Member Avatar for inphoenix

We have a friend's computer. It's a really old HP and a desktop, not a tower. We cannot remove the hard drive. It seems to be on a slide out tray but the tray gets hung up on something we cannot see. Vectra VL is on the power switch box. It's pretty old. Anyone know how to get this hard drive out. It's a 4Mb drive.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 179 Views
  • 14 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by inphoenix

Dani AI

Generated

A few focused, practical tips to get the original drive out without damaging it or the case. has already done the important first step (PSU out) and was right about the drive’s location — on these Vectra desktops the drive is mounted in a shallow tray that is designed to slide forward a short distance and then be lifted out. The official procedure is to remove the cover and power supply, slide the drive tray forward roughly 1–1.5 cm, then lift the drive up and clear of the tray. (manualslib.com)

Safety and inspection first: unplug the machine, ground yourself, and work on a non-conductive surface (HP’s manuals emphasize ESD precautions). Use a strong flashlight and, if available, a small mirror or a camera phone to photograph where the tray stops — that picture will often reveal the obstruction (a hidden screw, a bent sheet‑metal lip, or a plastic clip). (manualzilla.com)

Practical step sequence to try (with PSU already removed):

  1. Remove the outer cover and the front bezel/drive-faceplates so you can see the tray from the front.
  2. Look and feel for any retaining screws (inside the case or at the rear of the tray) and remove them.
  3. If the tray still moves ~1" then stop and try the manual’s slide‑forward + lift motion — do the lift rather than brute force pulling straight back.
  4. If it still hangs, find the catch (plastic clip or bent metal). Use a small flat screwdriver or long‑nose pliers to gently depress or bend the tab just enough to free the tray — support the drive while you do this to avoid twisting the PCB or connectors. Avoid strong magnets near the drive.

If none of this frees it without force, don’t bend or cut aggressively — either remove the drive from the tray by unscrewing it if you can reach the tray screws, or take the unit to a local shop/data‑recovery pro to avoid platter damage. If the primary goal is data, consider accessing the drive with a USB‑to‑IDE adapter or by temporarily connecting its cables while it remains partially seated (only if connectors are safely reachable).

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for achyut

U have to check for all lock of hard drive and try to unlock and try to remove hard drive

Member Avatar for frrossk

Is the HDD located under the power supply? If yes, and if I remember corectly, the HDD can be pulled out toward the back of the case, after you removed the PSU...

Member Avatar for inphoenix

Is the HDD located under the power supply? If yes, and if I remember corectly, the HDD can be pulled out toward the back of the case, after you removed the PSU...

You're good, but... that's excatly where it is located. We removed the power supply and we tried pulling from the back but it slides about 1 inch and hangs up on something. You should have seen how many flashlights we had on that thing,,,, looked like a Car Dealer's place with spotlights, hahahaha, never could find what it was hanging up on but we do need to remove it eventually. Currently strapping another drive in and using the drive sitting on the bottom/top (it's upside down right now) and will build a new drive for him but the case won't hold two drives so original drive MUST be removed eventually.
Thank you so much, frossk, hope we are successful, if not maybe we can find an old machine in the garage to give to him, but I was hoping to recover his data. (Backups??? very old ones on floppies)

PS: had a heck of a time finding my thread. Found it through 'users logged in'. I checked to receive an email but no email. Oh well, I got your most welcome reply. ;)

Member Avatar for inphoenix

It's not upside down. Sorry! If you know how we can strap the original as a secondary drive I would appreciate your sharing that. Thanks again.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.