Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to get a bigger
HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to check which were
applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the motherboard?
I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
> I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to get a bigger
> HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to check which
were
> applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the motherboard?
> I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
 
Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and have it all
recognized by the BIOS.
 
If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop that will allow
you to return it.  If you find one that works, you can either return it and
buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
 
Pagan

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

So it just trial and error? And it doesn't matter about the manufacturer of
the hdd?
"Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
news:11acou8lcgglkec@corp.supernews.com...
> "Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
> > I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to get a
bigger
> > HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to check which
> were
> > applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the motherboard?
> > I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
>
> Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and have it all
> recognized by the BIOS.
>
> If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop that will
allow
> you to return it.  If you find one that works, you can either return it
and
> buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
>
> Pagan
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

The manufacturer of the drive does not matter.  All modern 2.5" notebook drives
have an identical form factor.
 
I'm not sure what the BIOS limit on that computer is.  Older systems often had
an 8.4GB limit.  The next BIOS limit is/was 32GB.  Then 132GB... Ben Myers
 
On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 22:26:46 +0100, "Peter Brown"
<peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
 
>So it just trial and error? And it doesn't matter about the manufacturer of
>the hdd?
>"Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
>news:11acou8lcgglkec@corp.supernews.com...
>> "Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
>> > I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to get a
>bigger
>> > HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to check which
>> were
>> > applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the motherboard?
>> > I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
>>
>> Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and have it all
>> recognized by the BIOS.
>>
>> If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop that will
>allow
>> you to return it.  If you find one that works, you can either return it
>and
>> buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
>>
>> Pagan
>>
>>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
newsuJpe.6028$CF.43365@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
> So it just trial and error? And it doesn't matter about the manufacturer
of
> the hdd?
 
In very rare instances, it does, but more likely what matters is the
manufacturer of your laptop, and what they were thinking at the particular
point in time when they designed it.
 
As Ben mentioned, older chipsets often have problems with large drives.
Newer ones don't.  But here's the rub, with laptops, designers often make
little changes here and there that can muck things up if you aren't aware.
For instance, I have a portable computer with no CD drive, and when I
install a new hard drive in it, I have to Fdisk the drive while it's
installed in the computer.  Not a big deal, but then I have to figure out
how I'm going to install Windows, with no CD drive, no practical way to hook
one up, and the limitation of not being able to install it in another
computer, then just plunk the drive in the portable, because that simply
won't work with this model, though it works with the earlier and later
models.
 
I'm guessing a 20 gig drive for you, because I installed one in an older
system (Pentium 120) and had no problems.  It may be possible to put an 80
or 100gig drive in your computer, but I can't be certain without trying it
myself on your system.
 
You may have heard about problems with certain manufacturer's hard drives
not working in certain systems, but that was quite a while ago, back when
hard drives were anything but standardized, despite the IDE specs.  At one
point I had to update the firmware in my Connor drive just to use another
drive from Connor.  This of course was back in 1994 or so, when I had to
connect directly to their BBS to download the update because the Internet
and WWW weren't quite ready for prime time.  This was in a desktop, by the
way.
 
Anyway, those days are over.  No hard drive manufacturer wants to screw
themselves out of, say, the entire Toshiba supply line, so they make darn
sure to follow the standards to the letter.  Trial and error is probably
your best bet.  Dell isn't likely to care about your laptop, although you
might want to check their web site and see if they offer upgrades to that
particular model. (Don't bother calling, as the guy your talking to will be
in India and have no clue, but will probably sell you one anyway so he can
look good to the higher ups)  If not, then trial and error it is.
 
When you install the drive, simply power up the computer and see what the
BIOS tells you.  If it shows the rough capacity of the drive (you know it
won't be exact, I hope) then you are in luck, install your OS and have a
beer.  If it doesn't, and shows instead something like 8 or 32 gig, or some
off the wall number that's not even close to the drive's capacity, then
immediately return the drive and find a smaller one.
 
One more thing, there is plenty of variety in regards to hard drive
performance, even for laptops.  You can go with a slow 4200rpm drive to save
battery life, a screaming 7200rpm drive for a speedy system, or a 5400rpm
drive so you can glide somewhere in the middle.  I personally favor the 5400
drives with 16mb of cache.  I find them even faster than the 7200 drives
(which have 8mb) and they do just fine with battery life.  On the other
hand, if you just want to watch movies on a plane or something, a 4200 would
probably suit you better.
 
