Laptop Is Messed Up BAD!

My Latitude 131L kicked the bucket today. I fired the old girl up and kept getting an error message when the hard drive would try to boot up. I tried everything I could think of, including reinstalling Windows, but nothing would work. Before I take it outside to see how well it will handle the being run over by an F150 stress test, I thought I'd see if y'all have any suggestions. I had to switch over to my Inspiron 1000 and this thing is S................L................O............... .....W! My thoughts are that the 131 needs a new hard drive.

Hard drives are cheap. I'd throw a new one in (unless you're looking for an excuse to upgrade).

hard drives are cheap. new systems are cheap. in a few weeks (during the holiday shopping season) there should be great deals on actual laptops as well as netbooks.

I ordered a hard drive for $60. I hope that takes care of the problem. If not, I suppose I can get an enclosure and use the new hard drive as a spare.

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Originally Posted by KC9MUK

I ordered a hard drive for $60. I hope that takes care of the problem. If not, I suppose I can get an enclosure and use the new hard drive as a spare.

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Yes, you can, and it makes a great portable drive. It won't go to waste.

But I"m confused. You say you tried everything, including re-installing windows? I guess anything's possible (little help on this), but how can you re-install anything with a crapped-out hard drive?

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Originally Posted by W1GUH

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Originally Posted by KC9MUK

I ordered a hard drive for $60. I hope that takes care of the problem. If not, I suppose I can get an enclosure and use the new hard drive as a spare.

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Yes, you can, and it makes a great portable drive. It won't go to waste.

But I"m confused. You say you tried everything, including re-installing windows? I guess anything's possible (little help on this), but how can you re-install anything with a crapped-out hard drive?

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Sometimes, in my experience, Windows craps out in such a way that you can not get it to read for whatever reason. I have a couple of HDDs that now serve as storage because Windows refused to allow a reinstallation or Windows Repair mode. There are times when you can find a backdoor, if it's being cooperative but lately Windows XP just tells me to F*** Off. I'm just glad I don't use the main drive for storage. Windows will tear up a hard drive. I think it's programmed in that way as those I've dedicated to storage hold up much much better.

I also run Photoshop from a remote drive. No problems there either. I will have to replace my current main drive soon. The only thing I do with it is run the OS.

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Originally Posted by W1GUH

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KC9MUK

I ordered a hard drive for $60. I hope that takes care of the problem. If not, I suppose I can get an enclosure and use the new hard drive as a spare.

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Yes, you can, and it makes a great portable drive. It won't go to waste.

But I"m confused. You say you tried everything, including re-installing windows? I guess anything's possible (little help on this), but how can you re-install anything with a crapped-out hard drive?

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Well, I clicked the F2 button on the very first screen, went into BIOS, and told the computer to boot the CD-ROM drive first. That gave me access to the the Windows CD. The installation would go so far and then completely stop. Unfortunately, it went far enough to allow me to reformat the C drive, so I ended up losing everything I had on it. :(

Fellers, the new HD is supposed to be delivered today. I have never replaced one before, so I may need some help. I sure hope some of you are around later this afternoon. :pray

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Originally Posted by KC9MUK

Fellers, the new HD is supposed to be delivered today. I have never replaced one before, so I may need some help. I sure hope some of you are around later this afternoon. :pray

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It should be very easy. Consult the owner's manual for instructions on how to physically remove the drive. After you get it pulled from the machine, lay the two drives side by side. The old drive will likely have some mounting hardware attached, and possibly a connector adapter. Carefully swap the hardware from the old one to the new one, being very careful to attach everything exactly the same as it was on the old one. I frequently take pictures of the old drive from all sides, just in case.

Put the new one back in the machine, boot from your Windows CD, and follow the installation prompts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KC9MUK

Fellers, the new HD is supposed to be delivered today. I have never replaced one before, so I may need some help. I sure hope some of you are around later this afternoon. :pray

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Yeah, it should be two screws max. Slide the HD chassis out, maybe 4 more screw. Mix, and replace.

Should take no more than 15 minutes. And you'll need a set of Jeweler's screwdrivers.

Well, I got the new hard drive installed and things are back to normal.

Pretty easy to do (physical replacement of the HD) huh? Was it 6 or 5 screws? And were there parts left over :clap: