How do I remove a hard drive from a HP Pavilion 8660C?

[Nocturnal]

For some reason I can't pull the face off otherwise the entire drive cage wants to come out. I know there is some mechanism on the top of the cage that you can kinda pull out but I'm not sure what it does. I'm having a hard time taking the hard drive out of this machine. Does anyone know how to remove the hard drive? It's stuck on by two screws on the right hand side but I can't get to the screws without either removing the entire cage or I don't know how else I'd actually get to them.

 

[mechBgon]

Looking at a photo of the case style, you may need to remove the cover, unfasten the whole mobo tray, and hinge it down to get at those screws. Just a speculation. Another idea is a 90° ratcheting-head screwdriver, I have one of those although I've never used it for that purpose (yet).

 

[Zepper]

Some of those are tricky - there is a book by tom sheldon called Upgrade your HP Pavilion with disassembly instructions in an appendix. Perhaps your local B&N or Borders book store can act as your reference library ... Or you could always order a used copy online for a good price.
. There is a latch and a couple of screws and the whole top piece comes out - a very stupid design. I usually have to re-figure out the trick each time I see one. But having a high IQ and techie genes helps .
. On the FAQ page (hp.com) for the 8660C there is a video clip that shows how to change RAM but also shows some other things that may be useful to you.

. I say get a nice standard microATX case (e.g. the Athenatech A100 series) and transplant the HP's guts into it - avoid these hassles in the future.

.bh.

p.s. found this interesting link: Bad PC Designs .