Calling all computer guru's...need help ASAP...
 

my harddrive crashed and need a new for my sony vaio...can u put too big of a harddrive in...i was thinking of a 160gig i had a 70 gig in there...and how can u tell if its a eide or ata...thanks for all yalls help...

a desktop right??

ide
http://www.gshop.com.au/images/ide_133_cable.jpg

sata

http://www.cs-electronics.com/images...al-Cable-1.jpg

if you want a 160 gb hard drive you have to use windows xp sp1 or above. any thing before that will only format part of it.

what model vaio? mine at work will ONLY take a sata drive. depending on how OLD your comp is, i really don't think you can put TOO big of a harddrive..... get the model number and lets go from there

its a notebook sorry...the model number is PCG-K45...i was looking at the Western Digital 160gig ATA...

anyone else..?

You can go up on the harddrive size as long as the physical size of the hard drive is the same. Most notebook harddrives are 2.5". As far as it being PATA or SATA I dont know and I havent had time to look at your model but if it reads that you have a SATA drive than you need a serial harddrive. If it read IDE/EIDE than most likely you need a 40 pin hard drive. Can you take the harddrive out and take a pic of it?


PS here is what i found on your model.

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/T99...D_NO_PHONE.pdf

If your hard drive looks like this after taking it out (pin wise) than you need an IDE/EIDE 2.5" drive. Hope this helps

You may be bios limited to 128gb or less. Here's my recommendation:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148130

i took it out and it looks exactly like that...

how do i find out whats my limit...and what would happen if i put in a 160 not knowing the limit...

The only ways to find out without trying is see if Sony can answer the question or find someone with that model who HAS tried. If you try to put a 160 in and it's not supported, one of 2 things will happen - the bios will not detect the drive or only 128gb will be accessible.

There is a Microsoft Hotfix for the size limit (139GB). My 80GB WD HD took a dump the other day in my desktop, and I bought a 160GB WD HD for it. My installation CD had the registry fix for it, but it can also be downloaded from Microsoft.

Careful, some notebooks have proprietary connections. My HP laptop is the 2.5" but its not standard. I found that out when my mobo took a dump and I wanted to get the data off but couldn't except for when I connected it into another HP notebook. None of the 2.5" to 3.5" adapters worked.

That only takes care of an operating system limitation, not a bios limitation.

They are ALL standard. You may need to *remove* an adapter from the drive to expose the pins - some adapters are pushon but others are held on by screws.

gls is correct. if the bios won't support it, you'll have to update. if you're trying to slap a 250GB HHD in a 4 year old system, chances are it won't recognize it. you can find the bios update through the mobo maufacturer's website usually.

well it looks like i dont have to worry about the bios because the largest hard disk i can find for IDE format is 120 gig...next is what brand is good...ive looked at Western Digital, Seagate, Hitachia(sp?)