Hard drive substitute

Dell Inspiron 1150 Notebook.
The hard disk - which is a Seagate ST94011A, 40 Gb, 5400 rpm - has failed on the above machine and Dell no longer have one in stock. There are places I've found to buy but just wondering, can I use a different 2.5" Momentus disk but with a better configuration? maybe a larger capacity?
I know the faster ones are mostly SATA and won't work in the Inspiron but just a thought.
Any advice?
It doesn't have to be a Seagate one does it? Toshiba and others have what I think may be suitable but need some help in deciding.

docusk,
Berkshire, England

 

Just buy one from any computer store. Definately don't buy from dell, they are expensive and really not worth the money.

Get any 2.5" PATA/IDE hard drive.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264209&highlight=samsung+hmc160

That's the drive you want. You can in theory use any 2.5" PATA drive; it doesn't need to be a Seagate. You may only be able to recognize 137GB of drives larger than 137GB, but I believe you can use the entire space by partitioning the drive into partitions smaller than 137GB.

 

Crikey!
That's what I CALL advice!
What a comprehensive and convincing review from you and our our co-conspirator.
I'll be off to the store on Monday you can bet.

Thanks chaps.
docusk
Berkshire England

 

The HM160HC isn't easy to find in UK, but it is at CCL Computers. Order now for delivery on Monday.

John

 

Hello all. Sorry for delay but other things got in the way.
Anyway, I bought the HD and it arrive last Tuesday and I installed it today. Didn't realise there was a slip-on adapter but soon figured that one out. The replacement is 160 Gb which of course, is double the capacity of the other one so the laptop will be much more use to me. Price in the end including VAT & Carriage was £55. Not bad since it saved me buying a new laptop or getting Dell to look at it for £35 fixed fee plus whatever the charge for supplying and fitting a new disk. Their price (though they had none) was - I think over £72 excl. VAT & carriage.
Thanks for help.
docusk

 

Let us know if you need any help, the Samsung drive is really a great drive. Very fast and affordable. Two things too always look for in computer parts

K-TRON

 

You're right, I'm not on poverty street but I still need to watch the pennies.
So far I'm very pleased with the buy.
Thanks again. docusk

 

Thought it was too good to be true!
I put the new Samsung drive in and then loaded Windows XP Pro (legal copy I hasten to add) All went well and I was able to get the machine set up etc. BUT.
I had been unable to get on to the little LAN in the house here. Not too bothered as the main PC is working fine and then I changed the display from the default to very high and restarted.
Nothing.
The backlight was there and when I put in some boot CD s they all came up and graphics were all OK.
I then tried an XP repair but it just went into C:\ and there it sat.
Seatools found nothing wrong as did UBCD and AVIRA rescue.
I haven't tried UBCD for windows yet because I wanted to ask you guys to see what you thought.
Any ideas as to what has gone wrong. Just as an aside, I also managed to load Kubuntu on to a separate partition but I've taken it off again now.

docusk

 

i'm sorry but i just got to say this....

im surprised you still want to go through all that effort to keep that notebook alive.

 

Yeah, I understand, but it was and still could be - a super little machine. I'm disabled and I bought it to use downstairs for e-mails and for Skype without having to traipse up above - even in my stair lift.
When it came back up last week I raised a little cheer..
I will still use it, if I can't get XP going, with Kubuntu which does all I want for the use it will get.
I'm just interested in why the little devil won't come up with Windows.
It's normally very fast and of course, it's only a couple of years old. Why chuck it without a fight?
I'm retired so time's not a problem.
docusk

 

This reminds me of a story of a man loving his dog lol.

 

Not sure what's gone wrong, but if you installed Kubuntu to dual boot, perhaps the boot loader is still trying to load the deleted Kubuntu installation?

 

Unlikely, I loaded Kubunto after I found the Inspiron wouldn't boot into windows.

I used to love my dog when I had one too.

docusk

 

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings....

One of my granddaughters, conversation. "Where's the laptop gramps?"
Me "I loaded the new drive with Windows and all was OK but it won't work now."
Gdau, "Can't you just load it again?"
Doh!!!!!

Why do I have all these letters after my name? I reloaded XP and it has been working ever since. What a wuss!

docusk