Looking for a hard drive adapter/box for an IBM Travelstar laptop hard drive.

January 19, 2009 11:22 AM

Looking for a hard drive adapter/box for an IBM Travelstar laptop hard drive.

Looking for an adapter for an IBM Travelstar laptop hard drive, so that I can connect it to a PC and get data off. (Yes, I'm still working on this same problem)

I've already ordered two adapters online, and neither has fit (even thought they claimed they did). It is an IBM Travelstar model IC25N030ATCS04, very small (from an Acer TravelMate C100), with a female connector that runs along a center groove. See pictures here and here.

I'd appreciate any help on where I can buy an adaptor that fits. Thanks!

posted by mjklin to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Have you tried prying the proprietary connector off? It looks like it's just a molex adapter stuck over the standard 40 pins.
posted by wfrgms at 11:27 AM on January 19, 2009

It looks like that drive has a card-edge adapter on it. Try just pulling it off to get to the pins underneath, which a 2.5"-3.5" IDE adapter would work on.
posted by zsazsa at 11:28 AM on January 19, 2009

Yeah, you just need to pull that adapter off, I ran into the same thing on my Uncle's HP laptop.
posted by bizwank at 11:44 AM on January 19, 2009

I should stress that you should pry the adapter off gently. You don't want to bend the pins underneath. If it's stuck on there real good, you may need to go around the edge with a small flat head screw driver, gently prying in equal amounts on all sides until it pops off. Of course if you do bend some pins just a little that's fine as you'll still be able to wedge them into your new adapter... just pay close attention.
posted by wfrgms at 11:46 AM on January 19, 2009

I have two Hitachi Travelstar 2.5" drives and have used enclosures from CoolMax and Mad Dog, both of which work great (unfortunately I can't find the model numbers). I think they were both very tight fits, and took a bit of pushing and part-removal (structural, not electronic).
posted by Alabaster at 1:39 PM on January 19, 2009

Well, I'll be darned. Good thing I have you guys, or I don't know if I would have figured that one out.
posted by mjklin at 3:56 PM on January 19, 2009