newegg.com, ultraproducts.com, or tigerdirect.com and some of them even sell an enclosure kit complete with cables an d software to transfer all your data over to the new hard drive before the old one is turned into new use.

For more, see NYTimes.com