How to Remove a Hard Drive From a Laptop Computer

KZbin is now telling me my description is too long, so for the full text description, check it out on my website at www.allhow2s.com/how-to-remove...
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If you are currently replacing a hard drive in your laptop or desktop, I would highly recommend using an SSD. They are faster and more reliable, and have come way down in cost. For example, here's a cheap 500GB one on Amazon: amzn.to/2G5xTwW
This is a general video on how to remove the hard drive from a laptop computer. These steps may be a bit, and in some cases totally different, than what you have to do to get your hard drive out. But the general idea is the same, so if you follow these steps, you will be able to replace your hard drive.
First, get a service manual for your laptop. Some are very easy to find, others extremely difficult. You should be able to find a free copy of your somewhere around the internet though. An example of one is this for my laptop (Inspiron 17R Special Edition 7720): ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_inspiron_laptop/inspiron-17r-se-7720_Owner%27s%20Manual_en-us.pdf
Next, decide if you want to use an ESD strap or not. I have never used one and have never had a problem, but you could be the one in a million where it's an issue. So if you want to live dangerously, just touch something metal to discharge your static before working on the laptop, and wear shoes. If you want to use an ESD strap, this is an example of what you would get: www.amazon.com/Belkin-Anti-Sta... These just basically make it much harder for you to build up a static charge that you could shock a component with.
Next, shut down the laptop and remove all power sources from it. This includes the Wall plug, and the battery.
After this, it is time to disassemble the laptop to get to the hard drive. This can include several different methods. The easiest method is the one shown in the video where the hard drive can be found under the covers on the bottom of the laptop. Unfortunately, not all laptops are made like this. The next "class" is about as easy as the covers, where the laptop is in a slide out tray on the side of the laptop. Basically there will be 2-4 screws that you will have to remove, and then a tray will slide out from the side that has the hard drive in it. This is common on a few laptops, like Thinkpad/Lenovo T40, T42, etc, and some Dells like the XPS M1530 and XPS M1330. The next "class" would be having to remove the whole bottom to get to the hard drive. A good example of this is the 2011 Macbook Pros, where you have to take out 6 screws, and then the entire bottom comes out. Another version is where you'll have to take all the screws out of the bottom, then take the keyboard out, then remove screws from under the keyboard, and then separate the laptop into 2 halves. This is the worst version to deal with, and can be seen on quite a few Acer models, older HP's, and many Netbooks.
So once you know how you need to get to the hard drive, you can proceed with taking it apart. Make sure you have a system for keeping track of which screws go where. One method I use is taking a video of the disassembly process that I can rewatch to put it back together. Another method is to draw a rough picture of the laptop and put double sided tape over it. Then whenever you take a screw out, stick it on the picture where it goes.
So now you can start taking out the screws. Make sure to apply a decent amount of direct downward force, but not enough to break the plastic. If you try to apply pressure at an angle, or don't use enough pressure, then you are much more likely to strip the screw and will create huge problems for yourself.
Some screws need to be taken out of the laptop entirely, while other screws stay embedded in the plastic. So if a screw seems stuck, don't get out the needlenose and rail on it. Usually the trick is that if it's difficult to get out, it's supposed to stay in.
After you have take out the screws needed to get to the hard drive (you may have to repeat this step and the last multiple times if you laptop has layers to go through) pull on the plastic covering gently to remove it. Some of the plastic coverings will have clips that need to be gently removed, so apply a little force to stuck areas to test if there are clips, but generally if the plastic is not coming apart easily, it's either not meant to come apart, or you forgot to take out a screw.
KZbin is now telling me my description is too long, so for the full text description, check it out on my website at www.allhow2s.com/how-to-remove...

[@scattycat7271]

FTW: shouting and verbally abusing the device helps.

[@tomasvods8348]

Do you mean fyi? ftw means for the win

[@user-el5mg4it9t]

I insulted my laptop for 5 mins and the hdd actually came out. Thanks 4 the advice.

[@strawbrrymlk6955]

scatty cat LMAO THATS HOw I BROKE IT

[@Soniccairo]

@@strawbrrymlk6955 you can't break a laptop by shouting at it

[@Molowa369]

Soniccairo they probably raged and threw it or somethin

[@spottedstar1123]

Thank you! This really helped. When I tried doing it by myself, I got the lid off and was like, "Okay, that things the hard drive, but how the heck do I get it out?"

