Does the size matter significantly? I read somewhere that for my specific model I need it to be 2.5" by 9mm and no bigger storage than 500gb. And what is the different between an HDD, SSD and SSHD? I just want something that works fairly well and is affordable :). If I were to install the hard drive myself, how would I go about copying files to an external hard drive? Is there a way to copy the whole system (photos, videos, documents and everything else) in one shot?
I think you should be fine if you can your hard drive with 2.5" drive the capacity depends on your budget. Between 250GB-1TB will do. If you already have the replacement drive first thing you should do is remove the original hard drive from your laptop and replace it with the new one. Then boot your laptop with the Dell Recovery CD/DVD provided with your laptop to install the Operating System and the drivers and applications needed for your laptop to be operational. Once you have your system back and running with the new hard drive you can then put the old hard drive to a USB/HDD enclosure/adapter for you to be able to connect the hard drive via USB and copy the important files you wanted back from the old hard drive to your new system.
@AnnaObloch, if he/she wants to he/she can use the dell recovery for his/her laptop but personally I wouldn't since Dell has a lot of bloat software (Dell applications) and for the drivers and utility's are up to date on the dell website so all you need is a windows 7 disk
laptop size is only 2.5 now days and it can be much bigger then 500gb as for your second question a hdd is a normal hard drive that has a average speed of 7200 rpm (slowest) sshd is a hybrid between ssd and hdd (semi fast) and ssd is a sold state which is the fastest because it uses gb/s and not mb/s like a normal hhd would do. to install the hard drive you have to unscrew the bottom part of the laptop and remove the keyboard. WARNING- not all laptops have this feature so the manual that came with your laptop will tell you where the hard drive is
I've been hoping to install the drive by myself, to save some money, but after calling a computer shop I'm hesitant.. he warned that it's not hard to install the hard drive itself, but that it's tricky to reinstall/restore all of the drives and the windows operating system. Is that true? I have all of the disks that came with my laptop, is that all I need to restore my laptop to it's original settings?
Also, what hdd drive would you recommend? Something not super fancy but better than from out of the factory. Thank you again,
The reason why he said that is because he makes more money to install windows/drivers while installing a hard drive takes seconds. The time to install windows 7 + updates + drivers is around a hour or two depending on your hard drive while installing a hard drive take around 10 mins trust me I've been building computers for a while now for me to understand why he said that but anyways I would recommend this
Yes, the 7.5mm, 9.0mm will fit into all 2.5" standard SATA bays, because the side screws will align the SATA port to the port on the motherboard and also a yes for not having wifi because you need to install the drivers in order to have the wifi which will be on your dell disk.
Okay thats what I suspected. He was mentioning if I do it wrong and miss a drive, I might not have wifi or other components.. But long as I install the disks it shouldn't be a problem? I was told somewhere that it has to be 9mm to fit properly, and the one you suggested is 7mm. Does that really matter? I've seen some people complaining that they don't fit.
Alright, so the first hard drive you suggested will definitely fit my Dell Inspiron 1545? :) once I've installed the hard drive, do I install the Windows Vista cd first, and then the restore drivers cd?
And also, what method do you think is best for transferring my files on to the new drive.. I don't exactly understand what the hdd case is, or how you would use it- I'm pretty inexperienced with computers. Would it be more effort or money to use an external hard drive?
Yes, you would use vista cd first then drivers and ill give you the link to a external hard drive because without this you cant file transfer but right now im at work so after work ill give you the link
This is a hdd case (frame) or what ever you want to call it, most laptops have it I know that my Asus g74sx has it, so basically it would look this as an example (ifmracing.com/pictures/PS3/HDD/7.jpg)
This will not look like your laptop one since its only for desktops but it will look similar to it but what this does is to fit a smaller hard drive and make it into a bigger one and it will be a one size fits all so the holes on the sides will match for the appropriate size for the hard drive. As for the file transfer I would recommend this one
Okay, so once I've got my external hard drive is there a way to mass send all of my files on to the drive? I've had this laptop for quite a few years and the amount of pictures and files I want to send would probably take a long time, just dragging and dropping onto the extrenal hard drive. Also is there any way to save the programs I already have? I'm assuming the only way is to reinstall them, but I ask because I have microsoft office on the laptop with no reinstallation cd.
Tyrandis
78 Posts
0
July 24th, 2014 23:00
Do you want a ssd, sshd or a hdd? because with ssd's they cost more. around $1 per gb but although they are expensive they pack in a punch, around a total boot time of 30.3 seconds vs the hdd at 72000 rpm of 63.6 seconds. but in general you should be buying these kind of laptop hard drives http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178574&cm_re=laptop_hard_drive-_-22-178-574-_-Product (hdd)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178339&cm_re=laptop_hard_drive_ssd-_-22-178-339-_-Product (sshd)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167174 (ssd)
annaobloch
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
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July 25th, 2014 01:00
Does the size matter significantly? I read somewhere that for my specific model I need it to be 2.5" by 9mm and no bigger storage than 500gb. And what is the different between an HDD, SSD and SSHD? I just want something that works fairly well and is affordable :). If I were to install the hard drive myself, how would I go about copying files to an external hard drive? Is there a way to copy the whole system (photos, videos, documents and everything else) in one shot?
Thank you for the help, appreciated so much.
