intocomputing2 Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 (edited) What should I consider in order to pick up the right drive? is it possible to just pick up any brand, on any size? I want to upgrade my Thinkpad-R40 -2681 hard drive, and I was thinking of going for a 120GB hard drive. Edited January 11, 2008 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 any standard 2.5 inch ide(not sata) laptop drive should work. The only thing I am not sure about is some of the safety features of thinkpads. They have a bios level password for the harddrive, I don't think that is a factor, but I am not sure.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136130http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822152032 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 (edited) thanks for the reply, I thought it would more troublesome like matching the model number in your laptop, and thanks for the cool links Edited November 14, 2007 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 (edited) what brand would you guys recomend? Is Western Digital a good brand? I think I've heard some mixed up comments before, is upgrading a laptop's hard drive as simple as placing it inside, rebooting and ready to go? Edited November 14, 2007 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Western digital makes a good hardrive, of the two I linked to, I think I would go with the WD. As to switching them out, you may have to set the jumper on the drive from CS to Master or visa versa. Try it the way it comes to you, if it is not detected in the bios change the jumper. I don't foresee any problems, but it is a computer, who knows :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 (edited) thanks for the tips, by the way do you think I would need a caddy in order to install the new hard drive? what happens is that, it's my father's old thinkpad which he used for work, and after taking out the hard drive he gave it to me as a gift for school work. I checked the comp using a Gutsy Gibbon live CD and everything seems to be fine I only need to buy a hard drive and install it. I'd just want to know if a caddy is really neccesary or if it's enough with a bare bones hard drive to install. Edited November 14, 2007 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Good question. I was going to mention that in my last post. Are you sure he took the caddy also? You definitely need it. The caddy makes the harddrive fit securely. Most laptops also use a proprietary connector that bridges the laptop ide pins to the motherboard. I am not sure about the model you have. I will see if I can find anything online. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted November 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Good question. I was going to mention that in my last post. Are you sure he took the caddy also? You definitely need it. The caddy makes the harddrive fit securely.unfortunately he did Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I am not so certain that laptop uses a connector piece between the laptop pins and the motherboard. Below is a manual, it does not mention itftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/13n6183.pdfdepending on the screen size of your laptop, you use a different caddy sizehttp://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-R40-R40e-...VQQcmdZViewItemhttp://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-R40-R40e-...VQQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted November 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I am not so certain that laptop uses a connector piece between the laptop pins and the motherboard. Below is a manual, it does not mention itftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/13n6183.pdfdepending on the screen size of your laptop, you use a different caddy sizehttp://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-R40-R40e-...VQQcmdZViewItemhttp://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-R40-R40e-...VQQcmdZViewItemhand't even thought about the screen size, thanks shanenin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted December 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 (edited) my apologies for bumping this old thread, but what do you guys think of this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136159will it be compatible with my laptop? this would be definetly be my top choice because of the amount of space availableI also found other 2 good candidates http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136114http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822152110 Edited December 9, 2007 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 I see know reason why your laptop could not use the large one. It is relatively new as far as compatibly goes. Any luck finding the caddy? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted December 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 (edited) I see know reason why your laptop could not use the large one. It is relatively new as far as compatibly goes. Any luck finding the caddy?oh you mean my first link?, about the caddy haven't gotten it yet was thinking of getting the hard drive first Edited December 10, 2007 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted December 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 (edited) ok an update regarding this topic, I found some info somewhere else and I'd just like to check with you guys if this is true or not: -One general rule of thumb with hard drives, is that generally the larger it is the faster it is with all other variables being the same.-Many older computers cannot read HDs larger than 120GB, it is imperative to verify any size limitations in the BIOS before buying.from this link: http://www.dewassoc.com/kbase/hard_drives/...limitations.htm"Theoretically, we should be able to address up to 65,536 cylinders (216), address up to 16 heads (24) and address up to 255 sectors (28-1). Therefore, up to 267,386,880 sectors (65,536 x 16 x 255) can be addressed. At 512 bytes per sector, this yields a maximum theoretical capacity of about 136.9 GB.With LBA addressing, the 28 available address bits (16 + 8 + 4) are viewed as a single LBA number. Since the value zero is included, up to 268,435,456 sectors (216 x 24 x 28) can be addressed for a maximum capacity of about 137.4 GB. The 137-138GB limitation most system builders face today!"then, why would manufacturers bother to make a 250GB ATA HDD? I don't like the idea of buying this hard drive, for example, and find out it can only recognize the amount of space mentioned above, or does this apply only to old laptops? This laptop has a 2.0 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM, I wanted to install 3 OS and have 1 partition to store and share files. Edited December 12, 2007 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 that limitation is for only old laptops. I can safely say yours with a 2.0 ghz proc and ddr memory will not have any problems with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 After reading another post of yours, I see you got your laptop running. Did you need a caddy to make it work? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 (edited) After reading another post of yours, I see you got your laptop running. Did you need a caddy to make it work?Yes, I did. Thanks for providing those links from ebay shanenin. Edited January 10, 2008 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Cool. It sounds like the project is coming along nice :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Just curious, where does the harddrive go on the model? I am looking at an r40 type 2897, and I don't see it from the outside. I am assuming it must be under the keyboard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intocomputing2 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 (edited) from a user's view the hard drive goes on the left side, lucky for me it wasn't under the keyboard and it was easy to install Edited January 10, 2008 by intocomputing2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete_C Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 from a user's view the hard drive goes on the left side, lucky for me it wasn't under the keyboard and it was easy to installA little late but I would just like to input that for upgrading a notebook hard drive I have found the Apricorn EZ upgrade kit to be well worth the cost.http://www.apricorn.com/products.php?cat_id=52http://www.apricorn.com/product_detail.php...reg&id=1023Basically it is an external enclosure for a notebook drive, along with USB connector and a bootable disk which will allow you to clone the old drive to the new so you can just swap the drives and have more space and not have to perform a clean install , reinstall programs and restore your data. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trip1red Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 western digital is a good brand 320 gigs or better Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rhema7 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 I want to be like Pete and ring in Fashionable late.So you don't have to reinstall apps and OSHDClone Free Editionhttp://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/HDClone_F...dclonefree.htmlXXClone freewarehttp://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/xxclone/xxclone.htmlyou will need a USB HD enclosure but well worth the money and time you will save not having to reinstall it all.Preston Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Purple211 Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 The only thing I am not sure about is some of the safety features of thinkpads. They have a bios level password for the harddrive, I don't think that is a factor, but I am not sure.RegardsPurple_____dossier surendettement Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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