[@luyu0628]

VERY PATIENT EXPLAINATION

[@AndyMorrisArt]

thanks man. I'm planning on using my old laptop hdd as an external drive

[@GHOS-H-T]

Same here, i am buying a new gaming pc and i am going to sell my old pc (which is 8 years old) so i need my old games and apps.

[@ThePhantomCoder]

I have a tight budget for building a pc and I could save some money by using my laptop drive. Plus there might be some old good files on there

[@234Spotman]

You have a great voice for tutorials. Thank you very much.

[@kevinm7551]

Uwu

[@WhimsyWendy]

Thanks for showing what a regular hard drive (hard disk) looks like. This was helpful.

[@nagyesszep]

Thanks a lot for this video, I was looking for the word "caddy" and whether it is safe to remove the hdd from it. Very useful video!

[@Shytzedaka]

Small tip: You can Put Laptop hard disks in Normal desktop computers. it will still work :P

[@PortalBreaker.]

+Shy tzedaka Awesome, I was actually wondering about that :)

[@Shytzedaka]

Np.

[@joshg3786]

Wow, thanks!!

[@Shytzedaka]

i am Suprised You guys didnt knew this. It has the Same Disk same Header. Same Connector *Sata* So. uh.. Yeah it should work fine.

[@joshg3786]

Thanks. Lol

[@jasonlisonbee]

Is the screw head size the same for all of models? IOW will I need to buy multiple screw drivers or a kit to ensure I get the correct size or just one screwdriver? What size(s)?

[@TheTombot]

I've noticed some hard drives have a thin metal sheet covering them as well. What is this sheet called and is it necessary if your laptop had one to begin with (I'm talking about a Lenovo ThinkPad and the metal sheet is lost).

[@MrMattyMoses]

Thank you for making this video!

[@dchomeimprovements]

Thank you, great explanation!

[@phyllisgehman1977]

Thank you so much for the thorough explanation, the great audio, and the great camera work. Your video answered all of my questions. It needs no room for improvement. Thanks.

[@rosskilpatrick934]

Thanks heaps followed your instructions and got it out.

[@ladonnarhoads2786]

Super helpful! Thank you.

[@thegaywriter]

Cool as, I need to learn this stuff, my friend knows a heap and I don't know much. This was very helpful, since my school loan laptops I think is the same! Looks very similar so I know how to take the hard drive out and put it back in. Thanks it was very helpful! :)

[@howtwos101]

I'm glad to have helped out. So much of repairing computers is experience, and after you've done something with a few computers it becomes really easy to do with all the rest. I've taken apart so many laptops at this point that I can take one I've never worked on completely apart and put it back together in half an hour, where originally it took me hours even with a manual.

[@triciah566]

Thank you. Just what I was looking for.

[@supersurferchris]

Thanks for your video: it's very well explained. I happen to have the exact same laptop inspiron 7720. Except my HDrive was installed in the other place. I successfully managed to replace it with a new SSD. I wanted to put the old one in the other place which has the empty caddie support. My new SSD drive didn't come with screws so I had to use those from the old one! Do you where I can find the 4 missing screws to attach the my old hard drive to the empty caddie? Or at least give me a reference for the screws needed? Thanks for your help!

[@GGiblet]

Wonderfully clear and detailed explanation, Thank You!!🙌💙🌈💙

[@seamonk66]

Thank you much for the helpful vid!

[@imadhalbouni4565]

Very helpful thank you mate, what size of screwdriver is the best for doing this?

[@_Ha11oween]

You have to experiment, it depends of the model of the laptop

[@DrJhonyWTF]

Hello , i have a asus x50sl but i got it without a hdd and caddy.I am looking for a caddy for it ,there is around 1 cm space left in the hdd location after i put hdd.I can't find info on this laptop's hdd.Can you help me with some info?

[@glenharrison1410]

Thankyou intresting I have my lap top in the Lap top shop getting a new hard drive so I know how it looks like now when it's being worked on thanks for showing how

[@NordicAnimation]

I have a slider thing under my laptop that removes the bottom instead of screws, so I had it much easier ;D

[@leomikeg3669]

Thank you. Very helpful.

[@billgateslookalike]

hello!:) I love the video. Very clear and I love your fearlessness lol One question. Would removing a hard drive wipe the memory? It's my first time:)

[@howtwos101]

Andrew Mondejar It will not wipe the data on the hard drive. I frequently switch between hard drives in my laptop, as I have one for work and one for school. But be very very careful with the hard drive, because if you drop it or even shock it very badly, they are easily damaged, which would cause you to lose your data.

