[SuperTrooper317]

I was given an older (2-3yrs) HP Pavillion Laptop. The only problem with it is that the hard drive needs to be replaced. I (think that I) am an above average knowledgeable person when it comes to computers but have little knowledge of laptops. I was wondering what is recommended for replacing the hard drive and would the newer Ata-6 or -7 be compatible? And would the 7200rpm HDs work? I would like to have at least an 80gig HD but probably wouldn't use it.

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Hi there

The laptop should work with any speed of drive (eg 7200rpm). The only thing you may need to watch (especially if the original drive was slower) is that the faster drive doesn't cause the laptop to overheat.

The laptop should also work with ATA-66/100/133 drives but won't necessarily support that transfer rate. In other words, if the highest the laptop can support is ATA-66, then installing a ATA-100 drive will work but only at ATA-66.

The main thing you need to check is the physical dimensions of the drive. They will all be 2.5 inch but the height can vary. The average height is 9.5mm but you can get ultra-slim (7mm) ones, so check the size of the original drive.

The only other problem you may come across, is the maximum capacity that the laptops bios can recognise. If the original drive was bigger than 32GB, then an 80GB drive should be fine. Otherwise you may find that the bios has a 32GB limit.

[Samm]

Hi there

The laptop should work with any speed of drive (eg 7200rpm). The only thing you may need to watch (especially if the original drive was slower) is that the faster drive doesn't cause the laptop to overheat.

The laptop should also work with ATA-66/100/133 drives but won't necessarily support that transfer rate. In other words, if the highest the laptop can support is ATA-66, then installing a ATA-100 drive will work but only at ATA-66.

The main thing you need to check is the physical dimensions of the drive. They will all be 2.5 inch but the height can vary. The average height is 9.5mm but you can get ultra-slim (7mm) ones, so check the size of the original drive.

The only other problem you may come across, is the maximum capacity that the laptops bios can recognise. If the original drive was bigger than 32GB, then an 80GB drive should be fine. Otherwise you may find that the bios has a 32GB limit.