Even a Beginner Should be able to Replace a Hard Drive in a Laptop

by Graham Kelly
http://www.trilogicuk.co.uk

Prior to carrying out an update or changing a malfunctioning hard disk inside your laptop make sure you firstly find out what kind and size drive has already been fitted. The majority of beginners are able to upgrade the harddisk as long as proper care is taken. Once a brand new hard drive is installed then the old files, Windows and drivers will no longer be available so preparations for the upgrade needs to be made before beginning this process.

Previous to purchasing a brand new harddisk, locate and take out the old harddrive from the laptop. This by itself could be challenging; the majority of brands of laptop provide an examination panel to reach the harddisk, although a few manufacturers position it within the core in the laptop. The only way to modify the hard drive in this case is to entirely take away the back shield from the laptop; this is usually a tricky job for a beginner. Once having taken out the hard disk you ought to make a note of its type and size. The majority of laptops currently have 2.5" harddrives; on the other hand, several have 3.5" and 1.75" models. Older laptops contain IDE type hardrives; new laptops now have SATA hardrives. The model of a harddisk is not important even so the type and size is vital.

Provided your existing hard disk continues to be functional, then you will need to begin by copying any vital data files to either a DVD or even CD disk. Storing the software drivers for Windows might be critical especially if you have lost or did not receive a software drivers disk with the laptop. Software drivers are usually not always easy to seek out but are ordinarily located in a folder in the laptop. This is determined by the maker and version of Windows, but will ordinarily be found following a bit of searching in the harddisk. If discovered back-up all the drivers with a DVD or CD disk. Commonly, will probably be necessary to totally install Windows, through an authentic software program disk, to the newest hard drive. You will want the CD key no. sometimes found on the base of the laptop; if it's missing or damaged then you might have to obtain a new copy of Windows to perform the installation. For an skilled laptop end user, it may be feasible to fully copy the entire hard disk drive into the new harddrive; nevertheless, this calls for special computer software and usually with access to an extra desktop to link the existing and brand new harddrives together with each other.

With a small bit of luck, if you turn on your laptop with its brand-new hard disk drive mounted it's going to completely start Windows if you was able to copy the previous harddisk, or maybe you may see some text requesting a start up disk to be implanted. In this case put your Windows disk into the optical drive and switch on the laptop. If the start up sequence is set to optical drive 1st then it will continue to reload and set up Windows. In the event the start up sequence is defined to hard disk 1st then you will also need to adjust it in CMOS or push a function key on switch on. In any case Windows should sooner or later install and allow you to re-install the software drivers and revive the stored files.

Graham Kelly has been repairing laptops, notebooks and pc at component level. He is always pleased to provide practical hints and may be contacted at Trilogic's website for broken laptop screen or broken RAM disk.

Article submitted Tuesday, October 25, 2011 & read 5 times.

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