Changing VAIO Harddisk?

matfz · February 27th, 2002, 03:18 AM

I drop my laptop from the desk few weeks ago, and my harddisk just getting noisier. Do you guys know if it is easy to change a new HD by myself? If so, how much will it cost for a 20GB?

Ptrper · February 28th, 2002, 01:10 PM

Hi Matt,

Just took apart my VAIO to see how it was done. If you're looking at the monitor, on the left side will be a small screw that holds in the slat with the power button. Unscrew it, and slide the slat to the right. Don't try to slide it all the way off because it has a ribbon and speakers attached to it. Once you slide it over some, lift it up. There will be a little screw inside which holds the keyboard in place. Be very careful you don't strip it trying to unscrew it. Once you have the screw out, slide the keyboard up and liftup from the space bar and flip the keyboard over. You will now be able to see the harddrive, DVD/CD-RW, etc... There are two screws that hold the hdd mount in place, one one the upper right hand corner and bottom left hand corner (You will need a screwdriver with a very fine head). Unscrew those and then you should be able to detach the ide ribbon from the hdd. Now you can replace the HDD with another. One other note is, don't forget the adaptor on the pins of the old hdd have to go on the new drive.

This is how it's done on a VAIO PCG-FXA49. Hope that this will help you out. Good luck!

Ed

As for prices, I believe retail for a 20GB hdd is something in the neighborhood of $250-300.

matfz · February 28th, 2002, 04:59 PM

Gee.... i don't expect someone to take apart their own VAIO to teach me.

Anyway, thanks a lot. I will try to work on that.

Ptrper · February 28th, 2002, 07:52 PM

Hey, no prob...

For some reason, I've been doing alot of upgrades on laptops recently and just felt comfortable doing it.

Good luck, and hope everything works out for you.

Ed

neodave · February 28th, 2002, 10:26 PM

I read somewhere that the Vaio HDDs were soldered in place. Is that true? I have the FXA-49 also, but I think I'll wait for my warranty to run out before I tear into it.

Ptrper · March 2nd, 2002, 04:09 AM

Well,

Pulled mine out, I think that the HDD that were soldered in place are the Toshiba laptops... I know the older Satellites were done that way. Looking at mine, doesn't seem to have a problem being able to take it out.

Ed

neodave · March 2nd, 2002, 01:33 PM

Thanks for the info
Dave

BuonaDomenica · May 15th, 2002, 03:07 PM

I want to change the HD for my Slim Sony Vaio Z505JS but all I can get off is the keyboard. To get to the hard drive I think I will need to take apart the entire unit. Has anybody done that before?

thanks
BD