Cycling UK Forum

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Well, you don't loose anything by trying.

It should be straight forward to swap the hard disks.

If it doesn't work then it will tell you but I guess it should work OK. .... you might have to change a few configuration settings to use touch screen.

You can always put the hard disks back....

Alternatively you can get a reasonable quality 500gb laptop disc for 32 quid http://www.ebuyer.com/489553-toshiba-50 ... mq01abf050

Hmm. Not sure it's quite that easy. I guess you won't do any physical damage provided they are the same interface. But I'd be surprised if basic drivers were the same. Graphics etc. So whether you'd even get enough running to even load new drivers is unlikely. Have a go, but just don't set any expectations!

Its easy as long as the drive bays are accessible (and if neither laptop has anything weird about it like a small factor solid state drive) as laptops standardised to 2.5" discs years ago. You may have to unscrew mounting components depending on how they mount in each machine but that's easy.

You can swap them no problem. I'd be more than a little amazed if they actually booted though (and if they did I'd be fairly suspicious anyway).
Reformat and reinstall the OS etc. You know it makes sense...

(Personally I'd buy a new HD. If the machines a few years old then an SSD will make it better than new and if you don't need that much drive space you can pick the smaller ones up pretty cheap these days.)

Booting is normally OK

On non-windows PCs you'll get the system up quite happily, Windows has historically thrown complete hissy fits when too many devices get changed at the same time (i.e. a transplant like this) but normally a few update/reboot cycles will see you through (always assuming that one of the network interfaces works)

Win 7 onwards has handled transplants much better, being able to get device drivers from Microsoft directly. You may just have to find the network one if that doesn't install automatically.

I have swapped hard drives in laptops before. They are not the most accessible things in the world the last one I did I had to remove the keyboard to get to it. I have found youtube a good source of instructions.

Good luck

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Gaz you could get an enclosure for the hard drive and then use that for backups. A few pound of Ebay.

You have nothing to loose by checking if the drives are the same, if so swop them over and give it a go. If it does not work you can always swop them back.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=92353
Been there, done it.

Watch the power consumption of the replacement disk (that you have decided not to use). Several years ago I was looking to swap the disk drive on a Lenovo laptop I had (for one with higher storage capacity). Found drives that would physically fit, same interface, etc. but on making more detailed checks was told that those drives took more power than the laptop could provide and whilst it might work, it might not or might just prove unreliable.

Ian

That's a bit surprising, 2.5" (laptop sized) drives tend to consume very little energy, especially recent ones. I'm surprised your laptop couldn't be upgraded for power draw reasons; is it a netbook or some other miniaturised thing?

I second the recommendation to use an SSD. It'll really bring new life to your laptop, whilst lowering power consumption, heat output and increasing battery life.

Freddie wrote:That's a bit surprising, 2.5" (laptop sized) drives tend to consume very little energy, especially recent ones. I'm surprised your laptop couldn't be upgraded for power draw reasons; is it a netbook or some other miniaturised thing? ...

It was a few years ago. Not a netbook, but a traditional laptop (but I can't remember model numbers, etc.).

Ian