A: The built-in backup program in your iMacs, called Time Machine, doesn’t require Apple’s Time Capsule product to work. It will work with almost any brand of directly connected external hard disk.

For instance, I back up my home iMac to a Western Digital drive that’s connected to it via a cable.

As for hard-drive life, it’s my experience that many seem to die sooner or later, especially if they are used heavily. I don’t know if the ones inside the Time Capsule are especially fragile. But, in just the past six months, I’ve had an external hard disk from G-Tech die on me; seen an internal hard disk on my home Dell die for a second time; and discovered that the hard disk on my colleague’s MacBook died.

One way to protect against the failure of a local backup drive is to consider, in addition to using an external disk, backing up your data to an online backup service like Mozy, Carbonite or SugarSync.

My Dell has Microsoft Vista but I can upgrade free to the new Windows 7. However, I was told my antivirus software won’t be compatible and my email will change—the program will no longer be “Windows Mail.” What do you recommend?

A: I regard Windows 7 as much better than Vista, but you are correct that many antivirus programs will require upgrading and Windows Mail will go away during the upgrade. You’ll have to install a new email program, such as the very similar “Windows Live Mail,” which can import your messages. So, the question really is one of trade-offs. If you’re satisfied with Vista, and would rather not perform these program replacements, you should stand pat. If you don’t like Vista, and are anxious to replace it, then the hassles you describe could be worth it.

Will Office 2003 work with the new Windows 7 operating system?

A: Microsoft, which makes both products, says the answer is yes, though I haven’t tested it.

Is it possible that the Verizon Motorola Droid, which doesn’t work in Europe, could be turned into a “world phone” that could work on European cellphone networks via an app somebody might develop?

A: An app wouldn’t be able to do that for the current Verizon Droid. It’s a hardware issue.

Verizon’s Droid, like most Verizon phones, is built to run on a type of network called CDMA that isn’t used in Europe or most other countries outside the U.S., which use a network standard called GSM.

To run on these networks, the Droid, or any other current CDMA phone, would need an entirely different radio, or two radios, one for each type of network.

Verizon offers a handful of so-called “world phones,” which have both kinds of radios inside, but the Droid isn’t one of them. Motorola may well make a new model with two radios, or even a model with one radio that would work overseas, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did so.

What could be done with an app is to allow the Droid to make so-called VOIP phone calls via the Internet.

In fact, while I haven’t checked, there may already be such an app for Android—the Droid’s operating system—that would do so. But, in many cases, making such Internet phone calls requires the user to be in range of a Wi-Fi network. Some carriers don’t allow such calls to be made over their cellular networks.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

A: That’s right. It’s a characteristic of Android, the Droid’s operating system made by Google, and it’s something I noted as a weakness when I reviewed the first Android phone over a year ago.

Even though the Droid comes with 16 gigabytes of memory, in the form of a removable card, apps can’t be stored on this memory card. They must be stored in a special area of internal memory, which in the case of the Droid totals only a measly 256 megabytes, about a fourth of one gigabyte. The memory card is reserved instead for things like documents, music, videos and pictures. That limits the total number of apps the phone can hold at any one time.

Google says the amount of internal memory allotted for apps is up to the hardware makers, and notes that the Droid has twice as much as the original Android phone. It also says that makers of complex apps that use things like graphics that are ancillary to the core app itself could theoretically offload these files to the memory cards.

But users of Apple’s competing iPhone can devote nearly all of its 16 gigabytes of memory to storing third-party apps, allowing many more apps to be stored on the phone.

I have all my data (addresses, calendar, notes) stored on my Palm Zire. I’d like to get an iPod Touch, but can’t figure out how to transfer the Palm calendar. Can you help? Or, do you know of any other “smart” handheld that will allow me to import my Palm data and give me Internet/email access?

A: There are various workarounds for doing the transfer to an iPod Touch, but, since you ask, there is another smart phone with great Internet capabilities that comes with a way to do it simply and directly: the Palm Pre. It’s based on a new and different operating system than your Zire is, called webOS, and is designed to sync with wireless contact and calendar sources rather than desktop programs.