Anna
zonetrek
20 Posts
0
July 25th, 2014 20:00
Hi AnnaObloch,
I think you should be fine if you can your hard drive with 2.5" drive the capacity depends on your budget. Between 250GB-1TB will do. If you already have the replacement drive first thing you should do is remove the original hard drive from your laptop and replace it with the new one. Then boot your laptop with the Dell Recovery CD/DVD provided with your laptop to install the Operating System and the drivers and applications needed for your laptop to be operational. Once you have your system back and running with the new hard drive you can then put the old hard drive to a USB/HDD enclosure/adapter for you to be able to connect the hard drive via USB and copy the important files you wanted back from the old hard drive to your new system.Tyrandis
78 Posts
0
July 25th, 2014 21:00
@AnnaObloch, if he/she wants to he/she can use the dell recovery for his/her laptop but personally I wouldn't since Dell has a lot of bloat software (Dell applications) and for the drivers and utility's are up to date on the dell website so all you need is a windows 7 disk
Tyrandis
78 Posts
0
July 25th, 2014 21:00
laptop size is only 2.5 now days and it can be much bigger then 500gb as for your second question a hdd is a normal hard drive that has a average speed of 7200 rpm (slowest) sshd is a hybrid between ssd and hdd (semi fast) and ssd is a sold state which is the fastest because it uses gb/s and not mb/s like a normal hhd would do. to install the hard drive you have to unscrew the bottom part of the laptop and remove the keyboard. WARNING- not all laptops have this feature so the manual that came with your laptop will tell you where the hard drive is
annaobloch
1 Rookie
•
14 Posts
0
July 25th, 2014 22:00
Hello,
I've been hoping to install the drive by myself, to save some money, but after calling a computer shop I'm hesitant.. he warned that it's not hard to install the hard drive itself, but that it's tricky to reinstall/restore all of the drives and the windows operating system. Is that true? I have all of the disks that came with my laptop, is that all I need to restore my laptop to it's original settings?
Also, what hdd drive would you recommend? Something not super fancy but better than from out of the factory. Thank you again,
Anna
Tyrandis
78 Posts
0
July 25th, 2014 23:00
The reason why he said that is because he makes more money to install windows/drivers while installing a hard drive takes seconds. The time to install windows 7 + updates + drivers is around a hour or two depending on your hard drive while installing a hard drive take around 10 mins trust me I've been building computers for a while now for me to understand why he said that but anyways I would recommend this
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178339&cm_re=sshd-_-22-178-339-_-Product
because it has the speed and storage space for a good price.or you could get this if you want raw power but with less space
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167175&cm_re=intel_530-_-20-167-175-_-Product
Tyrandis
78 Posts
0
July 26th, 2014 00:00
Yes, the 7.5mm, 9.0mm will fit into all 2.5" standard SATA bays, because the side screws will align the SATA port to the port on the motherboard and also a yes for not having wifi because you need to install the drivers in order to have the wifi which will be on your dell disk.
annaobloch
1 Rookie
•
14 Posts
0
July 26th, 2014 00:00
Okay thats what I suspected. He was mentioning if I do it wrong and miss a drive, I might not have wifi or other components.. But long as I install the disks it shouldn't be a problem? I was told somewhere that it has to be 9mm to fit properly, and the one you suggested is 7mm. Does that really matter? I've seen some people complaining that they don't fit.
Thanks
Anna
annaobloch
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
0
July 26th, 2014 14:00
Alright, so the first hard drive you suggested will definitely fit my Dell Inspiron 1545? :) once I've installed the hard drive, do I install the Windows Vista cd first, and then the restore drivers cd?
Thank you!
Anna
annaobloch
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
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July 26th, 2014 14:00
And also, what method do you think is best for transferring my files on to the new drive.. I don't exactly understand what the hdd case is, or how you would use it- I'm pretty inexperienced with computers. Would it be more effort or money to use an external hard drive?
Tyrandis
78 Posts
0
July 26th, 2014 16:00
Yes, you would use vista cd first then drivers and ill give you the link to a external hard drive because without this you cant file transfer but right now im at work so after work ill give you the link
-Sent by Samsung Galaxy S4
annaobloch
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
0
July 26th, 2014 18:00
Thank you, that is very nice of you to do.
Tyrandis
78 Posts
0
July 26th, 2014 20:00
This is a hdd case (frame) or what ever you want to call it, most laptops have it I know that my Asus g74sx has it, so basically it would look this as an example (ifmracing.com/pictures/PS3/HDD/7.jpg)
This will not look like your laptop one since its only for desktops but it will look similar to it but what this does is to fit a smaller hard drive and make it into a bigger one and it will be a one size fits all so the holes on the sides will match for the appropriate size for the hard drive. As for the file transfer I would recommend this one
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178116
annaobloch
1 Rookie
•
14 Posts
0
July 28th, 2014 10:00
Okay, so once I've got my external hard drive is there a way to mass send all of my files on to the drive? I've had this laptop for quite a few years and the amount of pictures and files I want to send would probably take a long time, just dragging and dropping onto the extrenal hard drive. Also is there any way to save the programs I already have? I'm assuming the only way is to reinstall them, but I ask because I have microsoft office on the laptop with no reinstallation cd.
Cheers,
Anna