Thomson HD Box - Walkthrough on how to change the Hard Drive

This tutorial will show you how to upgrade the HDD (Hard Disk Drive) in your Sky / Thomson HD STB (set top box)

All I have used is a normal Philips screw driver for this, but you should try and make it a thin one.

One thing that I did, was to let the box cool down for about 10 mins before I did any work. I also ensured that I had grounded myself, before opening the box and the metal case.

The Hard Drive used is WD 1TB My Book. The reason I am using this, is because I got a few of them cheap, but you can use whatever disk that you have. For me, this was a good option as the WD Disk makes a good usb caddy for the transfer of your old Hard Drive and the Sky image and then copying your files over, using copy+.

1) You will only need to remove the one screw from the back.



2) You will need to remove the 6 screws on the bottom and prise up the 3 clips.



3) You will notice that the top PCB is screwed down and is soldered to the box, just under the screws and bend the ribbon clear.



4) Undo the 3 screws and then you will be able to lift the top lid off.



5) Now this is the area on which being slow and careful is an absolute must. You will see that the hard drive caddy is screwed to main PCB.



6) Undo the 4 screws and gently lift the caddy up slightly, so you can see the fan wire, it is just plugged into the main PCB; gently pull the fan cable away from the board. You will then find it easier to remove the sata power cable and hard drive cable. (Please take care and lift the caddy upwards and away from the PCB)



7) Now remove the green acoustic pad from the hard drive, you will note that the pad has been stuck to the hard drive and as you remove it, it will take the warranty sticker with it. As my Sky box is out of warranty I was not concerned with this.





8) Turn the caddy over and undo the 4 screws holding the hard drive in place. There is also a warranty sticker over one of the screws and you can try and remove if you want but I did not.



9) This is the inside view of the WD 1TB My Book.



10) This is the image of the PCB removed from the drive it contains all the sata connections, power and USB connections; it just slides away from the drive.



11) Swap the hard drives over to reverse the whole process.



12) Don't for get to reattach the fan cable because I forgot and had to take the case off again to do it and we all know how much a pain it is getting the case on.



13) Place the acoustic pad on the new hard drive.



14) Replace the lid and case and away you go.

Any questions feel free to ask in our forum thread here. Thanks to ezdub for taking the time to make this tutorial.

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