corrupt hard drives question..

steveinspain · 9 Jul 2009 at 16:45

I have been offered a laptop - a Sony Vaio of some description, free !
Now, I am told it has some major problem, and that the HD is corrupt, whatever that means.
So, my question is this - can't I just bung in another HD and all sorted ?
Will any 2.5" HD fit ?
I guess it won't have any software, so may try Linux, which I have no idea about at all.
I know this may all sound rather dumb, but its all new to me..

Kriist · 9 Jul 2009 at 16:54

it could be the harddrive, it could be any number of things going on the vague description you were given.

If you do get another drive, bung Windows 7 7100 on it for free, and it will last you til next year.

Qu3 · 9 Jul 2009 at 18:51

Could always just need a format, corrupt could mean anything depending on who your getting it off.

I got given a free laptop with a duff HDD, Just needed to run Windows repair on the installation cd

Speed · 9 Jul 2009 at 19:15

steveinspain said:
I have been offered a laptop - a Sony Vaio of some description, free !
Now, I am told it has some major problem, and that the HD is corrupt, whatever that means.
So, my question is this - can't I just bung in another HD and all sorted ?
Will any 2.5" HD fit ?
I guess it won't have any software, so may try Linux, which I have no idea about at all.
I know this may all sound rather dumb, but its all new to me..

Well there are two main types of Laptop hard drive, SATA and IDE. I expect if it's a newer system, it's SATA which are fairly cheap.

My suggestion would however be to find out the make of the hard drive and run the manufacturers testing software on it. If it's fine, just format the drive during Windows installation. If not, then just replace the drive.

steveinspain · 12 Jul 2009 at 11:30

Cool - thanks for the help !
It'll be a while before I get it yet, but I'll let you know what happens..

MarkW7 · 12 Jul 2009 at 13:14

Definately snap it up anyway, even for the RAM or spares.

A new harddrive could well do the job, as above it depends who your getting it off - If it's someone that knows about laptops, pc's and tech and if he/she can't fix it it may be a bigger problem.

But even so, for free it's a bargain.