Newbie needs help with replacing hard drive in my Dell 1505

I have a Dell 1505 with 80GB hard drive. I just bought a 320GB hard drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145228

to replace the 80GB, along with an external enclosure.

I have never replaced a hard drive so I'm looking for direction. I thought I had seen somewhere (maybe a sticky thread) that walked one through how to do it. I assume it's a slightly difference process depending on what type of laptop one has. If so, is there a Dell specific instructions I could find and follow?

If there are threads out there, please feel free to send me that way.

Thanks in advance!!

 

Here you go!

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/sm/hddrive.htm#wp1123687

Afterward, it's just a matter of popping your installation disk in your ODD and letting it go (or let your imaging software take care of your OS beforehand). Nothing fancy required.

 

Upgrading the harddrive on the E1505 is easy.
Shut the system off, and flip the laptop over so you are looking at the base.
When the laptop is upside down, the harddrive is on the left side of the laptop (when the system front is facing you)
Their are two screws you need to remove to remove the harddrive caddy.
Once removed the harddrive will slide out
Than their are two screws to remove to remove the harddrive from the caddy.
Than simply install the new harddrive and your done.

Its only 4 screws.

Just make sure to back up all of your files before replacing your harddrive.

For disc cloning, you can download a trial copy of Acronis true image from their website.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/trueimage/

All you do is basically install the software, follow the instructions, burn a disc and reload your files from their.
You can watch this video for more information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj7iMAgji0I


I am using the 7K320 in my E1505 and it is working great, very quiet too.

Once you install the 7K320 in your laptop, simply take your external enclosure apart and install the 80gb drive. Then from their you can either choose to keep the drive as is, or you can format it clean

K-TRON

 

Thanks for the replies. I checked out the link from Commander and, physically, it looks simple enough.

I guess the bigger question is, systematically, what should i do. It's the whole imaging and disc cloning that I have no idea about.

1. I do have two discs that came with my laptop, one says OPERATING SYSTEM - Reinstallation DVD and the other says DRIVERS AND UTILITIES. Assuming I have these, do I still need to image, clone etc.?

2. K-tron mentions "keep the drive as is, or you can format it clean". What is the main difference? What are the advantages of each? I assume with the latter, I'd have to reload all programs and applications that did not come with the laptop, right?

3. By doing either, do I get rid of the Dell bloatware I hear so much about?

I'm going to take a look at the youtube video on cloning so hopefully that will help a bit.

These may be dumb questions, but I've never done this and don't want to mess up.

Thanks in advance!

 

1) If you've got the OS and driver disks, you won't need to clone unless you want to.

2) You are correct in your assumption: you will need to reload all your programs, even those that did come with the laptop. You will also need to transfer all of the files from your old installation to your new installation.

If you've got an installation that's been through a lot (aka has a lot of programs on it, becoming bloated, slow), you'll probably want to do a clean install. The clean install basically gives you a fresh start; cloning your disk to a new drive keeps everything the way it was on your old disk, so if you're satisfied with your current installation, you might as clone.

You'll need some way to hook up the new drive to your computer externally, though.

3) Assuming you're still using the factory image on your E1505, only the clean install will get rid of the Dell bloatware that came with your machine. In this case (the case that you're using the factory image), you should do a clean install, even if you're satisfied with your current installation.

 

OK, that's very helpful. After reading all this, it's evident that I do indeed want to do a clean install. I have a listing of all the programs I have installed or downloaded so it shouldn't be a problem. So cloning seems to be out.

So to do a clean install, now it looks like my only issue is relate to "You'll need some way to hook up the new drive to your computer externally, though." So if I have my laptop, my discs, my new HD, and an external enclosure, what else specifically am I going to need? and what are the steps?

I should add that I do have an external hard drive (120GB) that is hooked up to my other desktop and used for periodic backups. Can I utilize this in this process?

Thanks!

 

You can use your 120gb harddrive to back up your files on your 80gb harddrive, or you can burn your files to a DVD with your laptop, and just copy them over later

K-TRON

 

OK, after reading all the replies, here's my plan of action. Let me know if I am on the right track?

Copy all files (music, pictures, Favorites, spreadsheets etc. is there anything I'm forgetting?) from my laptop to my 120GB external drive.

Remove the 80GB drive and put in the new 320GB drive.

Insert the Reinstallation disc that came with my laptop and reinstall Windows. Load the drivers using the Drivers disc that came with my laptop.

Copy the files back from my external drive to my laptop.

Load or download any applications/programs that I had on previously.

1. Is this about it?

2. One other question I had was on how to partition the new hard drive. How much should I put on the C? I have XP. I never liked how it was partitioned when shipped (51GB on C and 17GB on D) and I don't want to be stuck with a similar situation.

Thanks!

