The seller of the hard drive will tell you what kind of computer it is meant to go in. Normally these are IBM Thinkpads, because that is what the original software ran on.

But also there are many out there that use Dell D6xx which are a dime a dozen on eBay. This was a go to corporate computer in the mid 2000s (I was issued one of these, by two different companies I worked for, in that era) and the secondary market is full of them because they are actually pretty decent computers.

Of course the reason it's computer specific is due to the hardware complement on the machine. If you were to try to stick a Thinkpad disk in a Dell the drivers would be all wrong for the hardware.

Just be sure and do yourself a favor and replace the CMOS battery whenever you do get a laptop. Mine went out and it lost all its settings and I had to fool with the BIOS a good bit to get it working right again. On the Dell D6xx it is under the keyboard but very straightforward to change out.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech