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    Inspiron 9300 HDD Upgrade

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Fluke32, May 9, 2009.

  1. Fluke32

    Fluke32 Newbie

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    Evening everyone,
    I have an Inspiron 9300 with an 80GB IDE hdd. I have recently succesfully upgraded the RAM to 2gb. Im now looking to upgrade the HDD and would like to go for the Western Digital WD3200BEVE (320GB). I know there is something about the need to partition it as XP only sees up to 130GB but I also read somewhere that if you download HD Tune and if the 48 bit address box is checked then it will see the whole drive. As Im a bit of a newbie to all this, does that mean I can just pop the 320gb drive in and my system will see it straight away or will I have to partition it with no partition larger than 130GB?
    Also does anyone know if the WD3200BEVE is the best one to go for in terms of performance and storage size?
    You help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
     
    Fluke32, May 9, 2009
    #1
  2. X2P

    X2P COOLING | NBR Super Mod

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    The WD3200BEVE is a Sata drive and is not compatible with your notebook as it has an IDE HDD interface.

    I believe the largest IDE drive is 160gb
     
    X2P, May 9, 2009
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  3. Fluke32

    Fluke32 Newbie

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    Hi XP2, Thank you for that, I have just checked one for sale at digital fusion that says Pata which confused me even more! What is a PATA drive????
    They do have a 250gb one (WD2500BEVE) which is IDE so it looks like this is the largest I can go.
     
    Fluke32, May 9, 2009
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  4. Fluke32

    Fluke32 Newbie

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    Can anyone else help me out with this? Now Im even more confused !!
     
    Fluke32, May 10, 2009
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  5. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    Lithus, May 10, 2009
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  6. Fluke32

    Fluke32 Newbie

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    Thank you Lithus.
     
    Fluke32, May 10, 2009
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  7. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    There is a lot of wrong info in this thread.

    The largest PATA 2.5" mechanical harddrive is the Western Digital WD3200BEVE (320gb 5400rpm)

    The WD3200BEVE is a PATA drive
    The WD3200BEVT is a SATA drive - You do not want this one

    The WD3200BEVE is based on two 160gb drive platters.
    The WD3200BEVE, Samsung HM160HC and the Samsung HM080GC are the fastest PATA harddrives available.
    They are all based on 160gb platters.

    Make sure you update the system BIOS on your Inspiron 9300, so that it will support the new drive.
    The BIOS revision the Inspiron 9300 shipped with had a maximum BIOS limitation of 160GB. If your BIOS version is older it may not be able to see your new harddrive.
    Upgrade the BIOS and your system will see all 160gb, 250gb or 320gb depending on the drive you buy

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, May 14, 2009
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  8. Fluke32

    Fluke32 Newbie

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    Thank you K-Tron for your reply. Im going to look into the BIOS upgrade. In the mean time I decided to go for an external drive (320GB for £45) because it was so cheap and I was starting to get very confused! I am going to upgrade the internal hard drive after following your advice.
    Once again many thanks.
     
    Fluke32, May 15, 2009
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  9. Fluke32

    Fluke32 Newbie

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    XP2, Thank you for the alert. I can not send a PM yet as I dont have enough posts so I will have to thank you publicly !!
     
    Fluke32, May 15, 2009
    #9