How hard is it to change a notebook hard drive?

[bovinda]

A good friend asked if I could change the hard drive on his notebook since his original one died. I've built my own computer, but have no experience with notebooks in particular. Is it very difficult to swap out a hard drive on a notebook? Anything to be aware of?

It's a Sony VAIO VGN-S460 he's got. For a replacement drive, I'm thinking something like this. That should be okay, yeah?

Any feedback is greatly, greatly appreciated!!!

 

[sindows]

Well it depends on the laptop really. On a dell, all you do is take two screws out and pull the drive out... However even if it is harder, it shouldn't be too bad. At most, all you need to do is disassemble the entire bottom part of the laptop

 

[Azimuth40]

Physically easy to swap out as long as you have fine point tools normally a very small phillips head and a very small star head. On most laptops that is a bracket plat holding the drive in place and mylar ribbon cables. From a software standpoint you will lose the hidden recovery partition and the BIOS may or may not like that. The drive that you picked however should be fine assuming that it currently is the 80GB SATA model. There is an S460 and a S460B but I believe that they are both SATA.

 

[bovinda]

Is there any way to know if the BIOS will react funny? And would it be a problem if the drive isn't 80 GB? I think Newegg only had the 120 GB Seagate. Should I try and find a 80 GB one?

 

[Synomenon]

If you have a newer laptop, it shouldn't have any problems with any hard drive capacity you can get. As for removing the original hard drive and putting the new one in, it really depends on the laptop. Some laptops have a simple cover on the underside that you take off to get to the hard drive. Some laptops require you remove the keyboard to get to the hard drive. You really should download the service manual for your specific laptop to see how it's done.

 

[krotchy]

Swapping a laptop drive is cake, just make sure you get the right kind, obviously a PATA drive wont go in a SATA notebook and vice-versa/

 

[bovinda]

So I'm trying to find some instructions somewhere about switching out a HD on this model, and I can't. I did find their user's manual for the S400 series here. It should be doable though, yeah?

 

[Zepper]

Some notebook HDDs are in an enclosure or frame to make removing or inserting easy. Some of them can be fun to get apart.

.bh.

 

[Synomenon]

Some notebooks have their hard drives simply placed under a cover on the bottom of the laptop, some have them under the keyboard and some (like the Sony TXN) require almost taking the whole laptop apart to get to the hard drive. You need to find the service manual for your laptop. Or maybe someone has already done the hard drive switch for your model, here on AT or on some other forum.

 

[Old Hippie]

Replacing a Sony Vaio laptop drive.

 

[bovinda]

Cool, thanks you guys...and thanks for the link Old Hippie.

 

[bovinda]

One other question. Is there any easy way to confirm that it is a dead hard drive before trying to switch it out? I just got the notebook now, and after turning it on, it mentions that it can't detect an operating system and then stops. Trying to use the recovery disk results in a message that it can't detect the partitions and then it exits and restarts.

Is that enough of a confirmation that it's a dead hard drive?

 

[Zepper]

Is that enough of a confirmation that it's a dead hard drive?

No. Get the HD mfr's test disk (you may have to DL a diskette or CD image to create the disk, boot from that and let it test the drive. That is a non-destructive test and will test regardless of whether the partitioning and/or formatting is correct. You could also use the Ultimate Boot CD for DOS which has most drive mfr's utilities on it.

If that comes back with an error, then you MAY have a bad drive. If it passes, then it is probably some kind of partitioning corruption problem and the data can potentially be recovered.

.bh.

 

[bovinda]

Hmm, good suggestion. Is there any way to find out who's HD is in it without cracking the case open first?

 

[bruceb]

If you can get into the BIOS, it should tell you in there .. or you can remove it and slave it
in another pc or an external enclosure to test it and recover the data ... you know you will
need to reinstall everything, so hope the owner has all his software and license keys.
You may be able to save his personal data files, bookmarks & outlook settings / email

This will help anyone who wants to find bookmarks:

Locations of Bookmarks and Outlook Data Files

C:\Docs & Settings\User\App Data\Opera\Opera\profile\opera6.adr

C:\Docs & Settings\User\App Data\Mozilla\Profile\Default\hi1j19a.slt
bookmarks.html

C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape\Defaults\Profile\bookmarks.htm

C:\Docs & Settings\User\Favorites (for Internet Explorer)

C:\Docs & Settings\User\Local Settings\App Data\Microsoft\Outlook .. copy all files here

 

[bovinda]

So I went into the BIOS, and it says:

Hard Disk Drive: None
Optical Disk Drive: Available

Does that support or detract from the idea of a dead hard drive?

Could it possibly just be something like a loose cable?


Edit: Just for completion's sake, here is the exact message I get when I let it start normally:

Intel(R) Boot Agent FE v4.1.13
Copyright (C) 1997-2004, Intel Corporation

PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent.
Operating System not found

 

[bruceb]

It would be worth sliding the hard drive out and reseating it, just in case.
Also reset the bios options for the hard drive and see if it will recognize it.
You can slave the drive in another pc to see if the drive is seen there.

 

[Zepper]

Yeah, that error message can be scary. Definitely worth reseating the connections first before going off the deep end. Get the mfr's test disk to use after you get the notebook to recognize the HDD anyway. Is it a humid location where this notebook is used?

.bh.

 

[bovinda]

OK. Maybe a stupid question next, then...can I just throw a 2.5" drive into a desktop to try it out, or is there some special adapter needed?

Edit: Oops, missed your message, Zepper. I'll definitely try reseating the connections too. It is used in a humid setting (Thailand), I believe...why do you ask?

 

[Zepper]

Yes, you need a connector/power adapter. Geeks.com usually has a notebook HDD adapter kit. Other places have them too.


"Why do you ask?"
Corroded connections so you may want some contact cleaner/enhancer e.g. Caig Labs Deoxit/Deoxit Gold - http://www.caig.com . Sometimes you can find some at a good buy on eBay or at mcmaster-carr (http://www.mcmaster.com). Expensive but it's the best you can get.

.bh.

 

[Synomenon]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
Replacing a Sony Vaio laptop drive.

Is that the laptop you have bovinda?

I've uploaded the disassembly guide for VAIO VGN-S series notebooks:

http://ultrashare.net/hosting/fl/a402ba0317

 

[bovinda]

Hey, cool! Thanks IsLNdbOi, I don't know how you found that, but what you uploaded looks much more like it. That will be very helpful when I take it apart tomorrow!

I will try to reseat the HDD first, then if that fails, replace it. If that doesn't work I'll post back. Hell, I'll post back in any event. In the future, if he continues to have problems, I'll look at some of the contact cleaner too. Thanks for all the suggestions, Zepper, bruceb, and others!

 

[bruceb]

Be advised, that to remove the Drive, the Bottom cover of the laptop must be removed.
Read thru that .pdf very carefully ... in one of the photos it should about 9 screws to
remove to get the bottom off. Some of them MAY be different sizes, so make a note of
Which Ones came from Which Holes and be sure they All Go Back Where They Came Out of.

 

[bovinda]

OK, I've gotten everything open, checking carefully for all screws, and I've taken out the old HDD and its bracket. I've switched the new HDD into the bracket, and I noticed that the old HDD (a Fujitsu) has a black sheet glued to the bottom of it. The new HDD doesn't have anything on the bottom, just the green paneling and metal parts.

So my question is: Is there any risk to installing the new HDD without a similar black sheet? What is the black sheet for? (Insulation? Protection from heat? I've heard these laptops have heat problems.)

 

[Synomenon]

I don't think it's needed, but to be safe I'd take the sheet off of the old hard drive and place it in the same position on the new hard drive.