Hard Drive Installation Problem--Dell Inspiron 8200 Laptop

[Michael]

Hi everyone,

I am not normally a laptop user, so please bear with me. I am trying to
replace a friend's ailing hard drive on , which is an IBM Cascade/Hitachi
Travelstar 40 GN. The Travelstar 40 GN is an ATA-5 with what looks like a
24-pin straight connector. (I don't know the exact terminology to use, so
if you can tell me where to learn this, it is a great help. I can certainly
identify it with a picture. The 40 GN is a 9.5mm, 2.5-inch drive. I wanted
to replace it with a Hitachi Travelstar 7K60. Hitachi's compatibility guide
for the 7K60
(http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/738585746F05691E86256CF
3007CB298) says that is compatible with the Dell Inspiron 8200, but the 7K60
has two rows of 24-pin connectors, and seems shorter than the old drive. Do
I need some sort of adapter? The 7K60 is an ATA-6 drive. The Dell Inspiron
8200 is exactly 2 years old, but out of warranty at Dell. Please help a
newbie. Thanks!


Mike

 

[Ron Reaugh]

Hi everyone,

I am not normally a laptop user, so please bear with me. I am trying to
replace a friend's ailing hard drive on , which is an IBM Cascade/Hitachi
Travelstar 40 GN. The Travelstar 40 GN is an ATA-5 with what looks like a
24-pin straight connector. (I don't know the exact terminology to use, so
if you can tell me where to learn this, it is a great help. I can certainly
identify it with a picture. The 40 GN is a 9.5mm, 2.5-inch drive. I wanted
to replace it with a Hitachi Travelstar 7K60. Hitachi's compatibility guide
for the 7K60
(http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/738585746F05691E86256CF
3007CB298) says that is compatible with the Dell Inspiron 8200, but the 7K60
has two rows of 24-pin connectors, and seems shorter than the old drive. Do
I need some sort of adapter? The 7K60 is an ATA-6 drive. The Dell Inspiron
8200 is exactly 2 years old, but out of warranty at Dell. Please help a
newbie. Thanks!

Check and see if the original drive still has something plugged into it that
has yet to be removed. When the original drive is clean then the connector
should be identical to the new drive. Add that which you removed from the
original back to the new drive and put it in the Inspiron.

 

[Robert]

That is the interposer card & it will pull off the old hard drive.
http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/systems/ins8200/en/sm_en/index.htm
Don't use pliers - use your fingers & gently prise it of a bit at a time.