But Palm has developed a one-time, one-way utility for transferring data from desktop software used by an older Palm to one of the wireless calendar and contact services with which the Pre was designed to sync. More information is at: http://bit.ly/2ivFI.

I want to buy a new computer and I really like the new iMac with the 27″ screen. I am 72 years old, which is one of the reasons I want the larger screen. Please tell me if you think my buying this iMac is a good idea. Is there some negative aspect of the iMac that I should be aware of?

A: I gave the new iMac with the huge screen a positive review, so I obviously think it’s a good computer. But, if by mentioning your age you mean to imply that you have vision issues, you should be aware that the new iMac’s screen isn’t just physically large, but is high resolution.

That allows it to pack a lot more content onto the screen, but, depending on what program you’re using, it can make the text small. Word processors, email programs and Web browsers usually allow you to enlarge text, but not all programs do.

The Mac itself has a system-wide zooming feature, but that makes some tasks harder to work with. I recommend you go to a store and play with the big iMac for a while to make sure you feel comfortable with its screen resolution.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Is there a way to transfer a Windows Media music file to iTunes?

If the Windows Media file is copy-protected, typically because you bought it from an online store that copy-protects its music, iTunes cannot import or play it. However, if it is unprotected, which is typical for files you created from your own CDs using Windows Media Player, iTunes can import the file and automatically convert it into a format it can use.

I would like to purchase an iPhone, but run it on the Verizon network. I realize that AT&T has an exclusive at this time, but is there a way to do this on the secondary market?

No. The radio inside the iPhone is incompatible with the network technology used by Verizon and Sprint. That cannot be changed by hacking the software, or replacing the SIM card in the phone.

I need to buy a new laptop computer and am wondering if you think Vista is wise at this point or should I still stick with Windows XP if I can find it? I only do emails, browsing the net and some downloading of music and photos. I am retired and don’t know much about computers.

Vista easily handles the tasks you want to do, but it will require heftier hardware to work at acceptable speeds, and, assuming you are used to working with XP, Vista will require you to learn some new things. If you buy XP, you can get away with a more modestly equipped computer, and you will be working with a more familiar interface. So, in your particular situation, I would suggest an XP machine. But I urge you to make sure it gets upgraded to the latest revision, called SP3, which bolsters the security of XP, so it is closer to that of Vista. Depending on your setup, this upgrade may be delivered automatically by Microsoft, but you may have to agree to accept it.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

All of the major digital maps contain erroneous information about our street in Virginia, and don’t even show several new streets near our home that were built over three years ago. I infer that there is one source of cartography used by these Web services, and also by my Garmin navigation system. But I can’t find out what it is. How can an individual get something like this corrected?

There are actually two main companies that make the underlying maps that most of the navigation-device makers and digital-map sites use. One is called Tele Atlas (TLATF.PK), and one is called Navteq (NVT). Garmin (GRMN) uses Navteq. Each mapping company has a Web page where users can report errors or changes.

For Navteq’s error-reporting Web page, go to navteq.com and click on “Map Reporter.” For Tele Atlas’ similar page, go to teleatlas.com and click on “Report Map Changes.”

In reading your review of the new Gogo in-flight wireless Internet system, I wondered about two things: Does it support “virtual private networks,” and when will it be installed on Amtrak trains?

While I didn’t test this, Gogo’s maker, Aircell, says that VPNs, which are used by many big companies, do indeed work over the service.

As for Amtrak, the Gogo system wouldn’t work for trains, because its antennas point up, into the sky, and don’t cover ground locations like railroad tracks. However, if you are on an Amtrak train in an area where cellphone towers are near the tracks, and your laptop computer or cellphone can pick up cellular data signals, you can already surf the Web and do email and other online tasks on the train.

In fact, I happen to be writing this column on an Amtrak Acela train between Washington and New York, and, using a Verizon (VZ) laptop card, my laptop is able to access the Internet with only occasional lapses.

Because of problems I had with my computer, I lost my Internet Explorer favorites. How can I save them so I can easily restore them if they get wiped out again?