[@billgateslookalike]

Thank you very much man. We were so confused about it:)

[@T.C.-EDU]

Thank you so much you saved me so much money on a new laptop

[@JWWYOUTUBE]

Thanks for this

[@simkhurana4990]

very helpful thank you

[@henningradasewski509]

Thanks mate, helped me:)

[@MuhammadSultanDzaky1]

hey, i want to change my brother hdd to mine, will i have to reinstall windows???

[@deboleenadey2]

Hi, I have an Inspiron 14R laptop and my hard drive crashed! So I got a new one but it's a thin hard drive,and the one that crashed isn't. So do you think I should put it on my laptop?

[@anton9004]

Thanks, this was very helpful. How can I get Windows and all my software on to the newly replaced hard drive?

[@jodianm7642]

I wanna know too but I am gonna google it

[@maryagyemang9870]

Jodian Campbell how did you do it.

[@captainjjz7141]

Will I need a new copy of windows? Or can I put all the files onto the other hard drive and put that in? And how would I do that?

[@sarraahasan6884]

Thank you! That was helpful

[@anthonyk]

can you use a computer hard drive for ps3 and with the computer memory still on it

[@kalyadapusrikanth1514]

Hi .. dude..., I have a problem with my laptop hard drive' Dell Inspiron 5520' .. every time I''m getting an error of 'Windows disk diagnostic user resolver' problem .. Can you suggest what me do...? If need to buy a new hard disk.. which one you would say better ?

[@paysondibenedetto4109]

Will I have to buy an operating system also?

[@davidlingaard860]

Thank you boy for the explanation , can a laptop startup without the HDD?

[@mwalker5141]

I'm I able to transfer the hard drive into another laptop. And does the computer have to be the same as the 1 that is broken.

[@rinrin2195]

I'm trying to put my hard drive into my laptop but only has 2 screws should it be 4 or 2 for the hard drive?

[@lynalosiko5387]

Thank u sooo much , it was very helpful💚💚

[@Jass_aamu]

thanks dear.. thanks for the guide us.

[@urmilakanawade4847]

Thank you sir

[@kareemahmed1181]

thx this is a really helpfull vid

[@skysfairpoint9740]

Hello, I own a black windows 10 laptop and it’s very hard to pry open. Any tips on how to do it better? It’s always that two latch where the battery is.

[@ady_]

Helped me a lot😃💾

[@mist1491]

thank you helped alot

[@massomouse1556]

What if you don’t know exactly which model/serial your machine is? All I know as far as model details it’s a 15” special edition ash’s machine from 2015

[@velezjoseem]

Do you have any idea if a 320 gb WD 3200 Sata HDD would be compatible with an HP2000 2b19wm?

[@MikeMike-dv7iv]

As in what way sir? As long it’s not one made specifically for Mac books, it should be compatible

[@recker3707]

Thanks

[@rosemaryraleigh9291]

when my son discarded by old hard drive because it died, he also left the tag attached. where do I get a new tag for a new hard drive.

[@weedster6793]

Did you reinstall the os?

[@alxporrini8563]

Thank god for this video. I have to replace my Lenovo laptop’s hard drive because the hard drive broke. So I bought a new hard drive. The new hard drive doesn’t have a booting system because it’s bran new. So I got to down load it. Thanks again.

[@oscarbennion42]

Alx Porrini yeah my Lenovo laptop won't boot up properly so I probs need to get a new hard drive

[@alxporrini8563]

Oscar Bennion well, I put in a new one, it’s rejecting the new hard drive. I have to take it to Best Buy for repairs. That’s gonna cost $170+.

[@iamkabilash]

Thanks a lot buddy! :)

[@harishamidon7262]

do i need a specific hard drive for my laptop? or all hard drive are the same type

[@comradekirilov3483]

Most are similar. But you have to have the right size

[@mansoura7628]

Thank you

[@patriciawatkins8248]

Thank you.

[@datsatoiletdatsatoilet745]

will this erase all the old memory and old things saved on my old hard drive?

[@badassuchiha4875]

& how's the Start up process do you Save all your back-up on Discs to save your E-Mail, Apps(Windows 8 & 10), Programs, Anti-Virus Programs, Google Earth etc. or SUN Flash drives the way to go

[@m.y.a.111]

Could I use an old HDD in a laptop which can handle two HDD, I just don't know what could happen if I change this secondary hdd, it just have game folders not important stuff.

