As a postgraduate student I am able to get good discounts on pc hardware through my University IT department.
My last hard drive went bust [my machine warranty ran out 2 months ago ] and I am looking to upgrade to an SSD.
Is the hard drive interface SATA or SATA II?
View 10 Replies View RelatedHas anyone installed a SSD drive in this model with success? If so, does the BIOS need to be upgraded? I have a Vertex 120 SSD drive I'm not using and am thinking about putting it in the Sony and installing Win 7/32 bit.
I would like for all the current functions to work such as the camera and video card. Would this be a big issue or should I just reload the original OS(XP).
the specs for the m1710 say i need a sata hd thats SATA 1.5Gb/s. i am looking to get a bigger hd, and WD has a 320gb drive thats SATA 3 Gb/s.. would that work in my m1710?
i assume i'd still be stuck with 1.5gbps throughput, but that doesn't matter, i just want a larger drive.
here is the drive im looking at :
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Are the Dell 9300 HD's SATA or ATA-6? I'd like to upgrade my 9300 with a larger hard drive, somewhere around 100GB or so. Any recommendations? Do I just need to look for a laptop SATA drive 7200RPM or are there other specs I need to consider?
View 15 Replies View RelatedRecently, I ordered Dell Inspiron 1520 with the following main specifications:
Intel Core 2 Dou T7500 2.2-GHz CPU
2x1 GB 667-MHz RAM
nVidia 8600GT 256-MB GDDR2 GPU
Fujitsu 160-MB SATA 5400-RPM HDD
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premuim OS
Anyway, at the beginning I was really disappointed with the performance; the system was too slow specially during booting, loading, and playing games. Furthermore, when the notebook is on battery, the performance was terrible; I even can't watch movies smoothly or explore the hard drive normally.
So, I entered the BIOS, load the defaults, no improvements!
Then, after too many calls/chats with Dell technical support, someone asked me to update the BIOS, then I update it, but again there were no improvements.
Finally, I got the right man from Dell support, and he suggested to change a BIOS setting, which is the "SATA Operation" and set it to "ATA" rather than "ACHI". Then, I entered the BIOS (which is the new version "A03"), and went to the "SATA Operation" option then I saw the default factory is set to "ATA" where I am sure that it was "ACHI" as a default factory with the previous BIOS version. Anyway, I set it to "ATA" and I had to disable also the "Flash Cache Module" to do so. Then finally, the system performance improved and everything seems to be normal.
Now, my questions are:
Did I lost the "SATA" feature/performance of my hard drive (because I set it to "ATA")?
If I do lost the "SATA" feature/performance, is there any workaround solution to make the "SATA Operation" as "ACHI" and system remails OK (e.g.: installing new storage/interface drivers to the OS)?
Why in the new BIOS, the "SATA Operation" default factory is set to "ATA" not as like the previous version were the default is "ACHI"?
Is there anybody faced the same problem as mine? If so, how did he solve it?
Is this one of Dell disadvantages/faults?
I've read that e-sata may or may not be powered depending on how the host is designed, does dell's e-sata/usb combo port self-power external 2.5" e-sata drives or do they need their adapters/usb cable used?
View 7 Replies View RelatedI ran the other diagnostic accessed prior to boot up and it reports SMART is good.
I have an ST950042 0ASG. The Bios reports eSATA-NONE. Device manager reports it as SCSI. Anyone know what is going on.
I hate to call Dell at this point for fear they will automatically want to replace the HD or even try to have me send my laptop in.
I read somewhere that a 1640 user had a similar scenario going on and that they removed the Nvidia drivers and used the Win7 generic. How do I know what drive I really have.
Is this a on going problem. The drive is suppose to be a 500GB 7200rpm SMART drive.
Been trying to get all my ducks in a row for when my 1510 arrives, DLing drivers and such.
Been reading some old threads/how tos here on doing a fresh install of Windows XP. It was suggested to put the SATA drivers on a bootable flash drive for installation during the Windows install, so you would be in AHCI mode when finished and not have to try to do it later.
Is that the current method of installing the SATA drivers for AHCI?
How many HardDrives can i put on it??
View 4 Replies View RelatedI am preparing to help my cousin (via phone) reinstall XP on his ebay purchased XPS M1210 laptop.
I notice that in the system config information, that the HDD is SATA, but when looking at the driver download page, I see no SATA drivers listed.
How are we to install XP without SATA drivers to slipstream or use the F6 disk?
Do i get the drivers fron Intel? Do I change a setting in the BIOS for "ATA" or "legacy" mode? If i do this,
then where do i get the driver to install within XP so i can switch it back when the installation is complete
I'm just wondering is it worth installing the chipset & sata drivers?
The specific drivers im talking about are the Intel Mobile Chipset Drivers & and the Intel Matrix Storage Manager drivers
My wife has a 3-year old Vostro 1500 running Xp Pro, Sp3, and it was somewhat messed up (wouldn't accept Windows updates, the Firewall stopped working, and couldn't be turned on even with administrative tools, stopped being accessible on the network, etc.).
So, I backed up everything 3 times, including a drive image, and wanted to reinstall XP using the Dell XP SP2 disk.
I removed the Dell Mediacenter partition, but left the first (small) partition. I reformatted the remaining partition as NTFS, and installed XP. Despite the fact that the Dell disk contained the SATA drivers, when I looked in Device Manager, I found that the HD was seen as an IDE drive, and not a SATA drive .......
Trying to run a D620 with a new harddrive, a 320 GB WD3200BEVT.
