Hi for technical people here,

Maybe someone would know an answer for this one:-

My son has filled 40GB HD on a Amilo Pro V2055 lattop, and so I am now of need to replace this one with something which has bigger room.

The existable disk is SATA 2.5.

I am seeing a Serial ATA on the Ebuyer web, which is Hitachi Travelstar 250GB 2.5 SATA 7200RPM 16MB cache site code 146933. I am having the worry that the connetion for this, or some technical thing I am missing, which will not allow this to be used here.

I have found here that a Fujitsu MHV2200BT 200GB 4200RPM 2.5 8MB cache will do this, but I would want to use the Travelstar if it is good, to use.

Does anyone know of websites that will give information for Sata drives for laptops compatibilty?

Thank you

Soviet:rolleyes:

The Hitachi Travelstar will work in that laptop just fine.

Just take care when fitting. The pins on the connectors for laptop drives are very small but still need a bit of force to go in (and come out).

Just to add, the old hard drive will probably have a caddie / case around it. This will be need to be removed and attached (by screws) onto the new drive prior to fitting.

The Hitachi (spec wise) is much better than the Fujitsu one.

Hi Dr. Zoidberg (Alex), and Aspman, and a thnk you also for Tim with info on caddy and HD.

Thank you for the help here.

I am now thinking about the cloning, and would like to know if anyone is knowing of the free software for doing this here.

I am most grateful if anyone knows of this.

Thank you

Soviet

Edited 29 April, 200917 yr by soviet
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Clonezilla will do it. I also thing you can get away with the free version of Paragon disc backup.

Before replacing the HD, delete his "temporary internet files" store, and, with his permission, go through the HDD and uninstall demonstration and trial software that he doesn't use, then run a full defragmentation.

I wouldn't bother cloning the disk as you'll just end up with all the "Junk" moved from one hard drive to the next.

As long as you have the disks supplied to restore it to factory settings I'd fit the new hard drive and reinstall windows plus any extra programs you need, then copy across any files that you want.

You'll end up with a faster machine as a result. Uninstalling and defragging will help a slow machine but it won't be perfect.

I've seen that release 16GB on a 40GB drive (mostly a comment on how much demo s/w was installed admittedly).

I'd second what the Doc said. Computers build up crud over time with use. Remember to download all the security software (firewalls, av etc) before you do it so you don't need to go online unprotected.

Backup everything important before you do anything. It wouldn't be the first time a drive broke in the process of replacement.

You could get a caddy for the old drive and turn it into external storage.

Sumvision USB2.0 Black Caddy for upto 320GB 2.5" IDE Drives - Ebuyer

I'd second what the Doc said. Computers build up crud over time with use. Remember to download all the security software (firewalls, av etc) before you do it so you don't need to go online unprotected.

Backup everything important before you do anything. It wouldn't be the first time a drive broke in the process of replacement.

You could get a caddy for the old drive and turn it into external storage.

Sumvision USB2.0 Black Caddy for upto 320GB 2.5" IDE Drives - Ebuyer

An external caddy is well worth buying as it makes the job of migrating from one hard drive to another much easier , whether you image the drive or do a rebuild from scratch and then copy documents over.

As long as you have the disks supplied to restore it to factory settings I'd fit the new hard drive and reinstall windows plus any extra programs you need, then copy across any files that you want

I thought everything was on the HDD, and the disk was purely a key to access it?

I thought everything was on the HDD, and the disk was purely a key to access it?

That depends on the manufacturer.

Some have a hidden partition that's used to restore the system and as you say the CD just triggers this process.

Others give you disks so you can reinstall properly which is far more useful if a hard drive fails

Tell me have you not thought about an external HDD:

Toshiba 1TB External Hard Drive USB2.0 - Retail - Ebuyer

I have one just for my Music and Images - Does a great job and really low in price now. Just a thought as people have already answered your above question.

Only comment regarding putting the travelstar in would be look at the power draw because if draws more power than your old disk then the battery life will be reduced.

If it's a few years old the battery will be pretty much fubar anyway. I guess like most laptops it'll run on the mains most of the time.

If it's a few years old the battery will be pretty much fubar anyway. I guess like most laptops it'll run on the mains most of the time.

Agreed, however I was getting at the point that if the battery life is short anyway you'll need to price a new battery in if you move up to 7k2 if you want any sort of battery life at all.

Also a 7k2 drive can generate more heat than a 4k2 or 5k4 drive so you may need to factor that in and deal with it appropriately.

Tell me have you not thought about an external HDD:

Toshiba 1TB External Hard Drive USB2.0 - Retail - Ebuyer

I have one just for my Music and Images - Does a great job and really low in price now. Just a thought as people have already answered your above question.

Hi Robshaw,

I did think of this one, but my son needs portibility of machine always, and so I will be making a bit bigger payment for this.

I will get caddy for the 40GB that I will remove here, and use as externaly.

Regards for you

Soviet:rolleyes:

Only comment regarding putting the travelstar in would be look at the power draw because if draws more power than your old disk then the battery life will be reduced.

Hi cheezemonkhai, it is good to speak again.

Power is not really the issue as my son is always using the power pack mostly, but non the less I thank you for this news here.

Regards for you

Soviet:)

Also make sure that whatever drive you choose is supported by the bios in the laptop. I have an old laptop which I upgraded but the full drive capacity was not recognised. I had to hunt around and hack another laptops bios before flashing onto the old laptop to get the full capacity recognised.

Also make sure that whatever drive you choose is supported by the bios in the laptop. I have an old laptop which I upgraded but the full drive capacity was not recognised. I had to hunt around and hack another laptops bios before flashing onto the old laptop to get the full capacity recognised.

Hi Mannyo,

Thank you for this information here, as it is not what I would be thinking about. I will watch for this problem, but I am hoping that I will not have problem, with this.

Regards for you

Soviet:thumbup:

Use CCleaner to get rid of the junk.

And consider a USB HDD as a storage slave rather than pulling the unit apart

Novatech Portable 250GB 2.5" HDD USB 2.0 Host Powered - Retail : novatech.co.uk : NOV-P250U.

HTH,