Removing a hard drive from a desktop

A friend's eight-year-old Windows 98 SE Dell Dimension recently came to the
end of its days. The hard drive stopped being accessible. She's throwing
the computer out, but wants to keep the hard drive around for possible
recovery of data at some point, namely her huge e-mail folder.

I was trying to remove the hard drive. I disconnected all the cables, but
the hard drive seems immovable. I thought that hard drives were supposed to
be relatively easy to remove. I see no moving parts or clips or anything
that would enable me to take it out.

There are some small screw heads in the corners of the hard drive, but they
looked too "locked" into place to be regular screws that can loosen the hard
drive from the computer.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Larry

Go he
http://support.dell.com/

Click "Manuals", then either select by Model or by Service Tag.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Larry" wrote in message
...

A friend's eight-year-old Windows 98 SE Dell Dimension recently came to the
end of its days. The hard drive stopped being accessible. She's throwing
the computer out, but wants to keep the hard drive around for possible
recovery of data at some point, namely her huge e-mail folder.

I was trying to remove the hard drive. I disconnected all the cables, but
the hard drive seems immovable. I thought that hard drives were supposed to
be relatively easy to remove. I see no moving parts or clips or anything
that would enable me to take it out.

There are some small screw heads in the corners of the hard drive, but they
looked too "locked" into place to be regular screws that can loosen the hard
drive from the computer.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Larry

If it's like my old Dell Dimension, you first remove both the front and side
plastic covers, and then have access to two larger phillips screws on the
front grille, just for starters. Those hold the primary HD in on my
system.

Larry wrote:
A friend's eight-year-old Windows 98 SE Dell Dimension recently came to
the
end of its days. The hard drive stopped being accessible. She's throwing
the computer out, but wants to keep the hard drive around for possible
recovery of data at some point, namely her huge e-mail folder.

I was trying to remove the hard drive. I disconnected all the cables, but
the hard drive seems immovable. I thought that hard drives were supposed
to
be relatively easy to remove. I see no moving parts or clips or anything
that would enable me to take it out.

There are some small screw heads in the corners of the hard drive, but
they
looked too "locked" into place to be regular screws that can loosen the
hard
drive from the computer.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Larry

"Bill in Co." wrote:

If it's like my old Dell Dimension, you first remove both the front and side
plastic covers, and then have access to two larger phillips screws on the
front grille, just for starters. Those hold the primary HD in on my
system.

Hmmm...I have a Compaq Presario that just died, and I'm probably going
to have to do this. On that machine, there are several "trapdoor lids"
on the bottom, held on by screws. I've had the one over the RAM off,
when I added more RAM. There's one clearly marked with a disk drawing,
so the HD would be under there. Exactly what would need to be done
after remove the trapdoor lid, I'm not sure.

Another thing I'm not sure about: I know there are external drive
housings that connect to a computer via USB, and you can put a
"normal" 3.5" hard drive in there. This drive would be smaller
(2.5"?). And the machine is easily old enough that it would have to be
IDE (SATA hasn't been around all that long, after all). So would one
of these things be a good idea to try to recover the data?

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(DTS)

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

"Tim Slattery" wrote in message
...

Hmmm...I have a Compaq Presario that just died, and I'm probably going
to have to do this. On that machine, there are several "trapdoor lids"
on the bottom, held on by screws. I've had the one over the RAM off,
when I added more RAM. There's one clearly marked with a disk drawing,
so the HD would be under there. Exactly what would need to be done
after remove the trapdoor lid, I'm not sure.

What model Presario is it, Tim? Most laptops are similar in this respect. Here's a
generic example:
http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop_1.htm

The type of bracket and cable may differ, and the location of the screws....hence it
helps to know the model.

This might help also:
http://www.cmsproducts.com/notebook_drive_removal.htm

http://www.bixnet.com/copr30no800h.html

http://www.bixnet.com/pres1216ser.html

Of course, after you get a new drive in a Compaq, you have to find all the Compaq
drivers for that model.

Another thing I'm not sure about: I know there are external drive
housings that connect to a computer via USB, and you can put a
"normal" 3.5" hard drive in there. This drive would be smaller
(2.5"?). And the machine is easily old enough that it would have to be
IDE (SATA hasn't been around all that long, after all). So would one
of these things be a good idea to try to recover the data?

