Upgrading & Fixing Laptops DUMmIES

4. Ground yourself before touching the old drive and its enclosure and
   the new replacement drive.


5. Slide the hard drive out of its bay.

Depending on the laptop’s design, you may have to remove one or more

screws or release a catch, or both.

6. Remove the small screws that attach the holder and drive case from
   the hard drive.

These are typically small Phillips-head screws.

7. Set aside the screws in a safe place; make notes on any unusual steps
   you must conduct.


8. Carefully slide the hard drive away from the laptop.
   Most sit in rails which extend all the way to edge of the case. Some lap-
   tops require you to release a catch before the drive will begin sliding.
   Others permit you to slide the drive an inch or so until it is released
   from the rail, and you’ll have to lift it straight up to remove it.


9. Unscrew several tiny screws that lock the little hard drive into the
   holding case.
   Again, set aside the screws in a numbered container. You might want to
   make a rough drawing of the holder and the position of the screws.


10. Lift or slide the old drive out of its holder and set it aside on a cush-
    ioned surface.
    Handle old and new drives carefully, holding them only by their sides.
    Do not touch the exposed printed circuit board, and take care not to
    bend or dislodge the connector at the back. Do not press on the top or
    bottom of the drive, and make sure that you do not cover the drive’s
    vent or “breather” hole with tape, a cable, or plastic parts.


11. Insert the new drive into the holder and then reinstall all of the
    screws removed.


12. Install the new drive in the laptop.

Mate it to the rails you used to uninstall the old device. Press firmly but

do not force the drive as you slide it the final one-third of an inch to

bring the connector on the drive to its mate inside the drive.

13. Reinstall any retaining screws you removed to release the hard drive.

Jumping to conclusions.....................................................................

The specification for a standard ATA/IDE drive for a personal computer allows
for one cable to serve one or two hard drives; one is usually designated as
the “master” drive and the second as a “slave.” In most setups, the drives are

Chapter 7: Easing In to Hard Disks 131