Upgrading hard drive N31z?

[pringe83]

My warranty has just expired and so I am going to upgrade the hard disk on my N31z to a 320gb model. However I wondered if anyone could offer any advice regarding the location of the hard disk and the necessary removal screws (hoping it won't be too major!).

Also could anyone tell me the size of the installed drive? Obviously it is a 2.5" drive but is it a SATA drive and is it a 1/6 or 1/8 H?

Thanks for any advice!

[itbroker]

The easy way to upgrade a hard-drive without headache is to buy a external HD.

Take a look here...

[Blencogo]

Hi pringe83,

Your hard drive is 120GB SATA with the standard 2.5 inch dimensions - 7.0cm (W) x 10.0cm (D) x 0.9cm (H).

Almost any SATA 2.5 inch drive will fit.

The Manual for the N-Series showing the disassembly instructions is attached to the bottom of this post.

[pringe83]

Blencogo - thanks that's perfect.

RE: the external drive - I already have one but since i use this away from home a lot I would much rather have all my data stored on one drive.

One more question - once the drive is installed will it be OK to just run the sony recovery discs and reinstall from there? I was thinking of taking an image of the drive and putting that on the new one but I'd quite like a fresh install. My only concern is in losing the hidden recovery partition - is this necessary and does it hold data that is not on the recovery DVDs?

Thanks

[pringe83]

[bump] Any ideas?

Thanks

[Blencogo]

Hi pringe83,

It is your choice you can do this either way.

The Recovery DVDs are just a copy of the Recovery Partition so you can use these discs to reinstall the system onto a new drive.

I personally would make an image with Acronis True Image - including the Recovery Partition - and put this image onto the new drive. This would be my preferred way for several reasons: -

1. Retains the Recovery Partition on the new drive.
2. Includes all your settings, updates, programs and data.
3. If you want a clean install, do it from the new Recovery Partition as a damaged or corrupt Recovery DVD would mean that you lose your Operating System.

However, I don't think it is a big deal either way as you can buy an external USB caddy for £15 and connect your old drive by USB. This will allow you to retrieve data from your old drive.