Replacing HD in Sony Vaio VGN-A290

[Zulu342]

Hi,

I suspect that the hard drive in my A290 laptop is broken. I sent it in for repair but Sony says that the motherboard, DVD drive, keyboard and hard drive are all broken and it's not economical to repair. The laptop boots up fine but when it is opening Windows, it hangs and restart. I could not successfully reinstall another copy of Windows on it.

Anyway, I want to try to replace the HD and see what happens. However, I'm having trouble opening up the laptop to access the HD area. On the A290, it doesn't seem like it's a simple latch and release mechanism. It appears that I need to take the entire casing apart. After removing all the screws on underside of the laptop, the casing separates but it is being caught on something in the center. It looks like it's a screw mount but no visible screw on either side of the casing.

Any ideas on how I should proceed or if I'm doing this right? I have had problems finding information on how to open these laptops up.

Thanks a lot!

 

[alzan]

Hmmm...I assume you went to Sony's site and saw their FAQ concerning replacing or upgrading the hard drive (They don't support it.) Greaaat, thanks Sony.

The screw holding the casing might be under your keyboard, if your keyboard is clipped into place, you might try carefully taking it off just to see if you can see the offending screw.

Hope that helps.