Packard Bell external HDD

[PeterBJ]

Does anybody know how to open the enclosure of a Packard Bell "Store and save 3400" external HDD? I want to use the disk to upgrade an old computer, and maybe later put it back in the enclosure. The external HDD looks like this, click to enlarge:

 

[mikling]

You will need to do some research before embarking on this. From the physical side the enclosure appears to be a press together arrangement that you might need to simply carefully pull apart. ( Looks like similar construction to WD with the clam shell arrangment) Do double check for screws though.

Now the second part is where it gets trickier. Based on my experience of WD Mybook external drives, the controller inside the enclosure works in conjunction with files written on the HD internally at a low level and these files are not easily accessed. Did the Packard bell come with a dual partion on it? Did it come with software loaded on a separate small partition? These are sometimes clues.

In order for me to reuse the internal drive I had to run a thorough wipe routine that totally rewrites or cleanses the drive. By eliminating these files, the drive was no longer reuseable with the external enclosure. Also you need to be familiar with setting up naked drives after the wipe routine.

I don't know what the Packard Bell hold internally, but be aware that sometimes it is not as simple as it may appear. I am told that Seagate does not have this issue but you need to check first especially if you have plans to reuse the external enclosure. In the future, I will only acquire external HDs that I assemble together myself as this leaves drive and enclsoure full reuseable should I need to make changes.

 

[PeterBJ]

I managed to open the enclosure. The horizontal black stripe on the front is a slot with a locking tab behind. It is possible to loosen the cover from the sides and lift the end of the cover free of the locking tab and lift and remove the cover, see this:

The HDD is second hand and I have no install CD or manual. When I got it I did a full NTFS formatting from Windows drive management, to make sure it was OK. I know these drives are normally FAT 32 formatted, maybe for compatibility reasons. The drive still works, but only as a normal harddisk. If there was any smart back up/synchronization software installed, it is now lost.

The disk in the enclosure was a Seagate Barracuda 500GB.

I have tried searching for Packard Bell software, drivers and manuals, but only found links that looked very dubious.

The SATA to USB2 converter seems to work with all SATA disks, independent of brand. To function as a simple extra drive it seems no software is necessary.

 

[mikling]

Looks like you have a generic drive controller and that is good news.

I like to use Create Synchronicity software, it is free, powerful and FAST and simple.
http://synchronicity.sourceforge.net/


The other backup software I am also impressed with is Crashplan...also free.
http://www.code42.com/crashplan/

 

[stratman]

I have tried searching for Packard Bell software, drivers and manuals, but only found links that looked very dubious.

ftp://ftp.download.packardbell.com/

I saw the Store and Save 3500 but not a "3400" model.

Maybe there is a European FTP site that lists your model?

 

[stratman]

Even more files on this cryptic FTP page: ftp://ftp.packardbell.com/pub/

What you want may be in there somewhere but finding it is the proverbial needle in the haystack.