anyone replace a hard drive in laptop? Tough? Impossible?

[Rabrrrrrr]

I have a two-year old Toshiba laptop with a harddrive that is failed utterly, and needs replacement. I know I could send to Toshiba to habve it replaced, but that would cost, what, $500? I haven't called them, but I'm sure it would be a screw-all high price.

So - I've torn apart desktops for the last decade, and almost built my own machines, so I'm not afraid to go in and dig around and replace stuff. But I've never opened a laptop, nor do I know much of the architecture therein.

Is this something I can do on my own? or should I bite the bullet, and send to Toshiba or take it to some computer shop here in town?

And also, could I even *buy* a harddrive for this thing to have the chance to do it on my own to begin with?

[Kellanved]

1. I don't know about Toshiba notebooks.

But generally yes: you can buy notebook HDs (2.5") and it should be possible to get a replacement to work.

As I never had a Toshiba notebook I don't know how to tweak the BIOS to accept a new HD - some vendors try to stop customers from doing things like that.


EDIT2: a page you should have a look at (How-To):
http://www.apricorn.com/sup_hdinstall_toshiba.html

Edit3: the link I deleted in Edit#2 :
http://www.zeehoo.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Zeehoo&Category_Code=laptophd

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Amazing! A 60G drive for only $152!

Holy Crow, much less than I would have expected.

[thermodynamic]

11. Many laptop HDs are proprietary and are stronger built

than desktop HDs.

They do cost more, but $500 does sound extrtemely high...

[lcordero]

2. It's not impossible but you'll have to be really careful

If you do it, look beneath everything so that you can see how it is attached. Be really careful because a lot of the connections are fragile.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. So it's not as clear cut and easy as a desktop drive, eh?

That's what I was afraid of...

Any place here in NYC I've looked at, it's like $100 just to enter the door, and then they charge labor, usually a truckload, plus the significant markup on the drive itself..

Thanks for the info - will help much in making the decision to bite the bullet and let a pro do it, or take the chance of doing it myself. :-)

[unblock]

5. what's the big deal?

the hard drive on my dell latitude failed, while still under the 3yr warranty. they sent me a replacement, i popped out the old, in the new. 2 screws and that's it. easiest thing ever.

the hard part it recreating your data....

[Kellanved]

6. We're not talking about a Dell notebook here.

The procedure isn't the same with every notebook. The other part is: it is easier to replace a HD with an identical one; it can be difficult to get a notebook to accept a harddisk with other specs.

HowTos for Toshiba: http://www.apricorn.com/sup_hdinstall_toshiba.html

[noiretextatique]

7. likewise with my NEC

i replaced the hard drive in about five minutes. i don't think it's that difficult on any laptop.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Hey - thanks for the link to the harddrive installation site

Had my harddrive out in one minute. Now just gotta new one, and pop it in. easy as pie on this model! SLides right out.

I was afraid I'd have to go actually into the machine, fuss with wires and crap, short out my memory, spill coffee in it, drop it, put it together wrong, and have it somehow controlling my stereo.

Thanks!!!!

[Jackpine Radical]

9. I had hard drives replaced on 2 laptops in the past 3-4 years.

One was a Compaq, in which I replaced a 1.6 Gb drive with a 6 Gb, and the other was a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4300 series in which I had a 6 Gb drive replaced with a 40 Gb drive. In both cases I bought the drive off the net & the replacement job was done quickly & easily by a computer geek friend. The original drive in the Toshiba was made by IBM & I replaced it with another IBM, but I had the impression that I could as easily have done it with a Toshiba or Fujitsu drive--that they're all pretty much interchangeable as long as they will mechanically fit in the available space.

[Kellanved]

10. they're all IDE drives - so they are interchangable

However: older Computers will only accept drives under a certain capacity (several thresholds; depending on the age) and you must be able to enter the new specs in the BIOS.
Many notebooks will do that automatically; however there are some which don't allow any changes.
A newer major brand Notebook shouldn't cause any problems.

@Rabrrrrrr
my pleasure.

[tsipple]

12. Don't Waste Good Money on Old Notebook

If the notebook computer is getting old, I wouldn't waste the money. Notebook computers are getting very inexpensive. My employer has some very affordable R models. There are also some new Linux notebooks at IDOT.computers and GearZoo.

[frylock]

13. i just replaced the HD in my 3 year old toshiba with a 60GB HD..

for less than $200. And the only reason it cost as much as it did was because I replaced it with a Toshiba HD. You can get a replacement IBM HD for around 100 bucks. Replacing the HD was quite simple.