[SUCCESS] Can I upgrade my harddrive in my HP laptop?

madeye · 2009-07-05 08:34:49

I am considering upgrading the harddrive in my laptop. Right now I have a 160GB drive, and I feel a little closed in with so little space.
The laptop needs to run both win and linux, so I dual boot. that doesn't really make the situation any better, as vista craves drive space like nothing else I've seen before.

Now at the moment I have this drive: WD Scorpio Blue - WD1600BEVS (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=264)

I would like to replace it with this one: WD Scorpio Blue - WD5000BEVT (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products … anguage=en)

Anyone have any experience with doing this kind of upgrade? Is there anything I should be aware of before I start?

My laptop is a HP dv6600 (dv6645eo). According to the service manual found on HPs website, the biggest harddrive for this model is 250GB.

Last edited by madeye (2009-07-10 08:23:26)

.:B:. · 2009-07-05 16:06:24

I know some HP models (used to) have a BIOS check on certain hardware parts (wireless cards come to mind) so that it would not boot if you replaced the original parts, but I don't think that will be the issue with a HD since that is a rather trivial and frequent upgrade.

I'd say the 250 GB 'limit' is just the biggest HD available at the time you bought the unit (or at the time it got produced). I have e.g. replaced the 250 GB Western Digital drive in my WD Passport with a 500 GB Samsung one, not a single problem.

tomk · 2009-07-05 16:24:09

Did the same operation on my old Dell - no problems. Just plan what you're going to do beforehand, and backup everything that matters to you.

madeye · 2009-07-05 20:11:18

OK. Thanks for the help.

The drive currently in the laptop is mounted with some kind of special adapter, and I was a little worried that a new drive would not fit. But from the pictures on WDs website it looks like the sata connector and power connecter are identical on both drives. What I mean is the gap between the two connectors is the same.

Is it part of the SATA specifications that the connectors are placed the same way on all drives? I tried looking at the specifications, but couldn't find anything about it.

I will order the drive tomorrow, then I'll see what happens.

lycurgus · 2009-07-09 12:31:56

SATA specifications detail the drive connector layouts, so you won't run into any problems there. likewise any mountings inside the case - unless you have a truly bizarre laptop it will be a relatively simple matter of removing the old drive and putting the new one in.

of course, you will then need to clone your data from the old drive (unless you want to reinstall your OS's), but that's another story.

madeye · 2009-07-10 08:23:06

Everything went smoothly.

I received the drive and some extra ram yesterday. Installed both in the laptop, and off I go with more ram and drive space

Installed win7 yesterday on one partition. Now I just need Linux installed, then I'm happy again.

Thanks to everyone for hints and help along the way.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-07-05 08:34:49

[SUCCESS] Can I upgrade my harddrive in my HP laptop?

#2 2009-07-05 16:06:24

Re: [SUCCESS] Can I upgrade my harddrive in my HP laptop?

#3 2009-07-05 16:24:09

Re: [SUCCESS] Can I upgrade my harddrive in my HP laptop?

#4 2009-07-05 20:11:18

Re: [SUCCESS] Can I upgrade my harddrive in my HP laptop?

#5 2009-07-09 12:31:56

Re: [SUCCESS] Can I upgrade my harddrive in my HP laptop?

#6 2009-07-10 08:23:06

Re: [SUCCESS] Can I upgrade my harddrive in my HP laptop?

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