Changing HD on SONY VAIO K115Z

Hi all,

I am new to this website and would like to ask for your help in changing the HD on my SONY VAIO K115Z (an old model).

1. How do I get at the HD disk (i.e. do I undo all the screws on the back ...etc)?

2. Do I need special screw drivers?

3. Do I need to do anything before trying to open the VAIO machine?


Please help, I have never done this before.

Many thanks in advance.

 

First, before you handle electronic parts, ground yourself by touching a metal object.

You want to find the HDD compartment; it can be located anywhere on the bottom of your laptop; sometimes there are logos to tell you what the compartment accesses. But generally speaking you don't need to take apart the laptop as there should be an access panel on the bottom requiring the removal of two to four screws.

 

You should be able to get some guidance from the service manual for the system. Unfortunately, that manual doesn't appear to have been put up for free anywhere, but you can buy from the website here: http://www.user-manuals.com/service-manual-SONY-PCGK115Z.html or from one of the other sites that sell notebook service manuals.

Make sure you get the service manual and not the owner's manual or user's manual, because neither of the last two will contain any useful information (other than perhaps Sony's rather dumb assertion that the hdd cannot be upgraded).

Also, I wouldn't suggest spending much time trying to get any help out of Sony; they won't give you any information, will probably not even know what you're talking about, and in the end will just suggest that you send it in so they can do the repair for you (at astronomical cost).

I swapped out the hdd on my VAIO pcg-z1a earlier this year, and I ended up buying the service manual for that model so that I could have an idea of where the hdd was located and what I had to go through to get to it.

Unfortunately, opening up a Sony can be tricky; in my case, I had to start by unscrewing the keyboard from the bottom, and then turning it back over, removing the keyboard (which slides out in a very strange way, compounded by the flat cable underneath getting in the way), and then proceeding to gingerly unscrew things until I could get the top part of the case off and get access to the hdd.

My hdd was located under the left palmrest - my first guess would be that that is where yours is located as well.

In terms of getting started, the owner's manual should tell you how to upgrade the memory, and that may be enough to give you the necessary clues for how to start opening the notebook up, and from there you may be able to figure out what else needs removing in order to get to the hdd.

 

Look on Sony's website for a service manual. If they have one for your particular model it should give you step by step instructions for removing/replacing all of your laptop's components.

 

I was inclined to be a little dismissive of your comment, but then I thought I'd better double-check on Sony's site just to be sure. Good thing, too, 'cause now I won't have to eat another shoe for dinner, a good thing since I'm running low lately (you know, foot-in-mouth).

As a result, I found a specific 2-page document showing how to change the hdd for a PCG-K series laptop, at the following address: www.docs.sony.com/release/T99860098_Rev_D_NO_PHONE.pdf

If that won't resolve, you can find a link to it at: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=PCGK15&LOC=3

abbas, that document should give you a good road-map on how to swap out the hdd.

Whaddya know, at least for the K-series Sony is actually a little more forth-coming than they were for the Z1-series.