You can buy a USB 2.0 external drive housing that has a 2.5" adapter for installing
a notebook hard drive. There are some on this page (along with some 3.5"
enclosures):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...asp?CatId=2777

I have this unit instead, which includes adapters for all drives, but no actual
enclosure is used:
NewerTech® USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter
http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php

It's available there or at these online locations...I forget which resller I
used,one of the Mac ones:
http://www.newertech.com/us_resellers.php

Of course, if the drive is too far gone, it won't read it or won't allow access, so
it might be wasted money.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/

"glee" wrote:

"Tim Slattery" wrote in message
.. .

Hmmm...I have a Compaq Presario that just died, and I'm probably going
to have to do this. On that machine, there are several "trapdoor lids"
on the bottom, held on by screws. I've had the one over the RAM off,
when I added more RAM. There's one clearly marked with a disk drawing,
so the HD would be under there. Exactly what would need to be done
after remove the trapdoor lid, I'm not sure.

What model Presario is it, Tim? Most laptops are similar in this respect. Here's a
generic example:

Compaq Presario 1500. I really doubt I'll have much trouble getting it
out, it's quite obvious which door I have to unscrew and open and I'm
sure I can figure out what needs to be done after that.

I also blew right by the fact that OP was asking about a Dell and
that's exactly what you were describing.

You can buy a USB 2.0 external drive housing that has a 2.5" adapter for installing
a notebook hard drive. There are some on this page (along with some 3.5"
enclosures):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...asp?CatId=2777

I have this unit instead, which includes adapters for all drives, but no actual
enclosure is used:
NewerTech® USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter
http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php

It's available there or at these online locations...I forget which resller I
used,one of the Mac ones:
http://www.newertech.com/us_resellers.php

Of course, if the drive is too far gone, it won't read it or won't allow access, so
it might be wasted money.

Thank you for those leads!! It looks like these things sell in the
neighborhood of $20, and a few are down around $10. I don't intend to
use this very much, so maybe a cheap one would do the trick.

I understand that there would be no guarantees. But after observing
the way this thing failed, I *think* there is a very good chance that
the disk is not at fault. And I'm quite sure that it would be worth
spending $10 or $20 for one of these things to try to avoid a trip to
the shop which would cost *much* more.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(DTS)

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Hi Tim....replies inline.....

"Tim Slattery" wrote in message
...
"glee" wrote:
snip

What model Presario is it, Tim? Most laptops are similar in this respect. Here's
a
generic example:

Compaq Presario 1500. I really doubt I'll have much trouble getting it
out, it's quite obvious which door I have to unscrew and open and I'm
sure I can figure out what needs to be done after that.

I also blew right by the fact that OP was asking about a Dell and
that's exactly what you were describing.

Here's what is supposed to be the service manual....it's in 4 parts thast must all
be downloaded and extracted:
http://www.eserviceinfo.com/download.php?fileid=9035
http://www.eserviceinfo.com/download.php?fileid=9036
http://www.eserviceinfo.com/download.php?fileid=9037
http://www.eserviceinfo.com/download.php?fileid=9038


You can buy a USB 2.0 external drive housing that has a 2.5" adapter for
installing
a notebook hard drive. There are some on this page (along with some 3.5"
enclosures):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...asp?CatId=2777

I have this unit instead, which includes adapters for all drives, but no actual
enclosure is used:
NewerTech® USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter
http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php

It's available there or at these online locations...I forget which resller I
used,one of the Mac ones:
http://www.newertech.com/us_resellers.php

Of course, if the drive is too far gone, it won't read it or won't allow access,
so
it might be wasted money.

Thank you for those leads!! It looks like these things sell in the
neighborhood of $20, and a few are down around $10. I don't intend to
use this very much, so maybe a cheap one would do the trick.

I understand that there would be no guarantees. But after observing
the way this thing failed, I *think* there is a very good chance that
the disk is not at fault. And I'm quite sure that it would be worth
spending $10 or $20 for one of these things to try to avoid a trip to
the shop which would cost *much* more.

Agreed. I hope those links help you out.
Good luck!
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 23:15:19 -0400, "Larry"
wrote:


A friend's eight-year-old Windows 98 SE Dell Dimension recently came to the
end of its days. The hard drive stopped being accessible. She's throwing
the computer out, but wants to keep the hard drive around for possible
recovery of data at some point, namely her huge e-mail folder.

