Notebook HDD replacement (upgrade...?)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

The HDD on my Sony PCG-FXA49 (Windowze XP Home) appears to be down for
the full count. Norton had been telling me for a while something was
wrong, but would show all clear on a check up, so I figured it was
just a compatibility issue. Now the system is giving me a "Failure
Imminent" warning so I figure it is serious - oh yea, and the message
"Operation System Missing." was another clue. (I routinely back up
critical stuff to a mapped drive on my desk top so, hopefully, I am
not in too much trouble...)

I figured that since I am going to replace the HDD I should just go
ahead and get something with a larger capacity and faster speed to go
back, but Sony advises me that though that is possible, they don't
condone or support it. What possible issues could arise from this
type of upgrade other than the effect it would have on Sony's sales of
new Notebooks.

[As someone noted in another earlier thread, Sony's approach seems to
be toward making the notebook a non-serviceable disposable device
(this is also substantiated in my mind, by the image CD used to
install the OS.)]

Would this larger HDD cause any issues when using the image CD to put
the OS and other software back in?

At work, before we had an IT department, we would routinely add
memory, larger HDDs, and scavenge other parts from broken notebooks
(screens, keyboards, etc) to keep stuff going (we all had about the
same models of Toshiba) and then load the OS from a full version OS
source.

Thanks
John

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

The possible issues are:

-physical size
-mounting holes
-power & heat
-bios support
-restore disk support

Honestly, I'd just try a larger drive that drew no more power than the
old drive (or, if they all draw more power, only minimally more power).
There is a risk of a drive that's too big for the bios, but within
reason it's a small risk.



john wrote:
> The HDD on my Sony PCG-FXA49 (Windowze XP Home) appears to be down for
> the full count. Norton had been telling me for a while something was
> wrong, but would show all clear on a check up, so I figured it was
> just a compatibility issue. Now the system is giving me a "Failure
> Imminent" warning so I figure it is serious - oh yea, and the message
> "Operation System Missing." was another clue. (I routinely back up
> critical stuff to a mapped drive on my desk top so, hopefully, I am
> not in too much trouble...)
>
> I figured that since I am going to replace the HDD I should just go
> ahead and get something with a larger capacity and faster speed to go
> back, but Sony advises me that though that is possible, they don't
> condone or support it. What possible issues could arise from this
> type of upgrade other than the effect it would have on Sony's sales of
> new Notebooks.
>
> [As someone noted in another earlier thread, Sony's approach seems to
> be toward making the notebook a non-serviceable disposable device
> (this is also substantiated in my mind, by the image CD used to
> install the OS.)]
>
> Would this larger HDD cause any issues when using the image CD to put
> the OS and other software back in?
>
> At work, before we had an IT department, we would routinely add
> memory, larger HDDs, and scavenge other parts from broken notebooks
> (screens, keyboards, etc) to keep stuff going (we all had about the
> same models of Toshiba) and then load the OS from a full version OS
> source.
>
> Thanks
> John
>
>
>