There are several methods. You should, of course, be backing up all your key data, including your browser favorites or bookmarks, regularly, either to a local external disk, or to an online backup service. That would create a fairly fresh backup of your favorites. You could also use one of several Web sites that specialize in hosting, and sharing, bookmarks or favorites. They allow you to add bookmarks to your online list as you surf, and also to upload and download the favorites and bookmarks you keep locally on your computer. The best known of these sites is probably del.icio.us, which is at http://del.icio.us.

The simplest method, however, is probably to just export your favorites to a file and save it in your Documents folder, on your desktop, or on a USB thumb drive. You can then use this file to restore your favorites in case of disaster. To do this in the latest version of Microsoft (MSFT) IE, click on the “Add to Favorites” button, select “Import and Export,” click “Next,” then click “Export Favorites” and walk through the steps that follow. Detailed instructions for all versions of IE are at: support.microsoft.com/kb/211089.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the new All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

I am considering the purchase of the MacBook Air (AAPL). If this computer freezes up, as my current Dell Inspiron does on occasion, how would I correct for that? I usually remove and then replace the battery on the Dell (DELL). But what would I do if this happens with the Air, since it has no removable battery?

You can force a frozen MacBook Air — or any current Mac laptop — to shut down and restart without removing its battery. You just hold down the power button for a few seconds until the machine shuts off, then wait a few seconds, then turn it on again.

I am a Verizon (VZ) customer and have a Palm (PALM) Treo 700W for personal use. I would like to replace the Treo but, in light of Verizon’s announced “open network” policy, I am wondering if this is the right time.

It’s far too early to know what new phones will be available under the new Verizon program, since that depends on which phone makers decide to make devices to run on the “open” network, and what kinds of devices they might produce. There is the potential for phones that are more creative or interesting than what is available today, but it’s only a potential. Verizon has just laid out the first details of the plan, and no product announcements are likely for quite a while. If your Treo needs replacing soon, and you want to remain a Verizon customer, you will have to choose from the company’s current smart-phone offerings.

Are there any cellphones that allow for two separate phone numbers? Right now I carry two devices, both with the same carrier.

At least in the U.S., each cellphone, or each SIM card that goes in a phone, is normally tied to a single number. To use two numbers on a single phone, you could purchase an unlocked phone running on a GSM network and then purchase two SIM cards, each with a separate number, and swap them in and out. But that would be an inconvenient process, since inserting and removing SIM cards typically requires opening the phone and even removing the battery.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

We need a new DVD player but are completely confused about the Blu-Ray versus HD DVD war. We want to purchase something that will last us many years, but I’m afraid to splurge on it when it’s still unclear what the preferred format will be. One option looks to be buying a DVD player that can “upscale” to high definition. How much worse is this in terms of quality?

The good news is that the war appears to be winding down. Because I never saw any significant quality difference between the two high-definition formats, I never recommended one over the other. But most of the major studios have defected to Blu-Ray, so industry experts believe HD DVD is likely to recede as a movie format, though it may find a market as a data format for computers. However, the companies backing HD DVD haven’t given up, so the battle isn’t formally over.

Meanwhile, I have found that, for everyone but videophiles, “upscaling” DVD players are effective at making most regular DVDs look better on high-definition TV sets. And name-brand models can be found for as little as $45, which is less than Blu-Ray players are likely to commonly cost for quite awhile.

In your review of the new MacBook Air laptop, you said it lacked a wired Internet jack but that Apple plans to sell an adapter. Did you test this? When will it be available? And is there any way to use the MacBook Air with a cellphone network for Internet access?

Apple says the $30 wired Internet adapter will ship when the laptop does. I tested an early unit and found it worked fine. As for working on the cellphone data networks, you can use a cellphone modem from one of the network operators that connects via USB instead of a card slot. Unfortunately, I tested one of these, the Novatel USB727 from Verizon, and found that it was too wide to fit in the cramped space around the MacBook Air’s USB adapter. So you will need an extension cable, making for an ungainly attachment.

