Need help, want to put a 3.5 hd into a 5.25 drive bay? How?

[Denvers Dawgs]

I want to put another hardrive into an empty 5.25' drive bay. What do I need to do this, and where can I get the necessary parts?

[redwudz]

You just need a '3.5 to 5.25 hard drive adapter bracket':


You should be able to find them with a Google search or check the local computer shops. They were very common a few years ago, they may have a dusty one sitting around. Otherwise, less than $5US is all I would pay.

[classfour]

1. Hard Drive Adapter, sold on the web. google it.
2. Hard Drive Caddy, I use them in my desktops (removable ones from geeks.com that have built in fan) $6 to $10 each plus shipping: Nice item when you wish to move secondary HDDs between multiple machines.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Ever use or see one of these, Lian Li MF-20 3.5 inch drive mounting kits? What are you're thoughts on this, since your the computer builders not I.



Here is a review of the Lian Li MF-20 http://www.dansdata.com/lldrivemounts.htm

[Soopafresh]

Looks fine, I'm sure it'll work, but I suspect drive sounds will get amplified like a tuning fork. (does that make any sense?). Look for rubber washers/grommets to attach the thing - that should reduce vibration.

Oh, and you're sure you can take off the other side of your case, since you'll have to mount the thing from both sides?

[Denvers Dawgs]

eh......nope can't take off other side, it's an HP. Would I need to mount all the types of brackets on both sides? Might be back to the drawing board for me.....

[yoda313]

Hey denverdawgs - have you considered a usb2.0 3.5inch hard drive enclosure??? Might be simpler

[classfour]

The brackets redwuz has in the photo can accept a mounting screw from the bottom. yoda's suggestion has merit - you can put the drive on any machine then

[Soopafresh]

Another option - this might be good for many different applications:

http://www.svc.com/wpr.html

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/WHEREVER%20PCI%20RACK.HTML

[ahhaa]

on the one sided case thing, many cheaper cases use 'keepers' (twisted out bits of metal) that engage the blind side bolt-holes, so the drive is only bolted on the one side. Its secure enough to keep the drive from coming loose in a fall or somesuch.

[redwudz]

I'll even admit to using a hot glue gun to hold in a CD drive in a older AT computer that used a type of drive mounting slide the wasn't available anywhere.

Actually, it worked fairly well. The hot glue stuff peels off cleanly with a little work and the drive never came loose.

[thinger62]

I used double-sided carpet tape to hold a drive to the bottom of a Dell case. Absolutely no problems.