broken laptop hard drive

I have this Compaq Presario 2100 laptop. It has a "PXE-e61" error, and everything I have researched and tested points to a bad hard drive. I looked online and found a replacement from HP/Compaq for about $400 new and other places for as little as $125 for a refirb. What I would like to do is put in a bigger drive. I don't know much about laptops other than if it breaks buy a new one. This is my first repair of one. Can I go to a place like Newegg and get a drive and what is the meaning of ATA-6 ATA-7 interface? And How can I tell what interface my laptop needs? Thanks

Mike

 

Laptop hard drives do not cost $400.00. Go to BestBuy or even NewEgg.com, and you can get them for under $150.00.

BestBuy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6884142&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat33200050001&id=1095432668959

ST9100823A-RK
Ultra ATA/100 interface; whisper-quiet FDB motor; data transfer rates up to 100 Mbps; 8MB buffer

Our Price: $199.99

http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/en_US/images/global/buttons/btn_soldout_20040803.gif

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7125693&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat33200050001&id=1109937818331
WD800VE
EIDE interface; WhisperDrive; data transfer rates up to 100MB/sec.; 8MB cache
Our Price: $199.99

http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/en_US/images/global/buttons/btn_addtocart_20040803.gif

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=380

Now for granted some drives that NewEgg sells are over $150.00, but just because they state 'OEM', does not mean that they will not work in your system, unless it is SCSI.

Replacing the drives in the laptop is easy. Flip over the notebook, and the cover should be right in the middle where the touchpad is. you remove the two screws on the plate, the one in the front middle (covered with rubber plug), and pull the plate out, which is actually a tray. Just make sure that you are not actually removing the plate on the bottom of the laptop, which covers the WiFi card (label should be on it).

Unscrew the drive, reverse to install new drive (old drive may have rubber cover on it (not needed on new drive, used to dampen drive). Just make sure that you do not shove the drive in, due to it should just slide right in to the connector on the back.