There are two other options. If you already own a cellphone data modem meant to fit a PC Card or ExpressCard slot, you can buy an adapter that allows these cards to work via a USB port. I tested such an adapter, a $40 model from a company called Siig that allowed me to use my older Novatel V640 ExpressCard modem with the MacBook Air. It worked well but is relatively large and is attached by a cable, so it is also bulky and ungainly.

The final option would be to pair the MacBook Air with a Bluetooth-equipped cellphone that is able to act as a wireless modem. No cables are required for this, but there is some setup. Ironically, one of the phones that lacks this capability is Apple’s own iPhone.

What happened to the Tablet PC version of Windows? Since Vista has come out, I can’t find a Tablet edition.

Microsoft decided to drop the separate tablet edition it produced for Windows XP and build its capabilities into Vista. Unless you have the least expensive version of Vista, called Home Basic, the full Tablet PC capability should be usable on any tablet PC running Vista. But there’s no longer a specific edition labeled that way.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

My computer takes forever to start up. I am tempted to just put it into hibernation or standby when I am done with it for the day, so that starting up will be quicker. Would I be damaging my computer by doing so?

Doing this shouldn’t cause any damage to your computer. For many users, one of these two techniques is standard procedure, in fact. Standby, or sleep, mode, gets you back to work more quickly, because the machine never completely shuts down. Its biggest downside is that, on occasion, computers fail to “awaken” properly from this mode, and you have to do a full restart. So I would advise that you carefully save any work before initiating standby.

In my experience, this kind of glitch is less likely to happen when you use hibernation, in which the computer does completely shut down, but first saves to the hard disk a record of the state of the machine.

When the computer restarts, all open programs and files are restored just as you left them. The downside here is that getting going again using hibernation takes longer than it does using standby mode. And, even though it’s more reliable than standby mode, I’d still advise saving all your work each time before using hibernation.

I am thinking about switching to a MacBook Pro laptop. I understand that it has a real good automatic Wi-Fi detection system. But if I also use a cellular modem card from Verizon or Sprint to access the Internet, won’t the two conflict?

No. The Mac operating system treats the two kinds of connections separately, each with its own user interface. It can detect and connect either one, if you have coverage of both types.

I’m interested in getting a laptop with LED display and SSD drive. Do you think the price for those components will fall drastically in three months’ time?

Displays that use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been around for a while and don’t tend to be a major deal breaker in the higher-end laptops in which they are commonly offered. But solid-state drives (SSDs), which replace hard disks with memory chips to store your data, are much rarer and newer and still can add significantly to the price of even a high-end laptop. I am no expert in price forecasting, but, while SSD prices will fall, I doubt they will drop “drastically” in as little as three months.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the new All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

This week, I was swamped with questions about Apple’s hot new iPhone, so this is a special all-iPhone edition of Mossberg’s Mailbox.

Can you physically remove the included AT&T SIM card from the iPhone and replace it with another AT&T card or one from another wireless carrier?

Yes, and no. The SIM card, which carries the iPhone’s account information, can be removed by inserting a paper clip into a tiny hole at the top of the phone. However, Apple says that if you replace the included card with one from another carrier, like T-Mobile in the U.S., or Orange in Europe, the phone won’t work. According to Apple, some non-iPhone AT&T cards may work, but some may not.

It’s possible that hackers will figure out a way to override this lock on other carriers’ SIM cards. But, as of now, the iPhone will work only with AT&T. Even overseas, at least until Apple does deals with foreign partners, you won’t be able to use SIM cards from other carriers. The iPhone will work overseas, but you will have to roam with AT&T and pay high charges. For instance, according to an AT&T spokesman, if you make a call in Europe, it would cost $1.29 a minute. It would cost 99 cents a minute if you are on one of AT&T’s $5.99 per month international plans.

Since the iPhone battery is sealed in and can’t be easily replaced by the user, what happens when it dies? Will you have to buy a new iPhone?

No, but you will have to send the phone to Apple, or drop it off at an Apple store, to have the battery replaced. The battery is covered during the phone’s one-year warranty period. After that, replacing the battery costs $79, plus $6.95 for shipping, and takes three business days. Details are at apple.com/support/iphone/service/battery/. Some small companies may eventually offer to do this for less, or in less time, as they have for the iPod.

