Need help....urgently!

SpitfireIV

Hi,

My Toshiba laptop, has up to a few mins back been making a very strange noise, ie from the internal harddrive area, the noise is that of mild grinding and clicking. I researched this on the net and I see that in most cases it means that the hard drive is on its last legs!

I'm in the process of saving all my data across to an external harddrive but want to know:

*If I have to purchase a new hard drive in the case this one dies, are all Toshiba notebook internal harddrives standard size, ie to fit in the slot??

*If it fails sooner than expected, can I use the external harddrive as a 'make do'??

Many thanks for ANY help,

CroppyBoy1798

Ruu_Old

All notebook internal hard drives are a 2.5" form factor (as opposed to 3.5" of a desktop PC) so I dont think it will be a problem with the new one you have to purchase.

SpitfireIV

Cool, cheers Ruu

mr_disc

By the sound of it u would want to back up your stuff pretty soon. Any errors in event viewer about the drive ?....
If it dies sooner than expected im afraid an external drive wont do.
And as above .. ya no problem gettin any laptop drive, u will just have to re-fit it back in its ( laptops ) drive bay / casing .

SpitfireIV

Thanks Mr Disc, I looked at the event log, doesnt seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Another question.......where would be a good source to get a 2.5" HDD pretty quick? Would I be likely to pick up one in a computer store like PC World or Compustore?

mr_disc

k well either way if its making that noise u should sooooo back up u r stuff and get rid of that drive. Is the laptop still under warranty by any chance ?.
if not ya sure PC world etc would have drives in stock , if u were prepared to wait a bit longer u could order one online and save u r self some €

KdjaCL

Few for sale in the for sale forum, wouldnt pay high street prices, would wait on komplett if it was the case just to save that 100 odd quid.


kdjac

SpitfireIV

Thanks a mill guys for the help!

Ok, another question, (sorry 'bout this, I'm a complete newb, but know more about laptop internal hard disks than I did a few hours back anyway )

See the internal drive below:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=301726

That one isnt in a casing......or is there one on them when you get it??

:rolleyes: ....I'm still learning.

PogMoThoin

Hd's are never in a casing unless you get an external. If You buy a hd 4 a desktop they come the same way. they need air to cool them. externals usually have a fan on the casing. Hope this clears it up 4 you.

SpitfireIV

But how come the one in my laptop at the moment is in like a little metal box? You cant see the disc or anything. So if I got that one in the link above I could just pop it in as is?

zilog_jones

If you're talking about the picture on that page, that's just a promotional image - any hard disk you buy will be enclosed in an isolated atmosphere, otherwise it'll be totally useless!

Here's what it really looks like:


If you want something to check how bad your hard disk actually is, install SpeedFan and go to the SMART tab.

Ruu_Old

CroppyBoy1798 wrote:

But how come the one in my laptop at the moment is in like a little metal box? You cant see the disc or anything. So if I got that one in the link above I could just pop it in as is?

Yep dont mind that, it will be have casing. Thats just an image used for selling the product, having the hard disk exposed like that wouldnt work at all!

SpitfireIV

Ye guys are a wealth of information, thanks a million!!

Best be ordering a new hard drive so :rolleyes: money money money...

mr_disc

The hard drive you gave a link 2 was 4 a pc, not laptop, u will need casing for yours, in as much as for it will fit into your laptop and be able to be secured with a screw r two, however u will be able to use the existing one that is there already, u will just need to obviously take the old drive out of it, ( this is the story with the vast majority of laptops, others just fit in directly, just depends on the make.)

masteroftherealm

mr_disc wrote:

The hard drive you gave a link 2 was 4 a pc, not laptop, u will need casing for yours, in as much as for it will fit into your laptop and be able to be secured with a screw r two, however u will be able to use the existing one that is there already, u will just need to obviously take the old drive out of it, ( this is the story with the vast majority of laptops, others just fit in directly, just depends on the make.)

No his link was a laptop drive

mr_disc

masteroftherealm wrote:

No his link was a laptop drive

oops ... lol.. on close expection i see u r right... twas too late at nite for me... past my bedtime

Well either way the rest still stands, no matter what time of the day it is !

masteroftherealm

Hehe! Its NEVER too late for tech talks ;p

mr_disc

masteroftherealm wrote:

Hehe! Its NEVER too late for tech talks ;p

lol, well it is 4 me

SpitfireIV

Hi again,

No sooner had I posted the last reply when the laptop started to screach and grind (the noise even drove the dog mad!!) and then *KERPLUNKKKK* the blue screen of death .

So its safe enough then to order that one from Komplett I guess.

Thanks again