Again, all these are standard, so you have some choices, with your only
possible limitation being capacity.
 
Also, it is sometimes possible to get the higher capacities, even with older
systems, by using drive translation software, which used to be freely
available, but now most manufacturers charge for it, if you can even get it.
You have to use whatever the drive manufacturer supplies.  For instance, you
can't use IBM software to get your Western Digital drive working.  I
personally don't like this method, as it adds another chunk of Things That
Can Go Wrong.  If you need more capacity, I suggest a PCMCIA card external
hard drive.  Not easy to find these days, but much better than funky BIOS
tweaks.
 
Pagan
 
> "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
> news:11acou8lcgglkec@corp.supernews.com...
> > "Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
> > news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
> > > I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to get a
> bigger
> > > HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to check
which
> > were
> > > applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the
motherboard?
> > > I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
> >
> > Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and have it
all
> > recognized by the BIOS.
> >
> > If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop that will
> allow
> > you to return it.  If you find one that works, you can either return it
> and
> > buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
> >
> > Pagan
> >
> >
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

It's not the motherboard chipset that gets in the way of support of large
drives.  It's simply a limitation in the way the BIOS was originally written,
usually well before large capacity drives were manufactured.  Some brands of
desktop computers have long had aftermarket 3rd party BIOS upgrades from
companies like MicroFirmware (R.I.P.) with support for drives up to 132GB on old
old old Pentium motherboards.
 
I would recommend a BIOS upgrade, if available from the Dell web site, on the
faint hope that it will increase the drive capacity supported by the BIOS.
 
Heat is the villain of computers, especially notebooks, where space for
circulation of air is cramped.  I would recommend a 4200rpm replacement drive.
Drives that spin faster are enticing, but they also run hotter and may cause
overheating of the system or the drive... Ben Myers
 
On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 21:57:57 -0700, "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote:
 
