hard drive caddy

where can i find a caddy or cradle for a g73jh
thanks

 

You can get one, but you don't really need one... I wedged my second drive in using foam tape to restrict movement of the drive. I haven't had any issues with my secondary drive at all.

Just mentioning that you CAN put a drive in without a caddy if you desire.

 

There is a thread somewhere in this forum about using a HP caddy for the G73 instead of spending for the Asus one which is somewhat expensive for a caddy.

 

You can order a Hard Drive Caddy from Asus's estore, do be aware it wont come with screws to mount it though

 

+rep to anyone who can give a link to purchase the HP caddy! (already +repped Hutsady for the Asus one)

 

Here you go.

HP PAVILION ZD8000 ZD7000 HARD DRIVE CADDY WITH SCREWS

Edit: I'm not sure 100 percent sure it's the same one because the picture looks different.
Here's the forum thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...545115-found-alternate-g73-drive-caddy-3.html

 

And it even comes with screws! Thank you, sir. +rep for you!

For anyone looking for a cheap alternative, one member discusses his use of ear plugs to hold the HDD in place in this thread.

 

Thanks to all of you for your help. the tape sounds like it will work and be less trouble and expense. now if you explain to me the Procedure in in stalling the second drive. Do i leave my drive that i have in my machine now plugged in and just plug the ssd drive in empty bay and go from there? or does the new drive go where the old drive is now? i would like the new ssd to be my boot drive. is there some place on the forum or web that will explain how this done. as you can tell i am a long way from being a computer geek.

 

The SSD goes where the old drive is now.

I just purchased the HP ZD7000 Laptop Hard Drive Caddy + Screws on eBay for $15.90 shipped.

 

Agreed, easiest way would be to put the SSD into the drive cage and put it where the current drive is. I'd then boot the Windows 7 DVD and run through the install. Once complete. you'll need to start installing drivers, so it would be good to have the drivers all pre-downloaded from Chastity's page to a folder on your old drive, then install them from there.

Your network card and wireless card drivers are the most important because you won't be able to get Internet access until those are installed.

I generally install drivers in this order:

Network/Wifi
Intel Chipset
Intel SATA controller

Video
Audio

Anything else

Utilities

 

Usually, you want to install the chipset drivers first, then SATA/video and the rest. After connecting to your network and installing all drivers, i then go for windows update, AV and i finish with utilities.

I get my drivers before i reinstall and keep them separate on a portable drive so there is no need to download anything.

The exact order i used when i reinstalled on my SSD:
Chipset, -> reboot
Intel RST -> reboot
Catalyst -> reboot
ATK package -> reboot
kb filter
Audio (Realtek 2.66 + HD Audio drivers 2.61) -> reboot
Network controllers
BT/Camera/SD card reader

Asus utilities you want (P4G 1.1.37 instead of more recent versions)
Windows 7 sp1, previously downloaded
The rest of the windows updates
AV (MSE) + Malwarebytes
Web browser (Opera)
The rest of my programs
Copied steampps folder backup back to steam directory.

 

I would think that if you plan to use both the old HDD and a new SSD, then the HDD should be installed in the drive caddy (if you only have one). It will need the stability more than the SSD.

 

if i make a current copy of the recovery disk wont the drivers be included in that?

 

Agreed, this is what I have had (until now since I just purchased another caddy). The SSD has been perfectly fine without a caddy. Honestly, I'm really only adding one to be absolutely complete. I bet I could get away without using one.

 

If i make a current copy of recovery disk and use those wont the drivers be included?

 

where do i find the drivers to down load and can i download them on a thumb drive?

 

Courtesy of chastity: G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference. Of course you can download them to a thumb drive.

 

Also, and I may be in the minority here, I would install a different AV product from MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) specifically due to disk latency issues I've had when running MSE along with torrenting applications. This causes audio playback to be choppy, and I've had this across multiple systems.

I've since moved on to ESET Smart Security for my AV/Malware protection, and I find it works perfectly. The disk DPC latency issues that MSE cause are actually pretty well documented, and was reason enough for me to move away.

Other free AV software that are highly rated are AVAST and AVIRA AV products.

I only mentioned installing Network prior to Chipset/Intel RST drivers was because I like being able to visit the driver download page as I install all of my drivers, but my install order is pretty similar.

Also, if you want to run the latest and greatest Realtek drivers and Creative software, I have a thread on here taking you through the install process.

 

I said to go with chipset first since it is what i consider to be the most crucial driver to install and i'd rather want that installed first.

The AV was simply a suggestion as are the programs i listed. I don't download torrents so i don't really care about that issue.

 

Just wanted to report back that the HP ZD-7000 HDD Caddy is installed and working on my SSD! It came with screws and a cover. I had no need for the cover, so I tossed it. Also, the screws that came with it don't fit my laptop. Luckily, I had some other screws that fit the G73JH.