How to Change a Hard Drive on a Laptop: A Practical Guide

Many laptop owners face a problem when the operating system stops loading or hangs up tight. Advanced users are beginning to reinstall Windows, but they can not, and a message about the absence of the hard disk is panic. What to do and how? Change the hard drive on the laptop? But what happens to the data that was left on it?

Do not despair! If you independently repair the failure does not have enough knowledge and skills, then you can refer the device to specialists. They will be able to quickly change the hard drive on the laptop. The price will be much higher, because you will have to pay not only the cost of the hard drive, but also the service to replace it. It is possible that the master will take a fee for both diagnosing and searching for problems. And if it is necessary to restore information, it will also lead to costs.

Hard drives differ in capacity, speed, cache size, form factor and interface. The main parameter is the capacity, that is, the amount of stored information that can be stored on it. The interface is the type of connector for connecting the hard drive to the motherboard. The form factor is the size (for notebooks 2.5 inches). The size of the cache is a place for storing temporary information. And an important parameter is the speed of rotation of the disk, on which the speed of work depends.

When should I replace the hard drive?

The reasons for changing the hard drive may be as follows:

• Hard disk failure;
• Lack of memory;
• Wear of the disc to avoid breakage;
• Slow speed of operation.

How much does it cost to change a hard drive on a laptop?

If the replacement is produced by a master, the price will depend on the list of services that it will produce. It is necessary to immediately decide which hard disk is required (with a large amount of memory or not), what is the optimal hard drive speed, and also to understand how much it is desirable to meet. The average price of a hard drive starts at 2,000 rubles and can reach 20,000 or more. The cost of the service for its replacement in Russia is 300-500 rubles. Thus, changing the hard drive on a laptop can be inexpensive. However, everything depends on financial possibilities. Is it possible to change the hard drive on a laptop, and whether there are such services in the city? It is not difficult to find out about this, since now this information is available for everyone, and it is possible to find a specialist practically in any locality.

Analysis of the laptop

How to change the hard drive on a laptop without the necessary knowledge? Everything is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. The whole procedure takes a maximum of 15-20 minutes. The first thing to do is turn the laptop over and unscrew the screws holding the back cover. Depending on the model of the device, there may be several lids on the bottom. In this case, you need to know which one to unscrew, and where the hard drive is located. Before unscrewing, the laptop must be disconnected from the mains and pulled out the battery. Then wait until all the elements have cooled down. Next, an example of how to change the hard drive on an HP laptop will be considered.

Removing the Battery

To remove the battery from the HP laptop, you must turn it over and flip the latch to the "open" position. Then lift the front edge of the battery and remove it from the laptop.

Insert the battery in the reverse order: you need to insert the front part into the connector and press the inner edge until it clicks.

Removing the Hard Drive

After the battery has been removed, it is necessary to unscrew the cover at the bottom of the notebook. To do this, use a Phillips screwdriver. The screws holding the cover must be weakened. After that, the cover should be moved to the edge of the body, raise and remove the protrusions. Thus, it will be disconnected.

Here is the hard drive connected by cable to the board. This cable must be disconnected by pulling on the black eyelet. After that, you can get the hard drive out of the bay. Then remove the hard drive cable and remove the rubber stoppers from its edges. Here it is necessary to remember that these rubber stops are different, and you need not forget in which position to insert them back.

The next step is to unscrew the four screws from the hard drive and save them so that they do not lose. Now you need to remove the transparent panel from the hard drive. The hard drive must be placed in an antistatic package.

Installing a new hard disk

First, it is necessary to screw the hard drive to the panel with four screws that held the extracted disk. The hard disk should be installed with the label facing down. Then, fix the rubber stops on it and connect the cable to the corresponding connector. Then the hard drive should be put in the compartment on the notebook case and connect the cable to the board. Next, close the lid, tighten all the cogs and put the battery in place.

If you follow this instruction, even the most uncomprehending user will not be wondering about how to change the hard drive on the laptop.

If the hard drive is removed in order to repair it, then after fixing the problem, you can put it in the same order back. It should be remembered that the information on the faulty hard disk can be restored. But it's not recommended to do it yourself, because you can accidentally destroy all the necessary data. This should be done by a professional.

What to do with the old hard drive after I changed the hard drive on the laptop to a new one? If it is serviceable, then it can be used as an external medium to extract or store information.

It's important to remember that the new hard disk does not contain the operating system, and it will have to be reinstalled. This can be done both independently and by contacting a service center.