This is probably very easy for someone.....?

[sophie999]

I have a Compaq Presario 2500 laptop and the hard drive has "died", taking with it all my data, photos etc.

I have been to a computer repair shop who charged me an arm and a leg to tell me they could not extract the data from the hard drive. I took it to PC World where I bought it from and they told me to buy a new one (this one is 23 months old and out of warranty).

I now have a new laptop and want to sell the Compaq for spares/repairs, but just to be on the safe side I want to take the hard drive out to make sure that any potential buyers never access my data.

How do I remove the hard drive?? People have told me it is a simple job to do. Is it really that easy or should I just use a sledge hammer and bin the laptop?

Any advice would be welcome.

thanks

[nizzy1115]

You can buy a new hard drive from ebay for pretty cheap for your laptop. To remove it/replace it, look on the under side and you should see 2 screws together near the edge holding a piece of plastic down. Unscrew these and push the plastic down a tad to unclick it and it will just slide out.

A quick search of ebay shows hard drives ranging from $40 +shipping to $120 plus shipping depending on the size you wish. You will probably get more out of the laptop by selling it working than broke, but that jsut my 2 cents. :)

[fieldsde]

Actually there are probably 3 screws -- 2 near the front edge and a third hidden beneath a rubber plug.