One twist: because a phone is a necessity, Apple is offering loaner iPhones for $29 while your phone’s battery is being replaced, or for the period of any other repair on the iPhone. You will have to switch the AT&T SIM card from your own phone to the loaner, and then back again. Details are at apple.com/support/iphone/service/faq.

In addition, Apple warns that all the data on your iPhone will be wiped out during a battery replacement, but notes that it can easily be restored by simply syncing again with the iTunes software on your computer once you get it back with a fresh battery. That’s because, whenever you sync your iPhone with iTunes, it backs up the data on the phone. You can also use this method to fill your loaner iPhone with your own data.

Can I use the iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection in my car? Can I use Bluetooth to transfer files or other information between the iPhone and a computer?

In my two-week test of the iPhone, I succeeded in connecting it without much trouble to the built-in audio system and microphone on a friend’s BMW. Almost instantly, the over 700 contacts I had on my test iPhone were displayed on the car’s dashboard screen and calls could be made and received through the iPhone.

However, this first iPhone can use Bluetooth to connect only with cars and with wireless phone headsets. It cannot use Bluetooth to transfer any data to or from a computer, to play music through stereo wireless headsets, or for any other purpose. As with many other missing features, Apple has the ability to add these to the iPhone through software updates delivered by synchronizing with your computer.

If the iPhone’s Web browser is so good, why can’t it play video on Web sites I visit?

At launch, the iPhone version of the Safari browser is missing some plug-ins needed for playing common types of Web videos. The most important of these is the plug-in for Adobe’s Flash technology. Apple says it plans to add that plug-in through an early software update, which I am guessing will occur within the next couple of months. However, a separate program included on the iPhone can play a limited selection of videos from YouTube, and the phone can play videos you purchase from Apple’s iTunes store, and certain videos you create yourself.

You have been critical in the past of some smartphones that don’t allow you to delete emails with a single click. Can the iPhone do this?

Yes. If you are reading an email and want to delete it, you just tap on a trash can icon at the bottom of the screen and the message disappears into the trash can with an animation that resembles water being poured through a funnel.

However, in the iPhone email program’s list view, it takes two steps to delete an email. You have to swipe across the message header or preview with your finger, and then tap the red delete button that appears. You can also press an “Edit” button, which allows you to delete emails in the list view, but this still requires two taps per message.

Unlike on a BlackBerry or Treo, the iPhone doesn’t allow you to delete whole groups of email en masse by date, or even to select large groups and then delete them en masse. This would be a good feature for Apple to add down the line.

Can you buy an iPhone and just use it to play music and videos like an iPod, and to surf the Web or get email over Wi-Fi, without signing up for an AT&T service contract?

No. None of the iPhone’s functions, except calling 911, will work unless the phone is covered by a two-year AT&T service contract, and has been “activated” by AT&T. That will cost you $60 a month at a minimum. If you are thinking of buying an iPhone, you should plan on being an AT&T customer, and if AT&T coverage is poor where you live, work and travel frequently, I advise you NOT to buy an iPhone.

You and many others have criticized AT&T’s EDGE data network, which the iPhone uses, as slow. You have noted that AT&T has a much faster data network. Can the iPhone be upgraded to use that faster network?

No, it can’t. This first edition of the iPhone can’t use any cellular network faster than EDGE, which is much, much slower than the fastest cellphone data networks available from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. It can, however, use very fast Wi-Fi wireless networks, when you are in range of them.

Apple hasn’t said anything about future iPhone models, but I fully expect a future model that can use these faster cellular networks, which are usually called 3G networks. So, if this is very important to you, I’d suggest waiting to see if such an iPhone emerges. But I don’t expect this to happen anytime soon.

In the past few days, AT&T seems to have tweaked its EDGE network, at least in some locations, so it runs faster than it has in the past. In my own speed tests, around Washington, D.C., I have seen repeated speeds of around 150 kilobits per second, roughly 50% better than the 100 kbps I have seen with EDGE in the past. However, I have also recorded speeds as slow as 82 kbps. And, even the new, faster speeds are way below those of the faster American cellular data networks, which can easily reach 500 to 800 kbps on a phone.

