How to remove/replace hard drive
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I want to sell my old laptop but I want to replace the hard drive first. It's an Acer 5742z.
I have never done this before and I'm scared of getting it wrong and destroying something lol so any sensible advice would be much appreciated!
I have never done this before and I'm scared of getting it wrong and destroying something lol so any sensible advice would be much appreciated!
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Do you want to remove the hard disk because you are concerned about your data being left on it? If so there are lots of free programs that can erase it for you. Eraser, for example http://eraser.heidi.ie
It's 50% that, but 50% it's just something I'd like to know how to do, I suppose.
Just take the screws out of it, and you will see it in its little chassis and two plugs. Take out the screws holding it in the bracket its in, remove the cables, and to put the new one in just do that in reverse, connect the cables and place back into bracket and put the screws in. Put the case back together and jobs a good un. Takes about 5-10 mins tops, and as long as you dont use a hammer its pretty safe to be manhandled.
Just make sure you buy the correct replacement HDD, 2.5 and not the 3.5 ones as they are for desktops etc and not little laptops.
(if you are REALLy worried about your data, then run a wiper program on a 35 pass, will take forever to do, but contrary to what CSI likes to pretend, no one is getting the data ever again (including you, so be sure haha))
Haha, thanks very much Tal'shir! I'm not hugely concerned about the data but obviously I want to cover myself before I sell the laptop. And as I said, it's what of those things I'd just like to know how to do.
What kind hard drive would I need for an Acer Aspire 5743Z, do you know? Would any 2.5 do or does it have to be a specific make or model?
Why are you wasting your money on a new hard drive if the one thats in it is working ? You will get more for it if you sell it with an operating system installed.
Well even if I kept the hard drive and just erased it, I'd still need to buy another OS, so either way I have to spend money. Besides, I could keep one of them as a back up in case the next one conks out for some reason! :eek::D
Plus I could do with a spare as I have a LOT of music and movies.
Oh, right! Shows you how much I know
Before you format it, there is a utilty you can use to make the backup DVD set. This is your install media. The Acer junk you can delete after a factory reset.
There's no need to replace a 5742. It's exactly the same laptop I have. Upgrade the memory to 8GB and fit a Hybrid SSD.
Blows off most laptops with faster CPUs purely because the RAM is maxed out and the standard HDD is a 5400rpm slug.
The mobile i5 is still only a dual-core (4 logical) so unless they have a newer gen or i7 then they won't really be much faster.