Shucking a Hard Drive is the act of separating a physical Hard Drive from an enclosure or piece of equipment.
Shucking is a method commonly used to retrieve and secure mechanical Hard Drives while saving on the cost of buying a brand new one.
How do you know which device or portable drive can be shucked?
Most commonly, you’ll have to Google or check on QuickHardDrive to see if the drive you are purchasing can be shucked.
Usually, what prevents you from shucking is soldiered connectors that will not allow the Hard Drive to be separated without damage. In other cases, the actual adapter for the Hard Drive may be proprietary, meaning it’s not the standard SATA cable.
If you plan on shucking a drive then we advise you to make sure to do your due diligence before committing!
What type of equipment or device can be shucked?
The most commonly shucked device is the portable Hard Drive. These are manufactured by companies such as Western Digital, Seagate, and Samsung. They usually contain an actual internal Hard Drive (sized 2.5 or 3.5” inch) that has an adapter allowing for USB hook up to the computer.
Not as popular but also an option for shucking are older generation DVR boxes or any equipment that may contain a Hard Drive.
Why shuck a Hard Drive?
Shucking a Hard Drive allows you to pay a fraction of the price of a standard internal drive. Shucking can yield major cost savings, especially if done from older equipment.
While a shucked drive won’t have the warranty and be worn, they can still act as good storage solutions in a RAID setup.
If you are looking for additional back up in a NAS or even your computer then a shucked drive does make sense. However, we advise strongly to follow a 3 backup solution in order to protect your important data. Shucked drives are inexpensive but heavily worn in most cases so their effective life expectancy is nowhere near those of newly purchased drives.
Step by step shucking Hard Drive guide 2022
- Step 1: Research the device’s serial number to make sure it can be shucked. This is important in order to avoid any surprises after you’ve disassembled the outer shell.
- Step 2: Remember different devices have different way of removing the enclosure to extract the physical Hard Drive. Look for any screws or hinges that exist on the body of the device. Make sure you have proper tools, such as a screw driver set.
- Step 3: Unscrew the outer enclosure and slowly take it apart, make sure you don’t use too much force. The outer shell is made out of plastic and so it may break or you may damage the actual Hard Drive.
WARNING: DO NOT DROP THE DEVICE.
- Step 4: Slowly pull out the Hard Drive while being cognizant of where and how the connector is hooked up to the drive. You may have to use a screw driver or another thin object to unhook actual Hard Drive from the controller board inside the enclosure.
- Step 5: Remove the Hard Drive and check to see if there are any marking, stickers, or serial ID number. Check the information online to see what type of Hard Drive you were lucky enough to shuck.
- Step 6: Hook it up to your computer either using an external USB to SATA cable or simply plug it as a second or third drive to your motherboard. Run a program to check on the read/write speeds and also overall health of the Hard Drive (check for bad sectors).
- Step 7: Finally, make sure to completely wipe everything and format the Hard Drive to fit your use.
Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of an internal Hard Drive. Also, make sure to give yourself a pat on the back for shucking the drive from the device.