>"Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
>newsuJpe.6028$CF.43365@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
>> So it just trial and error? And it doesn't matter about the manufacturer
>of
>> the hdd?
>
>In very rare instances, it does, but more likely what matters is the
>manufacturer of your laptop, and what they were thinking at the particular
>point in time when they designed it.
>
>As Ben mentioned, older chipsets often have problems with large drives.
>Newer ones don't.  But here's the rub, with laptops, designers often make
>little changes here and there that can muck things up if you aren't aware.
>For instance, I have a portable computer with no CD drive, and when I
>install a new hard drive in it, I have to Fdisk the drive while it's
>installed in the computer.  Not a big deal, but then I have to figure out
>how I'm going to install Windows, with no CD drive, no practical way to hook
>one up, and the limitation of not being able to install it in another
>computer, then just plunk the drive in the portable, because that simply
>won't work with this model, though it works with the earlier and later
>models.
>
>I'm guessing a 20 gig drive for you, because I installed one in an older
>system (Pentium 120) and had no problems.  It may be possible to put an 80
>or 100gig drive in your computer, but I can't be certain without trying it
>myself on your system.
>
>You may have heard about problems with certain manufacturer's hard drives
>not working in certain systems, but that was quite a while ago, back when
>hard drives were anything but standardized, despite the IDE specs.  At one
>point I had to update the firmware in my Connor drive just to use another
>drive from Connor.  This of course was back in 1994 or so, when I had to
>connect directly to their BBS to download the update because the Internet
>and WWW weren't quite ready for prime time.  This was in a desktop, by the
>way.
>
>Anyway, those days are over.  No hard drive manufacturer wants to screw
>themselves out of, say, the entire Toshiba supply line, so they make darn
>sure to follow the standards to the letter.  Trial and error is probably
>your best bet.  Dell isn't likely to care about your laptop, although you
>might want to check their web site and see if they offer upgrades to that
>particular model. (Don't bother calling, as the guy your talking to will be
>in India and have no clue, but will probably sell you one anyway so he can
>look good to the higher ups)  If not, then trial and error it is.
>
>When you install the drive, simply power up the computer and see what the
>BIOS tells you.  If it shows the rough capacity of the drive (you know it
>won't be exact, I hope) then you are in luck, install your OS and have a
>beer.  If it doesn't, and shows instead something like 8 or 32 gig, or some
>off the wall number that's not even close to the drive's capacity, then
>immediately return the drive and find a smaller one.
>
>One more thing, there is plenty of variety in regards to hard drive
>performance, even for laptops.  You can go with a slow 4200rpm drive to save
>battery life, a screaming 7200rpm drive for a speedy system, or a 5400rpm
>drive so you can glide somewhere in the middle.  I personally favor the 5400
>drives with 16mb of cache.  I find them even faster than the 7200 drives
>(which have 8mb) and they do just fine with battery life.  On the other
>hand, if you just want to watch movies on a plane or something, a 4200 would
>probably suit you better.
>
>Again, all these are standard, so you have some choices, with your only
>possible limitation being capacity.
>
>Also, it is sometimes possible to get the higher capacities, even with older
>systems, by using drive translation software, which used to be freely
>available, but now most manufacturers charge for it, if you can even get it.
>You have to use whatever the drive manufacturer supplies.  For instance, you
>can't use IBM software to get your Western Digital drive working.  I
>personally don't like this method, as it adds another chunk of Things That
>Can Go Wrong.  If you need more capacity, I suggest a PCMCIA card external
>hard drive.  Not easy to find these days, but much better than funky BIOS
>tweaks.
>
>Pagan
>
>> "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
>> news:11acou8lcgglkec@corp.supernews.com...
>> > "Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
>> > news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
>> > > I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to get a
>> bigger
>> > > HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to check
>which
>> > were
>> > > applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the
>motherboard?
>> > > I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
>> >
>> > Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and have it
>all
>> > recognized by the BIOS.
>> >
>> > If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop that will
>> allow
>> > you to return it.  If you find one that works, you can either return it
>> and
>> > buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
>> >
>> > Pagan
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:42a83be3.2238192@nntp.charter.net...
> It's not the motherboard chipset that gets in the way of support of large
> drives.  It's simply a limitation in the way the BIOS was originally
written,
> usually well before large capacity drives were manufactured.  Some brands
of
> desktop computers have long had aftermarket 3rd party BIOS upgrades from
> companies like MicroFirmware (R.I.P.) with support for drives up to 132GB
on old
> old old Pentium motherboards.
 
That's what I get for posting tired.  You are of course correct, it is the
BIOS.
 
 > I would recommend a BIOS upgrade, if available from the Dell web site, on
the
> faint hope that it will increase the drive capacity supported by the BIOS.
>
> Heat is the villain of computers, especially notebooks, where space for
> circulation of air is cramped.  I would recommend a 4200rpm replacement
drive.
> Drives that spin faster are enticing, but they also run hotter and may
cause
> overheating of the system or the drive... Ben Myers
 
I haven't had a problem with that.  I've installed a 5400 drive in a Fujitsu
Stylistic 3400 (5 years old), and it runs like a champ, even though this
thing has less free space than most laptops.  I imagine newer technologies
are keeping temps down in laptop drives.
 
Seagate has just announced a perpendicular recording drive that's supposed
to ship this winter.  It'll run at 5400, but should be quite fast due to the
data density.  How does a 160gig laptop drive sound. heh
 
