topic Re: Possible to replace harddrive in a VGN-AR2 in PCs & Accessories

Possible to replace harddrive in a VGN-AR2

lundwall — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:59:06 GMT

I love my Vaio, only one bigg issue with it... The harddrive... Only 4200 rpm. Is it possible to put in a "Seagate Momentus 7200.2 160GB 7200RPM SATA 2,5" instead of the slow drive?

Re: Possible to replace harddrive in a VGN-AR2

littlebucko — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:12:28 GMT

yes it it but

1.it wont have the recovery

2.vaio will work around about the same speed

3.it may void the warranty if you have one

4. it may not think it is a vaio anylonger as it wont have all the vaio settings

Re: Possible to replace harddrive in a VGN-AR2

lundwall — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:50:02 GMT

When i switched hdd from 5400 to 7200 in my stationary some years ago I noticed a significant change in speed, wouldn't it be the same with the laptop.

I'm not in big need of the recoverypartition....

Ofcourse I don't want to put my dear Vaio in some sort of Identity crisis... 🙂

The warranty is although a little problem...

Re: Possible to replace harddrive in a VGN-AR2

littlebucko — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:27:43 GMT

it may speed it up little but like i said in my last post it maynot think it is a vaio

eg.
it may refuse to install your vgn-ar2 software as it will not longer have the needed information on the drive

also as you will be taking it appart to change the harddrive
it WILL void the warranty

(what is the reason for wanting to change it may i ask)

why try to help people when you dont do computers
as it is i am an it technician so i no what i am on about
if you have a problem ask me and i will try my best to help

Re: Possible to replace harddrive in a VGN-AR2

Blencogo — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:49:10 GMT

To get round all these problems I would buy an External Caddy like one of these: -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/92157/dynamode-usb-caddy-for-25-hard-drive.html

They are very cheap (about €13) and you put your new drive into it and connect it to your AR2 by USB.

Then use something like Acronis True Image (or other disc cloning software) to copy an exact Image of your old hard disc onto the new Disc. This will then copy all your Updates, Data, Software and Settings. Then install the loaded drive into the Vaio and take the old one out.

You can then continue to use your old drive as an additional storage device using the USB caddy!

It will invalidate your warranty but this may be a chance you may be prepared to take - it is up to you. If you install a good quality 7,200 RPM drive, you will get a significant speed of access increase.