Some computer help please, re: H/D

[leon]

Hi Guys, my daughters desk top has died again and we feel that the H/D is the problem.
I have decided that we need to replace the H/D and was wondering if this is a difficult job.
My knowledge of desk tops is pretty good and have worked on them before, but i have never replaced a H/D.
Could someone please assist with the procedure, and after installation of the H/D do i just proceed as normal with re installation of the XP disc as usual.

Any help would be most appreciated, also can i buy these H/D's on line some where.

Many thanks

Leon

[Poita (Peter)]

A reliable source for Hard Drives that ship quickly at reasonable prices is pccasegear.

www.pccasegear.com
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?..._344&vk_sort=1

Is it a SATA or older IDE drive?

The top one is IDE the bottom one is SATA
http://morechristlike.com/blog/wp-co...3/sata-ide.jpg

If it is IDE then it will be harder to find a new drive.

If it is SATA then basically you remove the cables, take out the old drive, put in the new drive and plug the same cables back into it, go into the BIOS and set the controller to AUTO if it has that option, set the BOOT drive to be your CD Drive and then pop save the settings, and reboot the machine with the XP install disc in the CD Drive and follow the bouncing ball.

(If it is IDE and the same cable is connected to a 2nd HDD or the CD/DVD Drive then you may have to set some jumper settings on the drive for Master/Slave/Cable Select)


Chances are the BIOS will already be set to AUTO so you can probably just pull the old HDD, pop the new one in using the existing cables, pop the install CD in your CD Drive and you will be ready to go.

If it is an old IDE drive, then this video may help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYUTuuh7zo

If you need any help, contact me on peter at mudgee dot net.

Cheers

-Peter

[leon]

Thanks peter, sounds easy enough, I had better pull it out first to actually what brand it is, thanks.

Leon

[Poita (Peter)]

Take a photo of the computer with the lid off and post it here and we will be able to tell in a second.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Leon,

Adding to what Peter has said:

Does the drive work enough for the boot process to identify it?

Does it start trying to load windows and that fails? If it does it may be possible to save the data on it by configuring it as a secondary or slave drive once you have Windows set up on the new disk. Explaining that process can wait until later.

If it is IDE you should check the external label on the disk for the size as really old computers may not handle the newish large drives.

IDE drives have some switches implemented as pins and jumpers close to the cable sockets. You have to ensure the jumpers are set the same way, but they may not be in the same order so check the layout diagram on the label.

SATA don't have any jumpers. Just ensure you plug the new drive into the same motherboard socket.

You can order online but any computer shop should have drives. You might have a limited choice on IDE, and they tend to be more expensive than equivalent size SATA.

Be warned that due to the floods in Thailand the price of drives has skyrocketed.

[leon]

I have removed the drive and it says on the front label.

See Below

Leon

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Originally Posted by leon

I have removed the drive and it says on the front label.

See Below

Leon

that is a sata drive Leon which is good news as it will be cheaper

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Google for "Samsung spinpoint" and "pages from Australia" and take your choice of anything to suit how much you want to spend in the 250GB to 1TB range with 3.5" form factor. 250GB ones seem to be unfashionably small.

Samsung drives are pretty reliable and quiet.

[RAJAH235]

Hi,
Andrew wrote...

Samsung drives are pretty reliable and quiet.

Anyone want a very noisy 500 Gig Samsung?

Vibrates like a car flywheel out of balance.
Had to add some insulation under the mounting screws to quieten the beast.

Leon...
Go with a Seagate.
I've had no trouble with them.

[leon]

Thanks for your assistance in this matter, will let you know how it goes.

Leon

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by leon

I have removed the drive and it says on the front label.

See Below

Leon

That is a SATA drive as mentioned, so very easy to replace and cheap to do so.

All you really have to do is buy the new drive and pop the cables back in.

I do a lot of support and have had Seagate, WD ,Samsung drives all die within the first year, and others from the same companies are still going strong 10 years later. I've never had a dead hitachi drive, but I'm sure others have.

Buy whichever brand suits your budget, but backup regularly. I use disc imaging software to backup to another drive so if trouble strikes, you just swap the drives and are up and running gain with no reinstalling/restoring etc. to worry about.

pccasegear have reasonable prices and ship f-a-s-t, any of the drives on this page will suit (that are 2TB or less):
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?..._344&vk_sort=1

or if you have one close by, then MSY do good pricing if you can pickup
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf
look under '3.5" Internal SATA hard drives' on page 1, again, anything 2TB or smaller will suit.

[leon]

Appreciated Peter, thank you.

Leon