Only being able to acces your Data with the same HDD enclosure or NAS

[Gurd99]

Say you have a Vantec external usb enclosure or WD NAS & the unit/enclosure eventually dies. I would assume at first you could just put the hdd's in another enclosure & most versions of windows would read the data fine. Which will be handy once SSD's become cheap enough.

If the enclosure fails and the hdd was formatted on gpt, but yet connecting via sata inside doesn't let windows detect the drive and is unallocated. Not sure what to do? I think for future security simple having the drives all along in the pc is best option.

[hello_hello]

Why couldn't Windows detect the drive?

I was under the impression Vista and newer Windows versions can read GPT formatted drives regardless of the PC's BIOS type. You just can't boot from a GPT drive without a UEFI BIOS and a 64 bit version of Windows (Vista or newer).

That's the way I read the info here (scroll down to "Compatibility").
http://www.howtogeek.com/193669/whats-the-difference-between-gpt-and-mbr-when-partitioning-a-drive/
Windows can only boot from GPT on UEFI-based computers running 64-bit versions of Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, and corresponding server versions. All versions of Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, and Vista can read GPT drives and use them for data — they just can’t boot from them without UEFI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table#Operating_systems_support

If it's a SATA drive I don't know if you could always just put the drive in a different enclosure but would connecting it directly be a problem? I don't understand how it's done (maybe by using dynamic volumes?) but the USB to SATA interface in some external USB drives appears to apply some trickery, so for example XP can read and write to the whole capacity of a 3TB USB drive. Is that the sort of thing you're referring to? Maybe XP couldn't access such a drive connected directly to the MB but what about newer versions of Windows?

[lingyi]

Say you have a Vantec external usb enclosure or WD NAS & the unit/enclosure eventually dies. I would assume at first you could just put the hdd's in another enclosure & most versions of windows would read the data fine. Which will be handy once SSD's become cheap enough.

If the enclosure fails and the hdd was formatted on gpt, but yet connecting via sata inside doesn't let windows detect the drive and is unallocated. Not sure what to do? I think for future security simple having the drives all along in the pc is best option.

There were / are(?) some WD (possibly also Seagate) external drives that were modified to work only within the original enclosure.

As hello_hello posted, GPT is generally recognized by Vista and later versions of Windows only. From https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn640535(v=vs.85).aspx#gpt_faq_xp32_boot

"Answers about Windows disk support

Can Windows XP x64 read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

Windows XP x64 Edition can use GPT disks for data only.


Can the 32-bit version of Windows XP read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

No. The 32-bit version will see only the Protective MBR. The EE partition will not be mounted or otherwise exposed to application software.


Can the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

Starting with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, all versions of Windows Server can use GPT partitioned disks for data. Booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on Itanium-based systems.


Can Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

Yes, all versions can use GPT partitioned disks for data. Booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on UEFI-based systems.


Can Windows 2000, Windows NT 4, or Windows 95/98 read, write, and boot from GPT?

No. Again, legacy software will see only the Protective MBR.


Is it possible to move a GPT disk to another computer?

You can move, or migrate, data-only GPT disks to other systems that are running Windows XP (64-bit edition only) or later versions of the operating system (32- or 64-bit editions). You can migrate data-only GPT disks after the system has been shutdown or after the safe removal of the disk."