Having trouble removing internal hard drive

[MarkDB]

I have a Chillblast Obelisk PC, which uses a Zalman Z3 tower case. I'm trying to replace the 3.5" SATA hard drive, but I can't fathom how it's connected in.

It's flush against the front of the case, and on the accessible side of the drive bay there are no screws securing the drive that I can see. It seems to be sitting in some form of caddy, with a lever on the left hand side. If I press the lever in against the drive, it seems to gain a little movement on the left side, but remains firmly secured on the right. There doesn't seem to be any corresponding lever on the other side.

I'm not sure whether there's some retaining pin or screw on the right-hand side - that side's flush against the front panel of the PC. I downloaded the case's manual from the Zalman website, but it's annoyingly vague. It seems to suggest that the front panel can simply be pulled away, but I've tried doing so and short of exerting enough force to actually break the plastic, it doesn't seem to want to go anywhere. I can't see any obvious screws holding it in place.

Any suggestions? I feel like I'm missing something obvious, but I haven't done this in awhile - last time I replaced a drive was several years ago, and it used nice, simple screws.

 

[clutchc]

There are a pair of plastic rails that are on the sides of the HDD. You can see the thumb tab protruding on one side of the drive. There may be another thumb tab on the wired side of the drive, but I doubt it. Flex those/it in and pull the disconnected drive from the drive cage. The drive is not screwed in. It is just riding on the rails which are slid into the tracks on the drive cage.

 

[MarkDB]

There are a pair of plastic rails that are on the sides of the HDD. You can see the thumb tab protruding on one side of the drive. There may be another thumb tab on the wired side of the drive, but I doubt it. Flex those/it in and pull the disconnected drive from the drive cage. The drive is not screwed in. It is just riding on the rails which are slid into the tracks on the drive cage.

Thanks for the reply. I figured that must be how it's supposed to work - but it doesn't seem to. Pressing the lever on the left all the way in towards the drive does create a little bit of 'give' on that side - we're talking about just enough to wiggle it a millimetre or two - but it remains absolutely fixed in place on the right side. And there's definitely no second tab.

 

[clutchc]

OK. I see screw holes on the opposite side of the drive cage where there are no drives. I would next expect that there is one or two screws on that side of the drive. You may have to pull the front panel off the front of the case to get to them.

 

[MarkDB]

OK. I see screw holes on the opposite side of the drive cage where there are no drives. I would next expect that there is one or two screws on that side of the drive. You may have to pull the front panel off the front of the case to get to them.

How difficult should I expect that to be? I can't see any screws holding the front of the case in place, though there are some form of plastic dowel as visible in my first and third picture. I've tried pulling the case front away, but even at the point where I'm afraid to exert any more force for fear of breaking something it doesn't budge at all.

 

[clutchc]

Yes, I suspect the case has the standard finger grip under the bottom of the front panel. Those 'dowels' you refer to look to be what holds the front panel in place. They can be hard to pop out sometimes. I've had to resort to a wide bladed screwdriver wedged in next to the 'dowels' as I pull on the bottom finger grip. Once you get one of them popped out, the others will be easier to pop out because you'll be able to grab the front panel in a better location.

You might even be able to squeeze the 'dowels' a bit with needle-nosed pliers to help them back out of the hole.

 

[MarkDB]

That did it! Thanks to your description of how the fixings worked, I had the confidence to use a screwdriver to lever the case away one attachment at a time, starting from the bottom, and once it was clear, there was indeed a single screw holding the drive in place on that side. I've now installed the new drive and it is working perfectly. Hopefully I won't need to do that again for awhile.

Thanks very much for having the patience to talk me through this problem - you've been a great help.

 

[clutchc]

That did it! Thanks to your description of how the fixings worked, I had the confidence to use a screwdriver to lever the case away one attachment at a time, starting from the bottom, and once it was clear, there was indeed a single screw holding the drive in place on that side. I've now installed the new drive and it is working perfectly. Hopefully I won't need to do that again for awhile.

Thanks very much for having the patience to talk me through this problem - you've been a great help.

My pleasure. It is always a head-scratcher the first time.