HP Laptops No Longer Enable Consumer to Replace Hard Drive

I am so angry at HP

Do they solder them to the motherboard or something?
It was already hard enough with HP laptops: getting the right HDD case / caddy if you added a second disk...

Hopachi said:

Do they solder them to the motherboard or something?
It was already hard enough with HP laptops: getting the right HDD case / caddy if you added a second disk...

No, they're not soldered on, but they may as well be, what with the requirements. Heretofore, my experience with three HP laptops has been that they had "doors" on the back of the case. You undid four screws, opened the door, unplugged the hard drive and plugged a new one in then put the door back on. It was that simple. Now that has all changed.

I went to Walmart today to see if I could get an HP laptop with the "door", but none of them have those little "doors" for replacing a hard drive. Further, there's no "door" to add more RAM either. Next time I'm in a town with a Best Buy, I'll check to see if what I need is there. I really want a laptop that I can have an SSD in for running Windows 10. Without an SSD, it's slower than molasses in January.

Here's what I was going to post, in the Chillout Room:

I thought I had stopped this particular post because

I am so angry at HP I could just spit!

Today I started to replace the hard drive in Lappy with the SSD I bought for her and couldn't figure out how to get into the case. So, I took her to my friendly local computer tech; A Bit Personal Computer Service. Catchy name and he's great.

I told him my problem and he said things had changed; that it wouldn't be easy. I told him that was why I was going to pay him to do it. He said, "You won't want me to . . . I'd have to take the top off, take the bottom off, remove the motherboard, etc. It would cost you around $60.00 for me to do it."

He was right; I didn't want him to do it!

HP had almost earned back my trust, but I'm through; stick a fork in me, I'm done! First, HP won't build new drivers for printers over a year or so old when a new OS comes out. Next, I paid a high dollar amount for a Slate tablet, but HP wouldn't update the OS for that while every other tablet was being upgraded. Because of that, I couldn't beta test Office for Android! And now, HP has signed its own death certificate for me. Heretofore, I've always been able to change out RAM, hard drives, etc., but no more. So, no more HP products for me!

I decided it might fit better in the Chillout Room than in Windows Insiders.

Thanks! Good to know that.
I agree with you here, I'm running on HP, also SSD-upgraded.
Well if they continue with these new 'throwaway' tablet-style-glued models I'll just change the manufacturer on the next buy.

Hopachi said:

Thanks! Good to know that.
I agree with you here, I'm running on HP, also SSD-upgraded.
Well if they continue with these new 'throwaway' tablet-style-glued models I'll just change the manufacturer on the next buy.

Which one would you choose?

I'm probably going to sell this one (if I can get half its cost back) and buy something I can upgrade.

COMPUTIAC said:

I certainly hope this is not a trend other manufacturer's are going to follow.
On my Lenovo lappy I had to remove the bottom of it but, it was only six screws to install a SSD.

Me too, Computiac! I may have to learn to build my own laptops! NOT!!!

whs said:

I own one of those laptops without the 'doors'. I had to take the whole backpanel off in order to install the SSD in place of the HDD. But that was not a big deal.

According to the service manual on this 17z-f100 CT0, I'll have to remove both the top panel and the back panel. And, I have found no schematic yet. Still looking, and I do hope you're right!

OK, I found what I need, but it's so very involved that I don't think I want to tackle it. It is illustrated, though. That's the good news, but it gets worse from there.

First I have to take out ten screws . . . the five more . . . then remove the optical drive, the USB board and a cable or three. That's while it's laying on its belly. Then I have to flip it over and remove the top panel, some more cables and finally, the hard drive. Then if I'm lucky and don't lose any screws, I can reverse the order of removal and put it all back together.