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I have an ancient hard drive from an old HP laptop. I haven't looked at it in years. But now I want to get the old data off that hard drive. I have been to all of my local electronics shops but none of them sell an adapter that fits my hard drive.

Does anyone know of a SATA-like adapter that will allow me to pull my old data off via USB or something?

Here are some specs from the Model number: General Product Information:

Manufacturer: Fujitsu

Manufacturer Website: www.Fujitsu.com

Manufacturer Part No: MHV2120BH

Product Type: Internal Hard Drive

Product Specifications:

Storage Capacity: 120GB

Spindle Speed: 5400RPM

Drive Interface: SATA 1.5Gbps

Form Factor: 2.5Inch

Cache: 8MB

enter image description here

Holding the hard drive.

FemalePiece

Picture of the female piece. This is what I pulled the hard drive out of.

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  • What model laptop is it?
    – NZKshatriya
    Jan 3, 2017 at 0:47
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    Also, knowing HP and how they loved to mess with the consumer a lot and still do I wouldn't be surprised if the simple explanation was that they simply removed the standard SATA connector, leaving those comb things, and physically mated the connector to the laptop housing.....to facilitate, well, buying upgrades directly from HP.
    – NZKshatriya
    Jan 3, 2017 at 0:50
  • HP Pavillion DV6000 Notebook
    – JParks
    Jan 3, 2017 at 1:33
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is not asking us to recommend a hardware solution; it is asking us to identify an existing solution.
    – Adam Wykes
    Jan 4, 2017 at 1:05
  • I don't know what has been going on here in the comments but, all that aside, here is my unbiased opinion: @AdamWykes I disagree with your opinion that the question is off-topic because the information is accurate and useful; but we define Hardware Recommendations differently. Everybody I talked to didn't know the black piece popped off. But if you take it down then thanks to NZKshatriya and ArtOfCode for the answers.
    – JParks
    Jan 5, 2017 at 2:34

2 Answers 2

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I originally posted this article on: HP laptop/MHV2120BH HDD as a comment.

It turns out that the correct connection is/was always there. There was an adapter fitted over the SATA connector, for use with HPs internal connector.

Am re-posting as an answer in order for others to find more easily.

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  • Yes, this is completely correct. The black piece with metal fins popped right off to reveal the SATA connection, which I then used something similar to what ArtOfCode posted.
    – JParks
    Jan 3, 2017 at 19:26
  • It is reasonably common in laptops to create a hard drop-in/lift-out connection, instread of dealing with a soft cable that needs routing and strain relief.
    – T.J.L.
    Jan 4, 2017 at 19:41
  • @T.J.L. Not that I have seen. Most I've used have a standard SATA connector, and a skirt of some sort you screw on to the drive, slide the drive into the board connector, then screw the skirt onto the chassis. Only manufacturers I have seen that use these "adapters" are Dell and HP.
    – NZKshatriya
    Jan 4, 2017 at 19:49
  • So, two of the largest computer manufacturers in the world isn't "reasonably common" enough for you?
    – T.J.L.
    Jan 4, 2017 at 19:51
  • How a laptop board should look See, that is what I would consider more along the lines of a real system. With the capacity of the drive in question. There is a reason that you are finding MSI/Asus systems creeping into the big box stores.
    – NZKshatriya
    Jan 4, 2017 at 19:56
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The technical document (page 3-10, which is the tenth page of that PDF) for this drive says it's a standard SATA connector; 15 power pins P1-15 and 7 signal pins S1-7. For this, you'd need a standard double SATA signal/power connector; something like this, perhaps.

However, something about your pictures looks off. Look at the pictures of the cable I linked to above, in particular this one:

SATA cable, showing male and female connectors

The connectors in this image don't match up with the images you posted of your own drive. As NZKShatriya mentioned in a comment, I suspect that HP have modified the connector on the drive so that you are forced to use their products.

If you still have the old HP laptop, your best shot at getting the data off the drive is to reinstall the drive, and use the laptop to transfer data to a more modern, more widely compatible solution (like a USB stick; you could fit the entire contents of that drive onto a 128 GB USB stick like this one). If that fails, you're stuck with contacting HP and asking them how to get your data.

Good luck!

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  • [This article]{dslreports.com/forum/…} may also be of some assistance. Someone else has had the same issue lol.
    – NZKshatriya
    Jan 3, 2017 at 1:40
  • Yes, thank you! That link was perfect. The weird connector just popped right off to reveal the typical SATA. I plugged it right in and discovered the hard drive is clicking! Yea, on to the next problem
    – JParks
    Jan 3, 2017 at 2:45
  • @JParks Welcome.....Gotta love HP and its longtime penchant for making things harder on the consumer....
    – NZKshatriya
    Jan 3, 2017 at 4:26

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