Laptop Hard Drive [Archive]

MiracleManS

30 Mar 2005, 3:39pm

Well, it finally happened. Despite all my work (aka attempting every stupid fix ever), my hard drive has finally kicked the bucket. I need a replacement, but for less than $100. It's a Compaq Presario 3000 (I know, I know, I hate Compaq too), and I can't find a damned thing about what kind of drive it has. I'm assuming (for all intents and purposes) it's a normal notebook hard drive.

QCH

30 Mar 2005, 4:01pm

For the most part... hard drives for laptops are all the same. Look for 2.5" EIDE Hard drive

Try searching Pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com)

Here's one Samsung 60GB @ 5400RPM (http://www.memorylabs.net/samp60ulat54.html) for $87

I didn't look hard though....

MiracleManS

30 Mar 2005, 4:03pm

I did a little searching, and the hard drive it had before was a Toshiba MK4018GAP 40GB. I don't know why it sh*t the bed, but it did. My question is, are the interface types interchangeable? Meaning since that one is an ATA-5 will an EIDE work?

QCH

30 Mar 2005, 4:10pm

Normally, if the manufacturer has a different interface, its via a converter that can be removed and put on the new hard drive. Manufacturer's (Compaq) don't want to re-invent the wheel so they go with standard parts and make them work with their hardware. I dealt with many laptops and all of the hard drives were standard laptop 2/5" hard drives.

As for why it died... there are moving parts in there. any of which may fail for no good reason. Bearings seize for heat, the laptop gets bumped at the right time and the heads contact the platters... bad board, bad power... tons of reasons.

MiracleManS

30 Mar 2005, 4:11pm

Does the fact that it made clicking noises give you any idea?

For some reason I feel something got bent that shouldn't.

QCH

30 Mar 2005, 4:13pm

The clicking is "normal" for a hard drive about to die. I believe it is the motor that moves the heads back and forth across the platters... I think it gets screwed and cannot track thus the clicking...

Anyone have a better explanation?

MiracleManS

30 Mar 2005, 4:25pm

Well, I can offer up that my laptop likes to overheat beyond all things normal (I'm seirous when I say I can cook an egg on my desk). I any case, I should use this as an excuse to build a new desktop :D

QCH

30 Mar 2005, 4:30pm

We'd had several threads regarding laptops and overheating. Normally its due to dust and foreign material inhibiting air flow to the system.

If you are technically and courageous, you could try to open the laptop case and try to blow all the dust and stuff out... but it may void any warrantee and could damage things if you make any mistakes...

But, yes, heat could make the hard drive die prematurely.

MiracleManS

30 Mar 2005, 4:33pm

I opened the laptop a few times before to check for dust, it wasn't bad at all. Of course it's been overheating since I bought it ^_^

MiracleManS

30 Mar 2005, 4:40pm

Not to beat a dead horse, literally, but will this hard drive work? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-146-206&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

I regret not knowing more about laptops.

QCH

30 Mar 2005, 4:44pm

Yep... should work fine. You might also see a performance increase too. The drive is faster than you old hard drive so the OS should boot faster, games load faster too.... :D

MiracleManS

30 Mar 2005, 4:45pm

Go me, and only $80 too!

MiracleManS

1 Apr 2005, 10:01pm

Just so everyone knows, this Hard Drive is in already, and I'm currently fixing everything back to normals....

QCH

1 Apr 2005, 10:04pm

Alright!!!! Let us know how everything goes. :thumbsup: