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Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

zedingrove
Grafter
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎18-06-2012

Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

A lot of people these days have a laptop, some use instead of a desk top.
Upgrading memory, hard/optical drive is fairly straight forward.
Now I am not sure about the entire range of Sony Vaio but would guess it is so....
I wanted to replace my 100gig h/d in my Sony Vaio N series.
First let me say if your laptop is under warranty then replacing h/d your self voids warranty, also Sony wont tell you how to do it, and there is little 3rd party advice.
There is one guy who has a page on replacing h/d, but it is a little vague.
So how do you go about replacing h/d. Simple's... Disconnect, remove battery, find all 21 screws (from the bottom) 18 of which are straight forward, three are located/hidden under the optical drive (which has to be removed).  There you have it all you have to do is remove the back, or do you?
Vaio's are known for their build quality and I can confirm this... Next part was unsuccessful as the back appeared not to come off, instead removing top section with keyboard, maybe?
So you have removed the screws now all you have to do is unclip and separate bottom from the top.... Ha, with a blade start on the bottom right side corner as this is wear a small indent is. Wow the whole right side unclips without hassle, moving on to the front no probs there, now comes the left side (realising you can not wedge anything on the right side in fear it damages the insides), you go to unclip the left side and the right clips back into place, then as you attempt to unclip right and left same time front clips back. After a while you manage to get left, right and front unclipped, leaving just the back!
Have yet to work out how to unclip the back, though I did try by lifting from R,L and F stopping when I saw keyboard has to be unclipped (an average laptop keyboard has a backing plate), as you attempt to unclip keyboard, the sides clip back into place....
The long and short of it is, Sony has made it so your average bod can not remove cover to replace h/d.....???
Unless anyone here has any suggestions?   
20 REPLIES 20
shutter
Community Veteran
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

zedingrove
Grafter
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎18-06-2012

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

Right well I got the gist of it, though every series has slight variations... You would think if you post a video on you tube have played it back to make sure it's ok.
The one laptop as mine is so out of focus....
But hey thanks for that, Think am going to brave it once more so if am not on this forum for next few days means I broke my laptop!  Crazy Cry
ReedRichards
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Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

For the long term I suggest you steer clear of Sony computer products.  Sony often make them difficult to disassemble and they don't provide instructions.  With Vaio laptops also beware of non-standard connectors to the hard drive.  If it's a parallel (PATA) drive connected by a flexible plastic ribbon then I would advise you not to tamper with it. 
zedingrove
Grafter
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎18-06-2012

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

To late ****** up . Can't get it back together. Had to remove top section. With embedded keyboard to connect keyboard to board requires amazing dexterity or a giant pair of needle nose pliers. At least still coming have my phone  Undecided
shutter
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

Makes you wonder how the chinese manage to put them together in such quantities... must be done by machine with firm holding positions and precision positioning of contents, then along comes the foreman chinaman, slams the lid down,... all done ... sealed in a box, and on its way...  Cheesy
zedingrove
Grafter
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎18-06-2012

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

If their technician are like their gymnastics then all they have to worry about is foreman slamming lid on finger
ReedRichards
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Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

Laptop keyboards often lose keys so a decent manufacturer would make them easy to replace.  Meanwhile you could always plug in a USB keyboard.
Rich
Grafter
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

21 screws Shocked
I've a Fujitsu and only needed to remove 2 to access the hard drive Smiley
w23
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Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

Similarly, loosen 2 (captive) screws to remove the hard drive bay cover to access both hard drives in my old but trusty Dell Vostro 1700 laptop.
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
zedingrove
Grafter
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎18-06-2012

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

And yes that is the case for almost every make bar Sony....
But hey managed to replace drive, refitted the top (in a fashion) seems to of warped in the centre keyboard was a pain in the rear, totally gave up trying to reconnect the touch pad, cos unlike the keyboard which after 5 hours worked out to attach ribbon need to turn keyboard upside down and laying vertical, it would appear the TP can only be attached with the removal of section of board.
I think some bright spark at Sony saw clips on youtube and Sony re-designed cos there are 21 screws which have to be removed but one of them the head does not a a screwdriver slot more looking like top of a rivet.
Just a word of caution, if you want to change h/d take it to Sony or from where you bought it and they will send it to Sony!!!  Crazy
w23
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Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

1. Glad it's back together.
2. Is it still working?
3. Did you actually replace the drive?
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
zedingrove
Grafter
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎18-06-2012

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location


Tell ya mate I'm glad it's back together, still working minus trackpad, but never use it anyway...
Oh yes I replaced the drive, and I wished I had taken a video of it... there are 3 screws holding the caddy or so you might think, 2 from bottom of case one connected to the sata connection and wait for this 1 hour trying to work why it would not come away... Cos they have hidden a screw under a clip, what goes through these little chinese heads???
But I am so pleased cos another night with my phone. Arrrrg
VileReynard
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Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

Get a desktop next time.  Smiley

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

zedingrove
Grafter
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎18-06-2012

Re: Laptop Hard Drives and thier Location

Wow...! What a great idea....Oh wait would I be able to use a desktop whilst lying in bed and watching TV or doing #2's?