VAIO VGN-FE41S Hard Drive upgrade. Please help.

[keattan11]

Hi,

I am planning to upgrade my Sony Vaio VGN-FE41S Hard Drive. After long research and I found this "Toshiba MQ01ABD050 Hard Drive 500GB SATA-300."

Here is the Product Information:

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Productinformation/Toshiba_MQ01ABD050_500_GB__8754997

My question is, is this Toshiba Hard Drive compatible with my Sony Vaio VGN-FE41S? After I replace this new hard drive can i reintall the system with the original vaio back-up disc which i burn from the very first time? Please help. Thanks.

Keat.

[Blencogo]

Hi Keat and welcome.

Unfortunately, this drive is not comptible with your Recovery Discs. Your chipset does not support SATA3 but this is OK because SATA is backward compatible.

This drive is an Advanced Format drive and is formatted with 4096 bytes per sector. This Advanced Format (AF) will not be recognised by the Recovery Discs nor will it be recognised by Vista pre-SP1.

You need to find a hard drive with Standard Formatting which formats at 512 bytes per sector. This is no longer easy as manufacturers don't make it easy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Scorpio-500GB-Internal/dp/B001JSSDGU/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&...

Or the WD5000BEKT if you need 7200 RPM.

[keattan11]

Hi Blencogo,

Thank you very for your reply. Since in the past i have problem with Western Digital hard drive, i won't dare to buy it again. As i understand your reply, i need to find a hard drive with 512 bytes per sector so my original back-up disc will recongnised and i can use the original back-up disc to reinstall the system. I still can buy this Toshiba MK5076GSX Hard Drive in The Netherlands. Pleas help.

Here i find another Toshiba MK5076GSX - Hard Drive - 500GB - SATA-300

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Productinformation/Toshiba_MK5076GSX_500_GB__8440433

Keat.

[keattan11]

Hi Blencogo,

I bought the "WD5000BEKT (7200 RPM)" yesterday from Amazon.com from your advice.

I have some final questions which I need to know from you.

1. With this New "WD5000BEKT (7200 RPM)" Hard Drive, can I still use my Original Back-up Disc to reinstall my system?

2. Will this New "WD5000BEKT (7200 RPM)" Hard Drive, overheat the CPU or whatever in my "Sony Vaio VGN-FE41S" or the whole computer system crash later?

3. Does it improve the laptop performance (Speed)?

4. Do I need a Bios update because of the New Hard Drive?

Please advise. Thank you.

[Blencogo]

Yes, you can use your original Recovery Discs to install everything on the new drive. Put disc 1 into the DVD Drive and reboot - it should boot from the DVD and start Recovery Mode.

This drive should not overheat your system. As it spins faster than your old drive, it may get a little warmer but not enough to make a difference.

As it spins faste, it should read and write quicher than a 5400 RPM drive.

No BIOS Update is required as your model does not have the old 137 GB limit.

[keattan11]

Hi Blencogo,

Thank you very much for everything. I am very happy with your service. I already have this laptop for many years and it prove to me a very good laptop. I never have Blue Screen or whatever. It always work perfact, it is only i need more space for video editing.

By the way, is that possible to upgrade to Blu-ray Disc Writer? Of course i prefer from Sony but if Sony Blu-ray Disc Writer not available for my VGN-FE41S, are there any A Brand Internal Blu-ray Disc Writer for my Vaio?

Please advice.