July 29, 2002
Replacing the hard drive in an AMD based Sony Vaio FX series laptop is fairly straightforward process. This write up will document the replacement of the stock 10GB hard drive in a Sony FX210 with a 30GB IBM Travelstar hard drive. A big thanks goes out to Jeff H. for providing the pictures for this article.
The big problem everyone faces when replacing a small hard drive with a bigger one is getting the OS, programs and data from the old hard drive to the new one. Using Symantec's Ghost or PowerQuest's Drive Image provides an easy way to accomplish this task. The only remaining problem is how to transfer the image. One method that works well is to take the old drive out of the laptop and put it in a desktop. Only how do you connect the Mini-IDE connector on the laptop to the standard IDE connector on your desktop? You need one of these adapters.
With the adapter you can use the laptop drive just like a standard desktop IDE hard drive.
The disassembly of the FX210 laptop to get to the hard drive is identical to the steps necessary to replace the processor. So that you don't have to jump back and forth between the two pages I will detail the initial disassembly again.
. Be Careful
Equipment Needed.
1 Very Small Phillips head screw driver
1 Small Flat Bladed standard screw driver
1 New 2.5'' wide by 9.5mm or 12.5mm high laptop hard drive.
Step 1
Make sure you have everything important backed up.
Step 2
Unplug the laptop from the AC adapter and take out the batteries.
Step 3
Place the laptop on a table and open the laptop and tilt the display all the way back. Place a newspaper or something over the top of the display so you don't scratch or scuff it.
Step 4
The first thing that has to be done is removal of the panel that has the speakers and powerbutton on it. This panel is secured by 1 little screw on the left hand side of the panel. Remove the screw and then slide the panel to the right. With the panel slid to the right you can then carefully lay it on the display.
Step 5
Now you need to remove the keyboard. There is 1 little screw securing the keyboard. This screw is located above the F6 key. Remove the screw. Lift the keyboard by the top, where the Function keys are, and slide it out towards the top of the laptop. Lay the keyboard on top of the panel that is all ready on top of the display.
Step 6
The Heat Sink/Fan combination is now accessible as well as the harddrive and DVD drive.
To begin the process of removing the hard drive cage you need to peel off the ground strap in the upper left corner of the drive cage that is also stuck to the processor heat sink/fan assembly. There are four (4) screws that hold the hard drive cage to the motherboard. The first screw is in the upper left and corner of the drive cage almost right below the keyboard hold down screw. The second is in the lower right hand corner. The third is about 2/3 of the the way up the right hand side and the fourth is about 1/3 of the way up the left hand side of the cage. The picture below shows the location of the four (4) screws (click on the picture for a bigger image).
Step 7
Once the four (4) screws have been removed carefully lift the drive cage up. The connector at the top of the drive cage will provide resistance. Be gentle but firm. Once the cage comes free of the connector you will have it. The picture below shows the bottom of the drive cage after it has been removed and turned over.
Step 8
Now all you need to do is remove the old drive from the drive cage and install the new drive back into the drive cage. To remove the old drive from the cage there are four (4) screws that must be removed the picture below shows two (2) of the screws. There are two (2) more on the other side of the cage.
Step 9
With the four (4) screws removed the old drive can now be slid out of the connector at the top of the drive cage.
To install the new drive simply reverse the process.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Later,
Brad