 

That sums it up, you know what you are doing

Dell custom partitions your harddrive so that their is a backup partition on it, with the operating system and drivers.
The second partition, the larger one, has the same info, but its set to boot first so that you store your files there.
When you insert the 320gb drive you will format the drive into one full partition, alotting to 320gb, which is 298Gb when formatted.
You can use software like partition magic, or gpart to create partitions later on. I am not sure why you would want to partition the drive, but its up to you

K-TRON

 

Great. If I don't have to partition, I'd rather not I guess. I have seen other posts where they promote the idea but I guess I'm not sure what the advantages are. If I can keep it simpler, all the better.

I will keep you updated on my efforts...

Thanks!

 

Hey K-Tron, one more thing I forgot. I bought the same enclosure you did but since I am not cloning and since I have an external drive already, did I really need to get that?

Or is it just good to have since it allows me to use my old hard drive if I needed it, instead of it just sitting around? The enclosure and hard drive sort of turns into a glorified flashdrive, no? Just a bit bigger of course.

 

You have the same enclosure as me, that is impossible
I made my enclosure myself

You only need the external enclosure to use your old harddrive. The enclosure has a SATA to USB connector which allows you to access the old drive, so you can use it as an external harddrive/massive flash drive depending on how you see it

K-TRON

 

Ahh.. you are correct. I got you confused with Danf89 who was posting on an earlier thread with all of us. It was HE who got the same enclosure as me.

Anyway, I got my enclosure today.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817349003

I put in my new 320GB Hitachi drive (just to test it before I take out my old drive from my laptop and put that drive in it) and my computer wouldn't recognize it. Is this b/c the enclosure can't read any drive above a certain X GB? Or should it recognize it regardless?

 

The drive should be able to read it without any problem. Try reconnecting the device to your computer.
If that doesnt work, go to Control Panel, and select Add New Hardware. It should scan and find it

K-TRON

 

It actually said "Found new hardware" at the bottom of my screen but when I went to My Computer, I didn't see a new drive. I guess I'll try again. I've seen this before for other USB connections I've done, and for whatever reason, rebooting somehow seems to get the laptop to actually "see" the drive, not just "find" it.

 

Last night I successfully installed my new hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP. I copied all my personal stuff back over, hooked up my wireless internet, and am pretty much on my way.

I've run into a couple issues but my main one is..

1. My screen resolution gives me two options 800x600 or 1024x768. The first makes everything WAY too big, the 2nd one smooshes everything. I used to have many other options. I want to have 1280x1024 I believe. I've researched a bit and I think the problem may have to do with my video driver but I'm not sure what to do. I've installed the Drivers disk that came with my computer and saved all the others OK but the video one gives me an error message.

The other reason I think it's a driver that when I go to Device Manager, all other devices are OK, but under "Other Devices" there are four lines, all with yellow question mark. The first three say Base System Device, and the 4th one says Video Controller (VGA Compatible). I've tried to reinstall all of them but have been unsuccessful.

So, if that is the likely culprit, where can I get an updated video/graphics driver for my Dell E1505? Is it as simple as going to the Dell site and choosing? If so, how does one know which to install? There seem to be a lot to choose from...

Thanks!

 

The disk should have been listed as a hard drive in Device Manager but it wouldn't show up in Explorer because it had not been formatted.

Go to the Dell support site and enter your service tag. It will list all the appropriate software and drivers for your hardware configuration as supplied by Dell. Choose your operating system. There is probably a System Utility package which should be installed first. This contains relevant Windows patches, etc. Then install the chipset driver.

John

 

I actually found the service tag solution on another website and just finished downloading the 8 drivers suggested from the Dell site. My screen resolution is now fixed!
I guess I should have done a little more research before posting.

I'll check out the other drivers you mention, like the chipset driver.. On my way now..

Thanks!

 

All of the drivers you need are on Dell's website. If you cannot download any for whatever reason. Send me a PM, I can send my E1505 drivers to you via Rapidshare

Oh yeah, the resolution is 1280x800.
If you get an error message on boot "CLI" after you install the ATi drivers, you need to download and install DotNetFix 2.0. This will enable the Catalyst control center to work properly

K-TRON

 

Got all the needed drivers from the website. And yes the resolution is now 1280x800. All is good! I am actually amazed I was able to do this hard drive swap without too much trouble.

Although I will likely be going through it again b/c now I realize I should have partitioned the drive, not just leave it all in C: So I'll be reformating all over again. Oh well, it won't be that hard and will give me more practice. Now just to figure out how much to put on each partition.. that will be another thread..

Thanks all!

 

Dont reinstall yet, you can use partition software like GPART or Partition Magic to make partitions on your harddrive. You can do this without reinstalling the operating system

K-TRON

 

My understanding is that Partition Magic is like 50 or 60 bucks and I'm not willing to spend that. Is GPART free? If not, it's worth my time to reinstall.

Thoughts?

 

There should be free trials for each.

http://www.soft32.com/download_151.html

and

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php

I would use GPART first, it seems to be the better of the two

K-TRON

 

Nothing to worry about since you are just replacing the HD, most laptops offer a convenient HD slot that can easily be tweaked in case of upgrades..