HP Pavillion zx5000 Hard Drive Replacement

I've had a world of problems with my zx5000 including a failed DC adaptor (now fixed) and failed CD/DVD hardware (not fixed), but my latest problem is a hard drive crash. It kills me that I spent so much on this laptop already, but I think I've decided to suck it up and replace the hard drive and hope I can still use the thing for internet browsing (very sad, as it is very powerful), but I haven't replaced a hard drive in years and am wondering how difficult it will be. It seems easy enough to swap out the old one and put in a new one, but considering that my CD/DVD drive doesn't work and I won't be able to install software or drivers using it, will I be able to get my laptop up and running?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions on where I can get a cheap hard drive? I'd even consider buying a used one.

Thanks,

 

I used to be the proud owner of an HP zv5000z - the AMD processor version of the zx5000 you are using. Replacing the hard drive is very easy; there is a rectangular door in the back right of the laptop (when the laptop is turned over). In there is the hard drive. Check HP's site for detailed removal instructions. Like I said, it's easy.

The zx5000 takes an Ultra ATA/100 hard drive. Check www.Newegg.com and www.ZipZoomFly.com for good prices. You could also try eBay if you want to go even cheaper.

Edit: As a matter of fact, here are the documents on HP's website:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=376996&lang=en&

 

Thanks for the quick and helpful reply. One more question. My hard drive model number is MHT2060AH (written on the drive). When I look this up on the Fujitsu web site, it says it is an ATA-6 interface, but your message said I should get an Ultra ATA/100. Are these compatible, or am I looking up the wrong part number?

Thanks,

 

ATA-6 = ATA/100.

The drives you don't want are ones that have SATA, SATA150, or ATA-7 in the description.

 

ATA-7 will work just fine. All UATA modes are intercompatible. You should avoid like ATA-4 just because it will be older and slower, but it'd still be compatible. If your controller supports ATA-6, ATA-7 drives will work but at ATA-6 speed.

 

Only $60 for a 100GB (ATA) notebook HDD on newegg last time I checked. Can't go wrong with that price---get one and get back to using your notebook.

 

OK, so I bought this hard drive from newegg:

Samsung Spinpoint M Series MP0402H 40GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

Now the next step it to get it to boot. As I mentioned in the original post, my CD/DVD drive does not work. I do not have a built in floppy drive, but I do have a USB floppy drive. I don't have a boot diskette (can I download one somewhere?).

When I turn on my laptop, after the initial boot screen where I can hit <F2> and change the boot order, it quickly and repeatedly displays:

For Realtek RTL8134(x)/813/810X Fast Ethernet controller v2.13 (020326
PXE-E61 Media Test Failure, check cable
PXE-M0F Exiting PXE ROM

Do I have any chance of getting this computer up and running without the CD/DVD drive working? From scanning some other posts, I'm wondering if it is possible to boot from a USB connected drive. And, even if I buy and install a new CD/DVD drive, wouldn't I need to have the computer boot up and install a driver for it before I can use it as a boot drive?

 

Well, you can replace the CD/DVD drive if you want to.

JC

 

Could do it over the network if that is an option.

 

OK, it's been a while since I've been on this thread, but I'm basically in the same spot as before. To summarize:

I have a HP Pavillion zx5000. The hard drive crashed and I bought and installed a new one. My CD/DVD does NOT work and I need to install the operating system onto the new hard drive. Any ideas on how to do this? I don't have a home network, and I'm not sure how I would install the OS over the network anyway.

Question 1: Can I do it with a crossover cable? I.e. if I put the OS disk into the CD reader of another computer and have the two computers connected via a crossover cable, will my laptop (which has a blank hard drive) give me the option at startup to look at the CD of another computer and then allow me to install the OS from it?

Question 2: If the answer to Question 1 is No, can I take out the hard drive of a second laptop that has a working CD, plug the new hard drive into this second laptop (maybe I'll need some sort of adaptor cable for this?), and then install the OS that way? Am I guaranteed not to mess anything up on the second laptop if I do this?