Screws!

[grumpy_git]

A friend of mine's laptop has died, it was pretty old and they have another machine. But they'd like the data transferring across, so went out and bought one of those hard drive holders from RipOffWorld, to plug into the new machine via USB.

So, as the stereotypical "friend who knows something about them computer things", I've been asked to help. Sounds pretty simple...

Hard drive out of the old laptop successfully, but it's got a (hard to describe!) bit of metal which looks like it was used to hold it in position, which is sufficiently thick enough to stop said hard drive fitting in the holder. It's held in by two screws. These are proving an absolute b*tch to remove, the screwdriver is either turning in my hand, or it's slipping and risking wrecking the head.

The only thing I can think of is holding it in a vice (w/ suitible padding) and using a power screwdriver! However, I'm away from home (uni student) and so I've not got access to anything like that.

Does anyone have any bright ideas, before I do a wee bit of percussive maintenance?!

[Crispin]

Does anyone have any bright ideas, before I do a wee bit of percussive maintenance?!

Don't help your friends!

[AngryTechnician]

You could try applying a small amount of WD-40 around the screws to try and loosen them up. Be careful not to allow any ingress into the drive.

[mac_shinobi]

any photos you can post on here so we can see ?

[grumpy_git]

Sorted - although the screws remain fast on!

(Basically - for future reference - I found that the problem was occurring when the drive had been mounted on the board with a USB connection, then the whole thing was slid into a little case (presumably to keep it away from prying fingers). So, although it's not pretty and probably not recommended long term, slotting it onto the board and plugging it in without the cover worked).

Thanks to those who replied, though .