The 620 will say "a read error occurred, press Ctrl alt del to reboot" directly after post. I doesn't not attempt to load an OS.
In the BIOS:I made sure that the harddrive password protection thing is all off
In the device list the 320 GB drive appears, so it's not a mechanical problem
The drive works on a modern AM2 desktop.
I just purchased a 7800gtx for my 9300 IDE board. I then come to know that the new 9300 board comes with SATA.
My doubts are:-
1) Is this SATA board using the same Sonoma chipset?
2) Will the 7800gtx fit into this board?
3) Will the xps2 bios work on this board?
4) Do i need to buy extra hard drive caddy for SATA drive?
I have spent the past 10 minutes trying to search this forum for the answer and came up empty-handed. Simple question: does the M4400 support 3 Gbits/second or is it limited to 1.5 Gbits/second? I know the entire ThinkPad line
(T400/T500/W500/W700) models are limited to 1.5 Gbits/second, which limits the usefulness of a higher-end Solid State Disk like the Intel X25-M. Thanks for the info!
As per the thread title does the XPS 1645 or do other XPS 16's take a standard 2.5" sata hdd?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI'm about to order the Studio XPS 16 but don't know which hard drive option to pick. Can someone please tell me the pros and cons of each?! Also how hot does the laptop get compared to a Macbook Pro (which I currently own)? Thanks!
View 10 Replies View RelatedI really want to know if the SATA/eSATA/Modular Bay on E6400 are Sata 3.0Gbps. Has anyone tried them out with a SSD drive or something?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI posted earlier a message about my Vostro 1500 which suddenly won't start. I called Dell and a local repair shop, and both indicate it's most likely the motherboard, and will cost anywhere from $300-$500 to fix.
Just not worth it - I'll get me a new lighter laptop instead. However, read where you can get a hard drive case to get the data off the hard drive and to use as a backup drive
How do I tell what type of hard drive I have in my Inspiron 1520? I am pretty sure it's IDE/ATA, but I am seeing info in my web research that says SATA. Not sure which to buy. Maybe this is a dumb question.
View 6 Replies View RelatedIf I wanted to put a mini-pcie SATA SSD in the WWAN slot of my dell latitude D820 and *boot* from it what should i buy?
View 9 Replies View Relatedgot a inspiron 1545 recently with a SATA 320 gb HDD / 4gb ram with Windows Vista Home Basic. Like most of us I hate Vista. So I created a partition & installed XP.
Used a program "EasyBCD" to setup dual boot. I get the dual boot screen at startup. But only XP boots. After a little probing, came to know that there are only 2 options in the BIOS for SATA operations. AHCI & ATA. If I select ATA I can boot only to XP. If I select AHCI then I can boot only into Vista. Searched around but the solutions were a bit over my head. Really appreciate if anybody could come up with something in lay mans terms.
After reading Its OFFICIAL! Windows XP works perfectly on the XPS m1330!, I've decided to install XP on my M1530, but i'm unsure on what to do about step 1:
"Step 1... You need a version of Windows XP SP2 with built-in SATA drivers... I personally used LastXP (feel free to go find this on a torrent site somewhere,
you have the option to install one of your own valid XP keys as part of its setup). (The other way is to put SATA drivers on a USB stick and hit F6 during initial Windows setup...) .....
My original 500GB HDD + 32GB SSD has been replaced with 256GB SSD + 500GB HDD and now the HDD has been removed, leaving only the SSD.
So what is the correct setting for SATA operation in BIOS?
My dell is not detecting SSD (replaced the HDD with SSD). Is it because SATA is not supported? The SSD is SATA 2 compatible.
View 1 Replies View Relatedi recently bought a vantex nexstar 3 external hard drive with the option of usb and e-sata. The problem i am having is with e-sata. The e-sata is the prefered method of exchanging information dur to its speed rather than usb.
I would like to know from the community in large if there is anyone who has experienced these problems or has connected an external to their m4400 laptop.
The external laptop has a seagate 7200 rpm FFS(free fall sensor) inside.
The problems:
1) When connecting the exHD to the laptop for the first time the HD spins (i can feel it) but then stops. Windows does not pick it up as well as Intel Matrix Storage manager. Only when i restart the laptop still with the exHD connect does windows pick it up as well as Intel Matrix Storage manager.
I did in both cases check to see if the exHD needs more power and it is sufficient.
2)Another issue is that i have windows reporting to me that an external hard drive has been connect to my system even though i havn't plugged it in .....
I already posted this in the "what notebook should I buy?" forum however, I apologize, and I realize it belongs here.
What is most important for me which ever one causes less heat.
I purchased SATA 7200 RPM hard drive from newegg.com
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My notebook is the brand-new Inspiron 1720 which only supports SATA.
The problem is that the hard drive didn't come with a "connector" (or "gender changer" or whatever... I don't what's this thing called).
So, I am unable to connect the hard drive to my notebook. I contacted newegg.com and they said it doesn't come with the connector.
Anyone know where I can get this connector?
I tried googling like "SATA connector 2.5-inch drive", but I cannot find any information.... Also, what's this thing called exactly?
I have E6400 with Vista SP1. When I tested hard disk using HDtune, the burst rate is always much lower compared to the transfer rate. I already tried Seagate, WD, Toshiba, they're all the same.
But if I look benchmark from other users (they don't use Dell though), the graph is different. Here is what I have:
My graph: the burst rate is always low.
E6400 users, can you test yours and let me know?