I have a 80GB Iomega External HD. The HD has gone and I'm looking to replace it with a 200GB. I went down to my local shop and they said that I would need to find out if the HD was compatiable first. Does anyone know if I can replace the HD in the Iomega External HD with a 200GB ATA model?

Thanks.

Is there anything unusual about the Iomega? Otherwise, if it is a 3.5" ATA and you are replacing it with a larger 3.5" ATA, can't see how you would run into a problem. I hava a couple of USB type external drives and you can switch the hdd without a hitch.

Opening external drive boxes can be tricky. Sometimes you have to use a round cylindrical something to release the clips.

I think I was getting the standard talk from the guy in the shop. I opened the Iomega case up and removed the old HD with no difficulty. Even if the hard disk doesn't work in the case I can always replace the HD in my machine as it is 60gb.

Thanks for your help.

I have an old Iomega 40gb hdd and I would like to replace the hd with a larger one, but I am having trouble opening the box. I removed the 3 screws, but it will not open. Is there a special trick? I don't want to force it open because I'm afraid of cracking the plastic case.

Griffen or anybody, how did you get it open? Thanks!

I know this is an old thread but I stumble across it becase I had the same question. It doesn't appear that anyone answered this thread question. There are three visible screws and the are two "hidden" screws under the back to rubber tabs. Remove the rubber to expose the screws. Once these are remove the case comes right a part.

Hope this can help someone else out.

HD Size Limit

I would be careful about trying to put a hard drive larger than 137GB in this Iomega chassis (Model DHD080-U [80GB])--you might end up with less than what you're expecting.

Unless the ATA-to-USB interface supports 48bit LBA, hard drives larger than 137GB (say, 160GB or larger) will be "clipped" to 137GB...your OS won't see the rest of the hard drive. That being said, 120GB is probably the largest capacity drive you can put in this case.

Newer USB and Firewire bridge boards support 48bit LBA and so have no trouble with 160GB+ drives but you have to be sure the board supports it before you attempt to connect the hard drive. Nothing "breaks" so all that happens is you don't use the entire capacity of the hard drive. You can't get around this by partitioning the drive because it's a matter of the controller being able to address all the blocks on the hard drive which is independent of any partitioning a drive may have on it.

Also...

I noticed in the DHD080-U I was working on that there is no fan installed even though that are vents on the back and cut-outs on the the internal shield. It's not even evident where on the PCB the harness for the fan would be soldered on. This shouldn't be too bad a situation as long as there is sufficient airflow around the outside of the case to wick away the heat the hard drive will pump into the plastic case. Short of a fan blowing on the case itself, is definitely not a drive to run 24/7.