Need Advice on Laptop Hard Disk Replace

An HP pavilion zt3000 hard disk has failed. I perform the hard disk test and it reports an read error.

Prior to performing the test, xp would not boot because of corrupt files. chkdsk /r shows multiple unrecoverable errors.

Can you give suggestions as to how to replace the hard disk? Desktops are easy, but I'm not sure about how to purchase notebook hard disks.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I looked up your laptop at HP's web site, well, I looked up one in the zt3000 series (there's MANY different models) and it would appear that your laptop uses IDE or ATA hard drives. This is the main factor in determining what to buy. DO NOT buy a SATA hard drive!!! It will NOT connect, at all. The next factor is space. I think they go up to 250gb these days for laptops, so the choice is yours. I usually recommend at least 80gb up to maybe 160gb. Larger than 160gb HD's tend to cost alot more. The third thing to consider is drive speed. Most mass produced laptops (HP, Dell, Compaq) use slow drives because they are cheaper. For example: a 7200rpm 100gb hard drive costs more than 5400rpm 120gb drive, and the cost is about equal to a 4200rpm 160gb hard drive. The faster the drive spins, the faster it accesses data. So Windows loads faster, programs open quicker, etc. But it's been my experience that 7200rpm laptop hard drives tend to have shorter life spans than the slower ones, due to the fact that they're spinning faster and working harder in a much more hostile environment compared to desktop PCs: laptops get bumped around and moved all over, they run hotter, people turn 'em on their sides and upside down, and desktop PC's just sit there. Anyway, there's some things to think about. You can download a manual for your laptop from HP if you're unsure as to where the hard drive is. They're usually pretty easy to remove from HP laptops....

 

Great advice. Great!

Thanks a lot. If you're interested, I'll post what I buy and how the install goes. Maybe this will help someone else down the road.

Thanks again!

:highfive

 

This post is being revised...

 

Bought a WD 120 GB EIDE drive, put it in, formatted it, now installing the OS.

Everything seems good so far. Big props to dlb for your advice and support!

:highfive