If you want to dissect a Western Digital external drive enclosure, here's what to do.

There's a break between the plastic between the lighter gray plastic of the front panel and the side panels of the drive. The side panels are installed by sliding them forward to click into place against the front, so your goal is to move them backwards towards the rear of the enclosure. Insert a small screwdriver near the top and bottom of the gap and gently lever it away from the front. You should be able to lever against the front panel. When there's a gap of about a quarter inch, slide your fingers into the gap and pull back, also pulling gently on the curved part of the rear of the side panel. With enough force it should click and fall off. Repeat this for the other side.

You should now be able to gently pry both sides of the front panel, and pull them away from the case and then pull the panel forward and off. The clips holding it on are on either side.

The top and bottom of the case are held on by three clips on either side, and two on the front. All of these should be visible by this point. Gently pull the tabs out so that you can lift the top of the darker gray plastic of the enclosure from the bottom.

Looking down into the case now you should see the drive in the front, two heatsinks on either side of it, and a light gray box to the rear. There are two sets of wires running from that box (which contains the EIDE/FW/USB controller) to the front of the case. One goes to the three buttons and lights of the front panel, and the other goes to the USB port on the front of the drive. Gently disconnect both.

There are three screws holding the entire assembly down at this point. They are the screws on either side of the drive and to the front of it which are also holding down the little copper "feet." Unscrew each of them and set them aside. You should now be able to gently lift the entire assembly out of the bottom of the enclosure.

If you are simply going to replace the drive, carefully remove the IDE and power cables from the rear of the drive using a pair of needlenose pliers and push them towards the controller. You can reach them both from either side. They are both very short, no more than two inches long. Then flip over the assembly and remove the four screws from the bottom of the case to free the drive.

At this point you can probably figure out what needs to be done to replace the drive.

If you are going to add another drive to the controller or just want to take a peek at it, it is held in by the small screw in the back of its case and then cut the tape holding the top to the bottom. The top of the box protecting the controller should simply pull up. At this point you can replace the IDE cable with a longer one if you choose and/or add an extension cable to the power plug. I have not tried, but I assume you could have a master and slave configuration with two drives.

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