Thanks for those tips Kyle. Since I posted my original request I managed to find a manual on the net. But it looks like I'm gonna need to strip the thing down to get at the HDD - I can't see any quick access. Ian Porter Computer Guys Inc. Arrowtown New Zealand [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kyle Elmblade" Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] dying Dell Inspiron 3500 laptop > Hi Ian, > > I've pulled apart a few in my time. In most of them you can get at the hard > drive fairly easy without disassembling them. The only reason I disassemble > one is to get at something on the inside like a shorted wire, a pulled > connection, etc. I would look closely on the outside to find the bay where > the hard drive is stored. On my Dell, there is a door on the side to pull > the caddy out, but you have to remove a single screw from the bottom of the > unit to open the door. > > As far as the compatibility is concerned, most laptop hard drives have a > standard pin-out. If the laptop is not compatible with the actual pin-out, > it usually has an adapter that is compatible, and it plugs into it's own > little slot or socket when inserted into the unit. I would be more worried > about dimensions. I have a 1.3GHz drive that I wanted to put in my Toshiba > laptop to play around with, but the drive was about 1/8 inch too high to fit > in the bay. Most places that sell the hard drives will list the units that > are guaranteed to be compatible with the particular drive. The NOSPIN Group is now offering Free PC Tech support at our newest website: http://freepctech.com