[Ham-Computers] RE: Laptop Hard Drive Connector Differences

Tue Apr 1 12:17:50 EST 2008

Jim,

95% of laptops out there use the standard 44-pin 2.5" ATAPI interface.  The laptop vendors then use some type of adapter to allow easy mounting of the drive without fear of bending any pins.

For example, Compaq typically uses a metal bracket that fits "around" the drive with a "shroud" that covers the pins.  This "shroud" protect the pins when attaching/removing the drive.  By removing the 4 screws holding the bracket, you can slide the bracket off to reveal the original 44-pin interface.

Many Dell laptops are similar, but the bracket often incluedes the drive "door".  On the Inspiron 8200, I believe the drive is mounted in a sliding tray that includes the door.  Remove the 4 screws from the bottom of the tray and the drive should then be removable.  You can then replace the drive with a different 2.5" drive - just remember that you may be limited in drive size by the BIOS.

For reference, here's a link to the Inspiron 8200 support page - it includes the instructions on how to remove the drive from the laptop (including the screw you found), but it doesn't cover removing the drive from the tray.  If you want some details about the specific 8200 you have, go to the support home page and enter your system's System Tag info.

73 and let me know if you need more details.

  - Aaron, NN6O

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 7:58 PM
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Laptop Hard Drive Connector Differences

I'm replacing the hard drive on my Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop 
purchased in 12/02, and noticed the connector "pins" differ.  It's 
not a SATA drive, and I assumed all non-SATA laptop drives had the 
same connector.  Now, I'm not so sure.

I just bought a 120 GB Western Digital Scorpio hard drive 
(WD1200BEVE, see bottom row center 
at 
http://www.newegg.com/store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=380&Tpk=laptop+hard+drive 
) as a replacement . The connector on this drive has two rows of 
pins. The hard drive currently in the computer (Seagate ST9160821A) 
has a flat sheet of thin plastic with a row of flat metal "pins" on 
each side. The Seagate worked fine until I dropped the computer. 
However, the Seagate was also a replacement.  It's a long story, but 
I think the drive that came with the computer had pins (see below):.

The original drive (Hitachi DK23EB-40, I think) started to fail about 
a year ago shortly before I was scheduled to leave on a long trip.  I 
was unable to remove the original drive, so phoned a local computer 
store (mom and pop type), and discovered they had closed their 
business. The owner said he still did some repairs at his home,  so 
at his request I left the computer at his wife's business (a 
restaurant) for him to remove the original drive and replace it with 
a drive I had purchased.  I picked the computer up later, and noticed 
the original (defective) drive had some bent pins.  I wondered what 
had happened, and assumed he either handled it roughly or gave me 
another 40 GB drive by mistake.  Since the replacement drive worked 
fine, I didn't pursue it further.

The hard drive receptacle has a slot with thin flat "wires" rather than holes.

For other Inspiron owners - I think I found the trick for removing 
the drive. The drive is bolted to a drawer that slides into the 
computer. A bolt must be removed and the front panel of this drawer 
must be slid down about 1/8" before the drawer can be removed. The 
front panel sticks, and can be moved by gently prying with a 
screwdriver. Verify the front panel of the drawer moves up and down 
freely before attempting to pull the drawer out of the computer.

Thanks, Jim

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