Installation Screws

Dell Optiplex, Precision, and “non hot-plug” standalone server models have a flexible blue plastic 3.5 inch hard drive frame –
with no screws required. The rest of the Dell PowerEdge server models require screws to attach the hard drive to the
hard drive frame, which makes life a little more difficult for us.....

....It might sound ridiculous, but one of the most common problems we see is missing mounting screws, or screws that are simply the wrong size. And, obviously, without the proper screws, you can’t install your hard drive.

Hard drives need to be screwed to the hard drive carrier frame with four mounting screws. Of course, 2.5-inch hard drives need smaller screws than 3.5-inch hard drives. However, there is a special converter you can use to install a 2.5-inch hard drives into a 3.5-inch drive bay – but in that case, you’ll need even more screws. Eleven, instead of four.

We’ve found that there are some SSD drive suppliers that don’t supply the right size screws, and that can cause a lot of problems. It’s vital to have the correct screws to save the hard drive from future complications, and to save you a few headaches down the road.

Generally, you should use the shortest screws needed to reach through whatever brackets hold the HDD. If the screws are
too long and you tighten them all the way, you could damage the drive, but screws that are too short won’t hold things in place properly.