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    2.5" Laptop drive interface problem -- could use help (SATA vs SATA II)

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by ms960, Mar 25, 2011.

  1. ms960

    ms960 Notebook Consultant

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    So I bought a WD Scorpio Blue (WD3200BEVT) to replace a small hard drive on my laptop. My laptop is a few years old and has a SATA interface, so I did my research and thought I figured out that a SATA II drive was backward compatible with a SATA interface.

    The WD drive arrived today and when I pulled the old drive out, it was very obvious that the WD drive didn't have the same connectors that the old Toshiba drive did. Actually, the connectors looked right, but there was plastic molding around the connectors on the WD drive that are preventing the connectors from seating into the drive enclosure. There is no way the WD drive will connect to the connectors inside the drive bay on my laptop -- the configuration of connectors is just all wrong.

    So, the question is, what do I need to look for when buying a new drive for my laptop? I really don't want to buy another drive only to find out it's the wrong kind as well.

    Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
     
  2. jimbob83

    jimbob83 Notebook Evangelist

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    There may be an adapter on the old hard drive that you have to pull off and put onto the new drive. What notebook do you have?
     
  3. ms960

    ms960 Notebook Consultant

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    Indeed there was a very small adapter that I missed the first time. Thanks for the help. It is an older HP dv2700 series. Nothing great, but I'm putting it into extended duty for my kids.

    Thanks again.