How good is the iPhone’s To-Do list or Task function?

Awful — in the sense that it doesn’t exist. The phone does have a calendar, of course, which syncs with the most popular calendar programs on Windows and Macintosh computers. And it has a Notepad, which doesn’t sync with any program on any computer (though you can email notes to yourself and others). But it has no To-Do list function at all.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about external modems for a MacBook, resizing photos for email, and using the forthcoming iPhone in Europe.

In your laptop buying guide, you mentioned that the MacBook from Apple lacks both an internal cellphone modem and an external slot in which to insert one. Is there a way to hook up a cellphone modem via a USB port?

Yes, several cellphone carriers offer external modems that plug into USB ports. I haven’t tested these, but have no reason to doubt that they work. However, if you are buying a MacBook, make sure any such modem you buy is Mac-compatible. Both Verizon and Sprint carry a Novatel model that plugs into a USB port and is listed as being compatible with the Mac.

When I email pictures to my sister, she has to scroll up, down, and across to see the whole thing. What can I do to my computer or to hers?

You can make the picture smaller before emailing it. Both Windows and Macintosh computers offer you the option of shrinking the size of photos you email. For instance, in the My Pictures folder in Windows XP, if you select a photo and then choose “Email this file” from the menu at the left, you will be asked if you want to make the picture smaller. On the Mac, in the built-in iPhoto program, when you select a photo and click on the Email icon at the bottom, you are offered a choice of sizes for the picture.

Will the forthcoming Apple iPhone be usable in Europe with a SIM card, and will it be based on a Palm platform or a Microsoft one?

Nothing about any future product can be certain until it is released, but Apple officials have said that the iPhone will be usable in Europe if you insert into it a SIM card from a European carrier. However, it won’t have one of its touted features, “visual voicemail,” which depends upon AT&T, the iPhone’s U.S. carrier.

* * *

Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com

It depends. If you need a relatively low-capacity player that stores music in flash memory, like the iPod Nano and Shuffle, you might look at SanDisk’s Sansa line, or at the iRiver players. If you want a high-capacity player like the full-sized iPod, which stores music on a hard disk, you could consider the new Microsoft Zune, or the hard-disk players from Creative. But all of these players offer a less satisfactory experience than the iPod does with buying and/or synchronizing music.

Also, only iPods can directly play the songs you have purchased from iTunes. So, even if you can get these purchased song files onto your new player, they won’t work. To overcome this obstacle, you will have to go through a tedious process. You must first burn, or record, each purchased iTunes song to a CD. Then you’ll have to re-import, or “rip” the songs from the CD back to your hard disk, as MP3 files. Finally, you will have to manually re-enter all the information — song title, artist name, album, and so forth — for every song.

I know the new Cingular Treo 680 works on a much slower network than the Verizon and Sprint Treo 700 models. But is it slower or faster than the older Treo 650 from Cingular? Will Cingular get the 700?

Both the 650 and the 680 use the same network technology, called EDGE, which is much, much slower than the network technology that is used by the Treo 700 on Verizon and Sprint. Neither the 650 nor the 680 can take advantage of Cingular’s new, faster network technology, which is called HSDPA, nor can they be updated after sale to do so.

I can’t say for sure what other Treo models Cingular will choose to carry, but the current 700 versions are incompatible with Cingular. The only other new Treo that is compatible with Cingular is a model called the 750, now sold in Europe only, and due in the U.S. late in 2007. In its European configuration, the 750 runs on faster network technology than EDGE, but cannot handle Cingular’s fastest network.

I have an internal DVD burner that I removed from a desktop computer that failed. I want to convert the burner into an external drive. Is there any way of doing this?

You can find external enclosures for DVD drives that will allow you to connect such a drive to a computer via a cable. Just search online for “DVD burner enclosure” or some similar phrase. I can’t guarantee that your particular drive will work as an external unit in an enclosure or that you will have the skill necessary to convert it.