I was trying to remove the hard drive. I disconnected all the cables, but
the hard drive seems immovable.

You're doing good. I have a portable computer about 20 years old,
weighs maybe 12 pounds not counting the power cord/transformer which
is another 2, and I can't even get the cover off.

A guy gave it to me maybe 12 years ago so I could take the hard drive
out. He's never gotten back to me, but I saw him about a year ago
and he didn't say anything. I got his address and phone to use after
I made one final try, succeeded, and then surprise him. But I still
haven't done it, and I've lost his number. My bad.

At the time he didn't have enough money to pay someone to take the
drive out, and he doesn't have such a great job now either. And I
don't think he really needed anything on it, but of course he wanted
to have it to be sure, just in case, etc.

I can probably track him down through friends where he used to work.
I wish I could spell his last name. It has lots of vowels, but I
don't knjow which ones.

It's not a Dell. I think it's named after a person, like Adams, or
Gibson, or something like that.

I thought that hard drives were supposed to
be relatively easy to remove. I see no moving parts or clips or anything
that would enable me to take it out.

There are some small screw heads in the corners of the hard drive, but they
looked too "locked" into place to be regular screws that can loosen the hard
drive from the computer.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Larry


If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:44:47 -0400, "glee"
wrote:


I have this unit instead, which includes adapters for all drives, but no actual
enclosure is used:
NewerTech® USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter
http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php

This looks just like what I need, Glen, but it says:

System Requirements:
* Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or Vista (No driver needed)

Are they serious?

Do I need something not included to make it work with win98SE?

FWIW, I'm going to use this entirely with 3.5 drives, (Unless I can
finally get that portable computer apart.)

I have a USB port, version 1.something. Probably at least 1.1 and
this it says is "Backwards compatible to USB 1.1 standards"

It's available there or at these online locations...I forget which resller I
used,one of the Mac ones:
http://www.newertech.com/us_resellers.php

If you're not near the east coast, you wouldn't have looked from a
reseller near the east coast. Of the three they list, two require you
to walk in, and the one in Philadelphia doesn't seem to sell the
things anymore. You didnt' buy from the east coast, did you? If you
did, was it Springboard in philadelphia?


If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:03:35 -0400, mm
wrote:

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:44:47 -0400, "glee"
wrote:


I have this unit instead, which includes adapters for all drives, but no actual
enclosure is used:
NewerTech® USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter
http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adapt.php

This looks just like what I need, Glen, but it says:

System Requirements:
* Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or Vista (No driver needed)

Are they serious?

Do I need something not included to make it work with win98SE?

FWIW, I'm going to use this entirely with 3.5 drives, (Unless I can
finally get that portable computer apart.)

I have a USB port, version 1.something. Probably at least 1.1 and
this it says is "Backwards compatible to USB 1.1 standards"

To continue my own post, now, alas, I'm further confused.

I thought for even less money than the Universal Drive Adapter above,
I could get an enclosure that included the power and data cords etc.

So I looked at the drive enclosure on the other url you listed and
found one for only 20 dollars, like someone said:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...IN#detailspecs
Unfortunately it doesn't say anything about what OS it needs, as if
anything is fine, but it does say that it needs USB 2.0. I don't
really know what version I have of USB, but I'm pretty sure it's not
version 2. I got the driver here, because WiN98SE didn't have a USB
driver. And surely it doesn't work with every OS. ??

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...4&Sku=ULT33052
Then this enclosure for 30 dollars in the paragraph says "supports
Windows XP, 2000, ME" but in the Minimum System Requirements
specifically says it will run on win98SE. It too only mentions USB
2.0

Unfortunately I need to read this hard drive some time this week or by
next Wednesday at the latest, before I go out of town.

I know I could plug it in to the Primary HD connector on the mobo, but
because it is USB and it allows hot-swapping, that would mean that I
wouldn't have to run this problematic HD more than the minimum.

Should I buy the universal drive adpater, or one of the enclosures, or
some more universal enclosure, or what?? :-)

Thanks.



It's available there or at these online locations...I forget which resller I
used,one of the Mac ones:
http://www.newertech.com/us_resellers.php

If you're not near the east coast, you wouldn't have looked from a
reseller near the east coast. Of the three they list, two require you
to walk in, and the one in Philadelphia doesn't seem to sell the
things anymore. You didnt' buy from the east coast, did you? If you
did, was it Springboard in philadelphia?


If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)