[dannyual767]

I've got a Presario F730US and I'm pretty sure I broke the hard drive. It makes a funny clicking sound and it won't really load anything up anymore. I can get most of the desktop but it takes a long time and I can't really click on anything and open it up.

I took out the "suspect" hard drive and it is a Toshiba HDD2D62 MK1237GSX 120GB SATA: Drive Solutions, Inc.

I'd like to go to my local CompUSA, Circuit City or Best Buy and purchase another HD to replace it and then reinstall my disc (Vista, yuck!)

I was thinking about something like this: Seagate ST9120822AS Momentus 5400.3 120GB Mobile Hard Drive - 5400, 8MB, 2.5", SATA-150 at CompUSA.com

or this: Hitachi TravelStar 5K250 120GB 5400 8MB 2.5" Mobile SATA OEM Hard Drive 0A52126 at CompUSA.com

Is there any reason why either of these hard drives wouldn't work for me? Would they give me any problems while I try to load my original System Recovery DVD that came with my Compaq notebook?

Thanks


Danny

[Puddle Jumper]

You shouldn't have a problem using your Recovery DVD. Of the hard drives you listed I would go with the Seagate.

[Mak213]

I agree with Puddle. Seagate are great drives. I have some from like 10 years ago that still work. The Recovery DVD will work just fine.

[dannyual767]

Puddle and Makaveli213, thank you for your replies. I'm just a bit nervous about this as I've never done a HD replacement but it just doesn't seem too difficult.

I'll try to get the Seagate when I go to CompUSA tomorrow. Since my original HD is a SATA, I'm assuming that the new Seagate will go right into my Compaq and then all I'll have to do is load the Recovery DVD disc.

[Mak213]

Yes it will go right in after you take the old one out. Jsut connect it like the old one was connected. Then insert the DVD and it will give you the option to install the OS.

[carnageX]

One thing you'll have to be aware of, though, is that there may be a little converter on the end of your existing drive. I've seen in on an IDE compaq before, and a SATA HP (and HP/COmpaq are the same company now). So you'll probably just have to pull the converter off, and pop it onto the new drive.

[dannyual767]

Originally Posted by carnageX

One thing you'll have to be aware of, though, is that there may be a little converter on the end of your existing drive. I've seen in on an IDE compaq before, and a SATA HP (and HP/COmpaq are the same company now). So you'll probably just have to pull the converter off, and pop it onto the new drive.

Yes, I've already removed it once to see what the actual HD's connecting prongs looked like. The actual prongs look like some pictures of 2.5" SATA hard drive prongs and the converter is another piece that plugs into the original prongs.

[carnageX]

Yep, that's correct. Didn't know if you had taken the drive out actually, or just looked up the specs online to see what it had in it =). So I figured I'd mention it.

[dannyual767]

Here is an update on what I ended up doing.

First and foremost, I got my Compaq Presario up and running! In fact, I'm using it right now to make this post : .

I didn't end up buying a new HD because I had a perfectly good HD in my daughter's broken Toshiba Satellite notebook. It had a broken LCD screen but everything else worked. Yesterday, I cannibalized parts off of it to bring two laptops back from the dead!

I got my older Averatec (XP!) computer running again (see this thread: Does this sound like a Recovery CD problem?)

and I installed the Toshiba HD into this Compaq and loaded up the recovery disc. Both computers use SATA HDs with their own special connectors on the end of the HD that I had to swap.

Vista takes sooooooooo long to load. It successfully loaded and I've been using the laptop since yesterday evening.

I took three dead computers and made two good working notebooks out of them. I'm feeling super cocky about being a computer "mechanic!"