[@howtwos101]

+M.Y.A. Yup, as long as your laptop has a connection for the hard drive available, you can plug it in and it will work (also as long as it is formatted the same, for example a Windows laptop probably wouldn't be able to see files from a hard drive you took out of an Apple laptop). The only thing you would have to be careful of is that your laptop may try to boot from that hard drive if it has higher priority in your boot order and has an operating system installed. In that case you would just have to change the boot order for your laptop to set the hard drive you want to boot from as higher priority. This shouldn't be an issue because it should be set for your main hard drive, but if your computer won't boot after you put in the other hard drive, that would be the first thing to check.

[@lazyicon278]

Well, most likely it will be fine, but if you move a drive from a different device to boot on without wiping it you will have problems. Because of the different drives and stuff. But if you are using it as a normal storage device it should act like your other one

[@zidoxmarvel8539]

+howtwos101 Can You Put A Laptop Hard Drive In A ps3

[@lazyicon278]

Hmm, probably not. Have not tried it. But the ps3's operating system is probably on the ps3s harddrive so, you know. Probably not.

[@upalbanget]

can u replace it with ssd?

[@Fabulouskun]

Thank you! This video helped me! :^)

[@DwayneRidgwayOfficial]

Using this so I can put in my laptop HDD into a desktop I'm building. Thanks for the helpful video.

[@beenay18]

i couldn't boot into windows. so i made a recovery usb drive from another computer and boot into command prompt. from there i went to diskpart and then list volume. It showed drive c as raw which had windows 10 installed in it. I took out the hard disk, used harddisk to usb adapter to connect it to another to computer. I repaired the drive c. and then i put it back in the computer and then tried to install windows from usb. but its not showing my hard disk drives to install windows. its only showing the partition in usb drives. please help me.

[@beenay18]

actually its showing whole harddisk as one drive- drive 0 partition 4 929.3 gb(it had 4 drives in it) it says windows cannot be installed to this disk. the selected disk is of the GPT partition style. what should i do?

[@braxtonTN]

beenay18 wait did you have to pay to have Windows installed?

[@travv88]

I thought this was going to be some amazing system hack computer repair story... then I clicked read more lmao.

[@hamzaasif9147]

Can you use the hard drive for your pc? Because I have a old laptop and I want the hard drive to be removed so I can use it for my pc as an external hard drive and then I can mod my Wii. Is this possible please let me know somebody.

[@sunya6654]

What kind of screwdriver are you using Sir?

[@blogdzmohamed]

Thank you man

[@armageddonmedia2366]

thanks dude

[@theboxingmasta651]

how many gb did the hard have

[@rubycon555]

sound.... good video

[@John3J16]

Can someone please help me? at 7:53 and 8:07 it's clear that there's a little slot on the hard drive but it never gets plugged into anything. From my understanding hard drives have both SATA and Power Slots, so why is it that in this laptop only one of the slots of the hard drive gets plugged into?

[@howtwos101]

Great question, the hard drive does have separate power and SATA connections, but the connecter in the laptop combines them. This is very common in laptops so they just run 1 cable instead of 2. If you are working in a desktop though, they will be separate cables.

[@OGkoozy]

Lol so lucky I’ve had this exact laptop for 6 years and now I need the hardrive.

[@GymContentsz]

Can i take the hdd of my laptop and put it on my pc

[@arthurwatts1680]

Those of us with Acer laptops basically have to remove the entire bottom of the laptop to get to the HDD - way to go, Acer ;)

[@kilogramme]

When you attach it back (if you do) will all data be back without installation stuff

[@JeremyCrescendo]

Same question

[@balatsu1]

Good video

[@g.lmooilief3554]

tapped 'subscribed', off course becaise you explain SUPER, let me say 'a person who has no interests in comp.repair, oh, i am atechnical, i do not begin tp repair i have a friend who .... will even get enthousiast to fix ypurself, because ypu explaon super. Sorry for my poor English, i am dutch greetings

[@Rekedx]

Mine won't get off even though i removed the screw...it's like the hard drive is stuck..It's an acer 5738g

[@smallies7154]

will this wipe the drive?

[@jerry2389]

Can I use a hard disk after taking it out?

