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View Full Version : Ever Wondered What the Inside of an External Hard Drive Looks Like?


Jason Dunn
06-23-2004, 03:00 PM
About a month ago I was working on a computer and needed a larger ATA hard drive than what I had on hand (a 30 GB drive). I didn't have one, but what I did have was a 120 GB Western Digital external hard drive. :twisted: I attacked it with a screwdriver, and tried taking it apart to get at the drive, without breaking it (it's a sweet looking drive casing).

http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/inside-of-drive-1.JPG

First I took off the external plastic casing. <!> Most of the pieces were snap-on, so it wasn't very difficult to get them off. I managed to avoid breaking any of the pieces, which is a plus.

http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/inside-of-drive-2.JPG

Once inside the shell, I could see the hard drive. The problem was the way it was connected - this sucker was in there tight! It was secured via screws, tape, snap-on plastic pieces, and a few other things I couldn't see. I fiddled with it for about ten minutes, and ultimately gave up - there was no way I was getting that drive out without damaging my ability to put it back in, so I opted to reassemble the whole thing and thankfully it worked. Lesson learnt: always have a big hard drive on hand for emergency purposes, because those external drives are tough nuts to crack. 8)

Suhit Gupta
06-23-2004, 03:03 PM
Interesting, I figured there would be shock absorbers near the hard drive to protect it from trauma but I guess not. So basically they lock the drive down incredibly tightly so there is no chance of movement at all.

Suhit

gry
06-23-2004, 03:14 PM
You wuss. :wink:

Rip that sucker open. :twisted:

dean_shan
06-23-2004, 04:35 PM
120 GB Seagate external hard drive

Looks like a Western Digital to me.

Jason Dunn
06-23-2004, 05:46 PM
Looks like a Western Digital to me.

Right you are - fixed!

David Horn
06-23-2004, 06:58 PM
Dammit, Jason, the only reason I read this site is to see wanton destruction of hardware. I'm disappointed, and as such expect to win any upcoming competitions! ;)