:cry:

My TR3A HDD just died last night. It has always made the dreaded ‘click’ ever since I bought it about 2.5 years ago, but this week it started to sound a bit stranger than normal. I should have thought to back up but stupidly I didnt (I hope someone out there learns from this!!).

Anyway I’m gonna have to do the replacement now too.

A few questions: My current broken drive is a hitachi DK13FA 40GB (surprise!).

Will this replacement work?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145094

Also does anyone know of any low levels tools that might be able to read *any* data off a deadish HDD? i.e. read raw sectors etc.

Cheers,
Jack :cry:  :cry:

Any other input from anyone here regarding the replacement of a 40gb Hitachi drive with a larger one (for a TR3A)? I’d love to get an 80gb drive if it’s at all possible.

Just a general update - to the best of my knowledge, 60Gb is still the largest drive you can buy, and the model numbers for the ones you can use are in my original post.

As soon as I find out someone successfully fitted a larger/different one without needing to attack the unit with a hacksaw, I’ll update the original post.

Chris

Fantastic instructions, thank you.

Unfortunately confirms the fact that hard disc was in the corner of the laptop that took a direct impact with an air port floor so chances of it working are even slimmer that I’d guessed.

Have found the 60GB Hitachi drive for sale here
http://www.allcam.biz/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=54_27_61&products_id=180
if anyone needs one.

Has anyone tried to work with an external 2.5 inch Hd?

I have a 60gb hard drive i’d like to upgrade to.  Can i clone my 40gb to this 60gb hard drive (i have a 1.8” usb enclosure), then once i replace it, will i be up and running again?

Or do i have to re-install windows all over again?

[quote author=“jtu100”]:cry:

My TR3A HDD just died last night. It has always made the dreaded ‘click’ ever since I bought it about 2.5 years ago, but this week it started to sound a bit stranger than normal. I should have thought to back up but stupidly I didnt (I hope someone out there learns from this!!).

Anyway I’m gonna have to do the replacement now too.
...

Well I just installed the replacement. I bought the one I linked to above (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145094). All went well.

Unfortunately I managed to lose one of the corner case screws when putting it back together! Anyone know if I can buy a replacement screw off the shelf?

same thing happened to me.

I ended up giving in and paying the $5 for one screw… never going to lose that screw again…

http://www.nexttronics.com/pcg-tr3.htm

where can i get a connector for a 60gb toshiba 1.8” if im replacing my old hitachi 40gb 1.8”

[quote author=“Fortunecollector”]I have a 60gb hard drive i’d like to upgrade to.  Can i clone my 40gb to this 60gb hard drive (i have a 1.8” usb enclosure), then once i replace it, will i be up and running again?

Or do i have to re-install windows all over again?

Can someone answer this question for me?

thanks

Yes, if you have the software like Ghost or any other one that can clone your current set up. You will be up and running on your new 60 gigs in minutes.

I just replaced my drive following your instructions and it worked great. 

Thank you.

Thanks for providing this wonderful walkthru!  I replaced a faulty HDD (Fujitsu) with the same brand (turns out, very important).  Anyway, I have a couple of suggestions to improve the instructions a bit.

First, 2 small screws were in different locations from your image.  The small screws from the back corners really came from under the pads.  It wouldn’t hurt to put the long scews there as they go into hollow standoffs, but it would damage the screw threads.

Second, I thought it would be useful to update the instructions for replacing the screws with the size of the screw… Oh, and there are 2 steps numbered “25”

So, here are my suggested edites (in bold):

22. Put back the bottom-left special hdd small screw in the disk cradle (removed in step 11).

23. Push the drive connector back down.

24. Put the top cover back on (front-first).

25. Reattach the top cover ribbon cable (removed in step 9).

25a. Replace the long screw in the top left of the case (removed in step 8 ).

26. Re-attach the keyboard ribbon cable, remembering to clip down the connector that holds it in (removed in step 7).

27. Put the keyboard back on, bottom first, making sure the two clips above F6 and F11 snap into place to hold it down.

28. Turn the laptop over, and replace the small screw inside the memory compartment (removed in step 5).

29. Replace all twelve screws in the bottom of the machine (removed in step 4).  2 small screws in the battery compartment, 1 small screw in the memory compartmentt, and 2 small screws under the sticky foot-pads.  The remaining large screws go into the peremeter (including all four corners)

[quote author=“rbenech”]So, here are my suggested edites (in bold):

Thanks! I’ve fixed the picture of the screws, and incorporated most of your suggested edits. Glad it’s proving useful for people. Quick question: I didn’t realise any of the TRs shipped with a Fujitsu drive - do they?

Chris

Just wanted to say thanks for your posting on this.  I’ve just completed upgrading my laptop, following your advice.  Everything went perfectly.  Very clear instructions and helpful photos.  Much appreciated.

GeoffC