HP Pavilion a250n hard drive upgrade..

I just looked up the user manual, it looks like you've got a pretty old beast there. Only thing I can think of as far as the drive RPM is maybe the power supply doesn't have a lot of extra capacity, but that's a long shot. Did you ask them WHY it is limited?

I think HP Support has told you a story. You should be able to install any size hard drive you like at any rotation speed. You must make sure that you buy the same kind you have a IDE drive and should lookd for this type. Also make sure you use the jumper for the master slave option.

I thank you for your responses.

One issue is that I am currently unemployed and want to make certain that anything I purchase will work. That is also a reason I have such old equipment, I can't afford to replace it.

I would probably want to purchase this over the internet to save some money. Returning the drive may be difficult if I attempt to install it and it does not work. There may also be a restocking fee. I am attempting to avoid all of this by going with a certainty.

If there is a hard drive guru out there that could advise me, I would sincerely appreciate it.

Call HP again. Ask them what specifically limits your HD. Is it something in the BIOS? The OS? Why do they say it can only support 5400 RPM? Post up what they say here.

i would just save all packing materal in case of a needed return but think that would be unlikely.

First of all let me say that my original query was if I could put a 1TB hard drive (Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive.) in the computer and they reference that in the response...

OK, here is what I got from HP in response to the questions posted by gtvr:

Thank you for your reply to HP Total Care. My name is xxxxxx. I am from Desktop e-mail support team.

From your email, I understand that you want to know what are the factors limits the Hard Drive.

I appreciate the fact that you have forwarded your concerns and given me a chance to assist you with this issue.

Leon, the factors/specifications that limits the Hard Drive are:

1. Size or capacity of the Hard Drive.

2. RPM(Rotation Per Minute) of the Hard Drive.

The Hard Drive is not related to BIOS or the Operating System.

I would like to inform you that the computer is not tested with 1TB Hard Drive and it may not work. However, it is recommended to upgrade the Hard Drive to twice the size of the factory shipped Hard Drive. The maximum upgrade size recommended is within 240GB – 320GB Hard drive.

If you are using the Recovery Discs to recover your PC after replacing the Hard Drive only then the RPM matters and it is compulsory to use 5400 RPM Hard Drive. Because the Recovery discs will not work if the RPM is high. Otherwise, if you are installing any retail version of the operating system then you can buy any Hard Drive with 7200 RPM or any speed.

If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further.

well you will not be able to install a sata drive unless you buy a adaptor. just get a ide drive and most manufactures give you software to clone their drives. i have never heard of the recovery disks not working because of the rpm but i dont know everything.

"The recovery disks will not work if the RPM is high."

Huh. (Mal at 1:03 of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dRgolGZNDc )

I'm scratching my head as to what technically could cause anything like this, and I'm at a loss. I don't have anything to disprove this though, so if that is the method you are using, proceed at your own risk.

For grins, can you write back and say "hey thanks, but could you explain the technical reason that using the recovery disk limits the new HD to 5400 rpm?"