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Need Help determining hard drive interface

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by niktone

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i got this hard drive and it has DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra) or it supposedly does i'm not sure. if anyone could describe anything about DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra)so i could identify the drive that would be appreciated
Thanks in advance
-Nick

18 replies

by niktone

its a 44 pin laptop drive with some type of a adapter for a inspiron 600m

by seanferd

What exactly are you trying to find out?

If you are looking for the drive manufacturer, and it is the drive that originally came with the laptop, it is probably one of these (listed under IDE/EIDE)
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=INS_PNT_PM_600M&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

If it is working, looking in BIOS setup should tell you, or use Belarc Advisor or System Information for Windows
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
http://www.gtopala.com/

Get system configuration with the service tag
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/details?~ck=ln&~tab=1&c=us&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen

by niktone

The Hard drive is broken it failed and im want to replace it but i cant find it anywhere

by thechas

Here is a link to the ATA laptop drives that Newegg is selling.

http://tinyurl.com/8cwmsq

While most 2.5" ATA / IDE drives should work in your laptop, you do need to check 3 things:

Drive thickness: Make sure the drive is not too thick for your drive bay.

Drive size: Make sure that the BIOS for the laptop does not have a maximum drive capacity that would make some of the drive unavailable.

Both of the above can be verified at the laptop manufactures support page.

You also need to think about your operating system and hard drive size limits. If your restore disk is for the initial release of Windows XP, you may need to slip-stream at least service pack 1 to be able to use a drive larger than 137 GB.

Speaking of Windows, do you have a rare laptop where you have actual restore disks?

For most systems, the restore files are on a hidden partition of the hard drive.

If you do not have restore disks, you may be able to order them from the manufacture.

Chas

by niktone

I tried the link it did not work and i checked newegg and geeks for that type of hard drive and i cant find it

by thechas

It looks like Newegg is blocking the use of Tiny URL shortened links.

Many of us here take advantage of Tiny URL so that links are kept short enough to be on 1 line. That way, they do not get broken when clicked on.

Chas

by thechas

We need to know the laptop model number and what operating system you are using to determine:

1. If the physically larger 10.2 mm drive will fit in the drive bay that presently has a 9.5 mm drive.

2. If the BIOS and operating system can deal with a 250 GB drive which is 8 times the capacity of your present drive.

While there are ways to use a larger drive if the BIOS cannot address the entire drive, and ways to partition a drive beyond the limits of an operating system, it would be best if you knew you had to do anything special before you bought your new drive.

Going off of Jacky Howe's suggestion, you can purchase an 80GB drive from an Amazon Merchant for under $60.

http://tinyurl.com/cfvfw6

Chas

by niktone

So what does anybody think? will it work?

by seanferd

Sure, it will work. Just follow Jacky's instruction above - get the super slimline version.

These things are replaced all the time. If you want a final confirmation, post a link to the exact drive you are considering again. Someone will check it. :)

by seanferd

The drive you picked looks OK to me, Jacky's suggestions looks really good as well. (Physical dimensions, connector, ATA 100).

Thing is - we need to know how much drive space your laptop can actually use. See the other responses for more info. If the OS or BIOS cannot address more than some number of GB, there is no point in buying something larger, and it may not work at all.

So, give us the full model number, and which OS and service pack you will be using.

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