Toshiba 1800 hard drive

[HUMPER03]

hi have just purchased a toshiba 1800-400 for my son but need to get a hard drive and operating system. where is the hard drive? and where is the best cost efective place to get a new hard drive or even a pro:formated one(the only downside not guaranteed bad sectors so best with new..also where can i get the manual(instructions as there is a plate on the base which looks as though it housed the modem/ethernet card.???sorry but im guessing so hence why im asking on here..Many Thanks in ADVANCE AND SORRY TO SOUND THICK

 

[stefo]

u could get the drivers & (probably) manual from here. there are links here

http://www.toshiba-europe.com/computers/products/notebooks/satellite1800_400/index.htm

or

http://www.toshiba-europe.com/bv/computers/sns/index.asp



re upgrade:

* u could probably test existing hard drive status with this free app.

http://aeo3.com/hdsmart/index.html

copy the log and paste it here. we'll see if there r any bad sectors and wat's the operation age. probably better change the drive due to age and limited capacity.

* try newegg.com for hard drive. not 100% sure what type of mobile hard disk the notebook is using, in terms of physical dimension and connectors. i suspect the drive is an ATA100.

tried searching online 30min to get a definitive answer but failed.

my best guess is yr notebook uses something like these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152109

IMPORTANT
~ I am suspect the notebook BIOS might not be able to access hard drive larger than 30GB, meaning a 80GB drive will probably show up as 30GB. If not, u'll see the whole 80GB.

* u might as well upgrade the ram to improve usability. notebook usually have insufficient ram. not sure how much u got.

http://www.memorystock.com/memory/ToshibaSatellite1800400.html

* making the notebook operate in optimal state might take some time - installing OS, drivers, updates, tweaking and fiddling. If u decide to go with Windows, keeping it under original Win ME might be best option.


Oh, btw, i still have a 600MHz HP Brio running 24-7 still. i've changed the power supply, hard drive and max ram. it's like brand new.

Hope that helps