[@TheIndigoinfusion]

Thanks, I was struggling to take my old hard drive out and didn't even know what a hard drive looked like before seeing this video, so thanks for your help

[@RebeccaEWebber]

Thank you! I'm learning how fun it can be to take things apart.

[@isaiahvalliere6245]

If I put my PS3 Hard in my laptop will I be able to delete data from the laptop

[@T-A-W]

can i use any hdd drive for my laptop or i need specific hdd drive

[@howtwos101]

Usually laptops need a certain size hard drive, a 2.5" HDD. Other than that requirement, you should be able to use any 2.5" you want.

[@misakokurihara]

@howtwos101 my original hdd was hitachi, there are 3 screws to attach it inside the laptop. Now I'm planning to change it to seagate 2.5" HDD. But when I looked in the internet, i guess there are screws in each corner. Can I still attach it regardless of that issue?

[@samh1014]

K so here's him, "xx2zy4 manual drive software" and then there's me, scratching my back with the battery.

[@contecrayononpaper]

This seems like a metaphor for something. So much does.

[@pezevengishadjitraoulos6657]

can you see do those dives into hard drive i mean usb to view wats in there?

[@howtwos101]

Yup, it's a useful way to recover files if your laptop dies but the hard drive is still ok. THe only reson this wouldn't work is if the files are encrypted.

[@epicpersongaming5900]

Cool video! =)

[@jacobcaufield1004]

Does it wipe your.drive

[@mukeshkardam5715]

sir how to repaire laptop hard dist

[@Higherup1018]

I'm an older lady who will have to remove her whole back of the HP laptop. I was in the middle of updating which I hadn't done for some time because I've been sick with covid. When I did the tests it doesn't recognize the hard drive but someone suggested taking the hard drive out and putting it back in. If anyone sees this, could you tell me if that's all there is to it? And if it doesn't work then I'll have to get a new HD.

[@Cristioooo10]

Does anyone know where I can find a screwdriver like the one used in this video?

[@jonashemmersam4294]

Cristina Hernandez a store

[@derpface2287]

Green Guy lmao

[@fazzynone1]

Cristina Hernandez I wonder what you need it for :3

[@heinzfred1935]

we live in a savage world called the internet

[@tavish2789]

Green Guy your a savage

[@buddywest7968]

so can i buy a new hard drive that has the operating system loaded on it? And will that clear all my personal information and photos and videos from my computer?

[@jonashemmersam4294]

buddy West all of your data is stored on the hard drive, removing it will delete everything on the computer (hard drive will still have your data on it)

[@hub609]

Why you removed battery

[@theluke226]

nice video man, you got xbox?

[@howtwos101]

I wish I had time for an Xbox, hopefully sometime soon I'll get one though

[@theluke226]

oh ok cool man when you do can i add you?

[@wilddanger9723]

Wait so my laptop has 700gb in hard drive if i remove the hard drive and connect to my desktop computer would i have some more gb

[@redsmed1806]

Yes

[@jeversonobang1641]

Im using a old second hand laptop and now its just all black, I noticed that the cylinder led light wasnt lighting up so i guess it means my hard drive has a problem, can i judt get a new hard drive and replace it? Or is my laptop dead

[@howtwos101]

If the hard drive is dead, the computer will still try to boot, and will just give you a message saying operating system not found. If the screen is completely blank, there is something else wrong.

[@jeversonobang1641]

Then dead it is

[@jeversonobang1641]

At first it keeps giving me the blue screen saying there is something wrong, everytime i start my windows normally it just restarts so I have ti go in safe mode, then it worsen i still couldn't open it in normal mode still in safe mode i can't open it while the charger is plugged i need to charge it for a while, take off the charger and then I can open it, I can also plug the charger in once windows starts, and again it worsen I have to do all those but it will only work for a couple of minutes then it shuts down, and now I cant even open it i tried everything but it just gives me the black screen while the powers led lights is on, aside from the power's light the charging also works but nothing else even the harddrive

[@Mikey-dt4hv]

I unscrew the screws but the plastic doesnt move

[@Crosbhealach]

My hard drive is smaller than that and the connector on the caddy doesn't match my usb HDD transfer attachment(the rest of the ThinkPad is dead) so now I'm a bit stuck, lol

[@hazmanjosli1453]

Can we use the laptop hard drive on a PC and will it have the OS with it? Sorry for asking a dumb question :P

[@jonashemmersam4294]

Hazman Josli I think so