Adding a Second Hard Drive to an 8886/8887 (with pictures)

Step-By-Step Adding a Second Hard Drive to an 8886/8887

STEP 1:

Gather everthing you'll need: Computer, New Hard Drive in the proper bracket, 2 Phillips screw drivers (small & smaller). Making sure the laptop is OFF, flip it upside down and locate the panel to the TV-Tuner compartment (three screws).


STEP 2:

Unscrew the compartment lid and place to the side.


STEP 3:

Locate the single TINY screw and carefully unscrew it (you can see that mine ended up being broken from over-tightening, probably when it was re-assembled after painting).


STEP 4:

Once the screw is removed, slide the empty bay holder out by pulling straight and evenly.

If you DO NOT have a custom paint job (and do not need to swap brackets, skip to STEP X below).

STEP 5:

Lay the two trays side-by-side: notice anything? YES! They ARE the same!


STEP 6:

Here we unscrew (4 screws) the blank plate from the empty, painted bracket...


STEP 7:

Remove the new HD from the new bracket (4 screws) as well as unscrew (very carefully) the two SMALL screws on the IC board.


STEP 8:

Install the new HD in the painted bracket (and vice-versa for the blank plate, just to it's less pieces floating around).


STEP 9:

Slide the drive/bracket back in carefully, straight and easy. You may have to tuck the orange translucent ribbon thing under, but it does slide and click (slight click). Screw the tab in (I repaired mine with superglue).

Put the cover back on the TV-Tuner bay and re-screw the three screws. You're DONE!

Boot into BIOS just to see your second HD (oddly enough, it shows up as Hard Drive F).


How's THAT for a Laptop BIOS screen? Sure, it could say FOUR 60GB drives (or those new 80GB ones that www.pctorque.com has up, but I have 60's and they're both 5400rpm!)

PM me if you have any questions (or reply here).

-myrkat

The 80GB is only 4200rpm; and the Bracket also has the IC bridge thing to connect the drive to the laptop (yeah, I thought the same thing at first, like: why did I buy a $30 bracket that's now sitting on my shelf?).

Yeah, that's the bedspread alright. Wife loves it. Had I received the drive a few weeks ago, it would have been on the "white" side (it's double-sided), as luck has it, it was back on the "orangish" side.

So now I have a precedent: all photo reviews are to be shot on the orangish side.

-myrkat

Look on www.pctorque.com under the Accessories section - they have the brackets for $30 or so (it's not just the bracket, but the IC bridge, too... ).

You can pick up 2.5" HD's most anywhere, but the larger 5400rpm drives are not easily (or readily) found, most places are back-ordered. Haven't seen the 80GB/4200rpm drives yet.

-myrkat

I am out of town... I'm posting this for 4 Euros / 30 min. within Amsterdam's Schiphol Int'l Airport... have a 7-hour layover, and thought: what the heck, it's only $5...

-myrkat

Yeah, it's been a cool trip so far; the kids have been GREAT considering the 12-hour+ flight and the 7-hour (in my 5th hour) layover.

Another side-benefit is, I bought a (version 1) 20GB Windows iPOD for the trip and my wife used it for 10 minutes when she leaned over and said, "I want one!" then simply said "Thank You!" - I told her I'd get her one of her very own (the newer sleeker ones, maybe a 10GB) when we get back stateside.

That and the Nokia 6310i I picked up duty-free (they have like a 20% tax here! Jeeze! I know I can get it back w/ paperwork, but the duty-free stuff is instant).

-myrkat

Heh, funny enough, the forum has this post at my local time of 9:13 a.m. when it's 6:13p.m. here... oh well, I think dynamic time/session variables are not going to be anything we see soon.

-myrkat

Yeah, I love when upgrades and intalls go smooth and flawlessly.

-myrkat

My cable came with the drive, but the first drive I bought, the cable didn't exist, when I bought my second HD, it came with it AND I asked www.basoncomputer.com if they could add another cable to my order (they did for free, because they are a great place to do business with).

However, for just the cable, you need to make sure it works with your external enclosure. I'd call the original place you bought the enclosure from and ask if it works / if it's available.

If not, maybe give Bason a call / e-mail and explain the situation, tell them your drive info, and you want to buy just the cable...

-myrkat