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General discussion

Help finding compatible external hard drive enclosure

Aug 31, 2010 11:38AM PDT

Hi,

I have an HP Pavillion dv9700 laptop that has just died after only two years of use. I think the problem is the motherboard. I would like to see if I can use the hard drive in an external enclosure and connect it to my new laptop. I purchased a StarTech SAT2510U2 InfoSafe 2.5-Inch USB/SATA Hard Drive Enclosure, but it does not seem to fit my hard drive, which is a Hitachi HTS542525k9SA00.

Sorry for my non-technical speak, but it looks to me like the pins coming out of the hard drive are too big for the holes on the enclosure. However the hard drive looks to be the same physical size as the enclosure.

When I took the drive out of my HP Pav, all I had to do was remove the cover and pull it out. Am I now meant to take the actual drive apart in any way?

I would appreciate any help with this as I can't seem to find an answer anywhere.

Link to the hard drive model details: http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/E1F385C6ABA70364862572F00067C59B/$file/5K250_DS.pdf

Link to StarTech enclosure: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PKC102/ref=oss_product

Discussion is locked

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From memory the drive has some adapter on it.
Aug 31, 2010 3:06PM PDT

Many forget to remove the HP add adapter and then think they need a special enclosure. Show a picture of the HP drive and that connection that didn't fit (photobucket?) to confirm.
Bob

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photos
Sep 1, 2010 12:57AM PDT
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Resolved!
Sep 1, 2010 3:06AM PDT

Bob, it was exactly as you said, I got on the online chat with StarTech and they told me to remove the 4 screws from the outside of the hard drive case and then pull off the bit covering the actual connectors. Plugged it straight into new PC and all works brilliantly. I wish the HP site could have told me this info, but hey, I don't expect much from them after my motherboard melted after two years. Thanks Bob.

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I see you solved it.
Sep 1, 2010 4:36AM PDT

Sorry I couldn't see that soon enough but as everyone can read and maybe see it was the same thing as usual which is good news.

Enjoy,
Bob