2.5'' USB 2.0 External HDD Enclosure

Am I on the right track? I have a new internal 2.5 hard drive (from my laptop which broke), want to put it in an enclosure, then use it to create an image copy of my desk top hard drive which is 3.5 ", so that when desk top hard drive goes back, I be able to use the image copy to restore ? Should I buy a 3.5" external Enclosure ? what software should I get for image copy ? can I replace the harddrive of my desk top (when it goes bad), with this one ?
Thanks

 

This is for a IDE drive. If the drive is 2.5 drive then you would need a enclosure for a 2.5 drive. A laptop 2.5 drive has a different amout of pins than a 3.5 drive. They do make a converter to make a 2.5 drive so you can use it to make it have the same number of pins a 3.5 does so you can use it in a desktop. http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ADP2535S-BULK&cat=CCD You would also need a kit to mount it into your desktop. I use Acronis True Image to make a image of my drive. http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/ Just to show you what to be looking for in a external case.
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AP25UAP&cat=CSE

 

Thank you Ross for the information, also thanks for giving the links, it helps to see the products and get some idea of pricing.