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    Is this hard drive compatible?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by ClaireR55, Jan 13, 2008.

  1. ClaireR55

    ClaireR55 Newbie

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    I own a Dell C640 laptop (I know, it's old) and I just bought a Seagate 160 GB hard drive that I'm having problems with. Before I mess around with it any more I just wanted to know if the hard drive is even compatible with my laptop. Any help is appreciated.
     
    ClaireR55, Jan 13, 2008
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  2. K-TRON

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

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    The C640 has a ata connection for the harddrive, if the hdd you bought is an ata harddrive than it should work. The reasons it is not working, is because the harddrive is larger than the laptop can accept. You need to go to dell's website and update the BIOS, so that the laptop can recognize the high capacity harddrive.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Jan 13, 2008
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  3. ClaireR55

    ClaireR55 Newbie

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    So I just need to pop in my old hard drive and go on to Dell to update my BIOS? Thanks so much! I'll be back on if that fails.
     
    ClaireR55, Jan 13, 2008
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  4. ClaireR55

    ClaireR55 Newbie

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    Okay, I updated the BIOS, but the computer is still not detecting the hard drive. Would it make a huge difference if the new hard drive I'm trying to install is an "ultra" ATA?
    On the plus side, the Windows XP disk started loading up as soon as I updated the BIOS, but that does me no good without the hard drive.
     
    ClaireR55, Jan 13, 2008
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  5. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    Ultra ATA is just a faster PATA. There shouldn't be any incompatability conflicts because it will just downclock to the old 100 PATA speed.

    It's very unlikely, but that could be the source of your problem.
     
    surfasb, Jan 13, 2008
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