Hello everyone! I'm new here... Anyways, I recently purchased a 120 gig Western Digital hard drive. We've owned a Dell for years now, but needed more space for video editing primarily. Since dell, or at least older models, make it fairly hard to upgrade, I figured we would have some trouble... Our particular system uses racks, rather than wonderful screws. Having no extra mounts (I'm not quite sure of their proper name, go onto the sides of device to attatch into bay), I asked my friend for some, and he gladly gave me them. Problem is, only one screw hole will align itself with this hard drive. Furthermore, the mounts won't fit still, especially since the screw that I put in, even if it is flat on the head, gets in the way. As far as I knew, the side holes were a standard, and it is the hard drive, not the mounts that have a problem. Any suggestions? Even if I do have to do something awkward to get the hard drive in... Thanks.

It sounds as if the side mountings your friend gave you are non-standard. It was my understanding that normal side mountings are metal or plastic mouldings which have a number of holes for fixing screws in 3 or 4 standard positions. These holes have a recess for the screw head such that the top of the screw is flush or lower than the surface of the mounting. Again being Dell, they may use non-standard side mounting slide bars *AND* matching cage. Non-standardisation is one of the reasons why I never buy Dell! Here in the UK, for regular pc's one can buy an add on cage that can be fitted if there is space. Good Luck - Keep us posted.

No no... The side mountings ARE standard. The hard drive's holes are not, I know this for a fact, especially since he gave me two different sets... And I tried the side mounts from another device inside of the dell, but those did not fit either. Yes, Dell is evil, but good for those who have little computer knowledge, like we did those years ago... I've learned though : ) Anyways, I figure the rack mounts are non-standardized inside the computer, but the hard drives holes are non-standardized as well. More specifically... Does anyone know / could think of a way to fixate the hard drive without damaging anything? It will also be a fairly small space... Since there is a floppy drive below the space and CD-RW Drive above it. Dell Dell Dell... I guess I could always move everything into a new case, but that might be a huge hassle... Make that, I think we would need to order a new case altogether... Don't know about using any of these older things I have. Oh well, any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

I do not know the hdd model concerned and would ask is it 3.5" or 5.25" Have you considered using the bottom fixing holes (if present). If 3.5":- a) possibly you could use a conversion tray (normally includes front blanking plate) that uses the bottom hdd holes and then fits in a 5.25" bay. b) there are metal conversion slides that use the hdd side fixings and fit in a 5.25" bay. However these normally require standard holes, but there is nothing to stop drilling extra ones. Good luck - Keep us posted.

WD does not make "non standard" mounting holes in any way shape or form. In fact neither does Dell really. Since they do not make any of their own hardware they are forced, at least in that sense, to submit to industry standards. Further, most of the Dell built OEM plastic mounting brackets require no screws at all which is probably why your are getting in the way and why only one hole lines up. Generally they simply snap into where the screw holes would be and then slide and "click" into place on the rack. The whole assembly is a type of "pinch" fit once the whole deal is together. Jimi_l

I just added some hard drives to several Dell computers a few months ago. The plastic rails do require screws. It wasn't hard at all: - Remove rails pairs from computer - Screw the rails to the hard drive using the provided 4 screws - Slide this assembly into the slots in the computer until they lock in place

Mike Newcomb: Thanks, I'm not quite sure on the size, but I think it's 3.5 inch. I'll probably try that, or get a new case... Even if I do have to work on the holes in the case to make it fit... Jimi_1: I'm not saying that they make non-standard fittings, but what I'm saying is that mine is. Maybe the machinery was doing something odd that day, who knows, but I know these holes in the HD are not properly placed. The side mountings work on all other devices I own, except for the hard drive from Western Digital we just bought. I think it's just one of the HD's holes on both sides that was off... It is by about a half of a centimeter to a centimeter off from where it should be. Also, the side mountings that came with the Dell do not line up either, but they do in all of my other devices. egkenny: This is an older model, or simply, this particular model does not require screws (I don't know if the newer models use screws or not). Even if the side mountings fit, I don't have extra ones to use for the HD. Anyways, thanks for all of your opinions and help. Though it looks like in the end I'll have to get a new case, which may be a hassle, but oh well. I'll see if I can figure out any way to just jam it in, but I don't think that would be the best solution : \