If you are working on an IBM PC/XT model 5160 and need to remove a floppy drive, you may find it difficult to remove after removing the two visible screws that hold them in. If your IBM disk drive is stuck, I have a top secret tip that will help.
Two hidden screws in IBM PC/XT drive bays
I had the problem with stuck drives in an IBM PC/XT the first time I worked on a model 5160 IBM PC/XT. I removed the two screws on the side of the drive, and when the drive still wouldn’t come out, I assumed there must be some kind of screw on the other side holding it in. But when I fished around with a thin piece of plastic, I could determine there weren’t any screws on the other side. Not that there would have been any way to reach them anyway, so that was a good thing.
Fishing around under the drives with the same piece of plastic tipped me off that there was one screw underneath still holding each the drive in, but no way to access it from the top. So that made me think to flip the case up on the side and see what was going on underneath. And sure enough, I found a recessed area underneath the two drive bays, and they had two screws in them. When I removed the two screws from the recessed area, that freed the drives.
Reinstalling the IBM PC/XT drive bay screws
Reinstalling those screws is a hassle, so some people didn’t bother, and they just let the two screws on the side be enough to hold the drives in place. If you are a purist, either using a magnetic screwdriver or getting a bit of tacky wax, sold in craft stores in the candle making section, helps tremendously when replacing the screws. It has enough grip to keep the screw from falling off the screwdriver while you are finding its place and threading it, but once you finish driving the screw home, the driver lifts away without any problem.
If you don’t expect to have to take your PC or XT apart very often, and if you are a purist, I understand wanting to put those screws back. But if you do take your machine apart fairly frequently, I don’t blame you if you leave the two screws out. They don’t affect the operation of the machine and they make removing the drives much more time-consuming.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.