Pagan
 
> On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 21:57:57 -0700, "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote:
>
> >"Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
> >newsuJpe.6028$CF.43365@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
> >> So it just trial and error? And it doesn't matter about the
manufacturer
> >of
> >> the hdd?
> >
> >In very rare instances, it does, but more likely what matters is the
> >manufacturer of your laptop, and what they were thinking at the
particular
> >point in time when they designed it.
> >
> >As Ben mentioned, older chipsets often have problems with large drives.
> >Newer ones don't.  But here's the rub, with laptops, designers often make
> >little changes here and there that can muck things up if you aren't
aware.
> >For instance, I have a portable computer with no CD drive, and when I
> >install a new hard drive in it, I have to Fdisk the drive while it's
> >installed in the computer.  Not a big deal, but then I have to figure out
> >how I'm going to install Windows, with no CD drive, no practical way to
hook
> >one up, and the limitation of not being able to install it in another
> >computer, then just plunk the drive in the portable, because that simply
> >won't work with this model, though it works with the earlier and later
> >models.
> >
> >I'm guessing a 20 gig drive for you, because I installed one in an older
> >system (Pentium 120) and had no problems.  It may be possible to put an
80
> >or 100gig drive in your computer, but I can't be certain without trying
it
> >myself on your system.
> >
> >You may have heard about problems with certain manufacturer's hard drives
> >not working in certain systems, but that was quite a while ago, back when
> >hard drives were anything but standardized, despite the IDE specs.  At
one
> >point I had to update the firmware in my Connor drive just to use another
> >drive from Connor.  This of course was back in 1994 or so, when I had to
> >connect directly to their BBS to download the update because the Internet
> >and WWW weren't quite ready for prime time.  This was in a desktop, by
the
> >way.
> >
> >Anyway, those days are over.  No hard drive manufacturer wants to screw
> >themselves out of, say, the entire Toshiba supply line, so they make darn
> >sure to follow the standards to the letter.  Trial and error is probably
> >your best bet.  Dell isn't likely to care about your laptop, although you
> >might want to check their web site and see if they offer upgrades to that
> >particular model. (Don't bother calling, as the guy your talking to will
be
> >in India and have no clue, but will probably sell you one anyway so he
can
> >look good to the higher ups)  If not, then trial and error it is.
> >
> >When you install the drive, simply power up the computer and see what the
> >BIOS tells you.  If it shows the rough capacity of the drive (you know it
> >won't be exact, I hope) then you are in luck, install your OS and have a
> >beer.  If it doesn't, and shows instead something like 8 or 32 gig, or
some
> >off the wall number that's not even close to the drive's capacity, then
> >immediately return the drive and find a smaller one.
> >
> >One more thing, there is plenty of variety in regards to hard drive
> >performance, even for laptops.  You can go with a slow 4200rpm drive to
save
> >battery life, a screaming 7200rpm drive for a speedy system, or a 5400rpm
> >drive so you can glide somewhere in the middle.  I personally favor the
5400
> >drives with 16mb of cache.  I find them even faster than the 7200 drives
> >(which have 8mb) and they do just fine with battery life.  On the other
> >hand, if you just want to watch movies on a plane or something, a 4200
would
> >probably suit you better.
> >
> >Again, all these are standard, so you have some choices, with your only
> >possible limitation being capacity.
> >
> >Also, it is sometimes possible to get the higher capacities, even with
older
> >systems, by using drive translation software, which used to be freely
> >available, but now most manufacturers charge for it, if you can even get
it.
> >You have to use whatever the drive manufacturer supplies.  For instance,
you
> >can't use IBM software to get your Western Digital drive working.  I
> >personally don't like this method, as it adds another chunk of Things
That
> >Can Go Wrong.  If you need more capacity, I suggest a PCMCIA card
external
> >hard drive.  Not easy to find these days, but much better than funky BIOS
> >tweaks.
> >
> >Pagan
> >
> >> "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
> >> news:11acou8lcgglkec@corp.supernews.com...
> >> > "Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
> >> > news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
> >> > > I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to get a
> >> bigger
> >> > > HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to check
> >which
> >> > were
> >> > > applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the
> >motherboard?
> >> > > I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
> >> >
> >> > Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and have it
> >all
> >> > recognized by the BIOS.
> >> >
> >> > If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop that
will
> >> allow
> >> > you to return it.  If you find one that works, you can either return
it
> >> and
> >> > buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
> >> >
> >> > Pagan
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

http://support.dell.com/support/do [...] 1&devlib=1
BIOS updates, a12 is the last, are available. However, due to the 4 year  
old
BIOS is the newest, it is unlikely that large modern drives will work.
 
 
"Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message  
news:11agl8lmf4hqsaf@corp.supernews.com...
> <ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
> news:42a83be3.2238192@nntp.charter.net...
>> It's not the motherboard chipset that gets in the way of support of  
>> large
>> drives.  It's simply a limitation in the way the BIOS was originally
> written,
>> usually well before large capacity drives were manufactured.  Some  
>> brands
> of
>> desktop computers have long had aftermarket 3rd party BIOS upgrades  
>> from
>> companies like MicroFirmware (R.I.P.) with support for drives up to  
>> 132GB
> on old
>> old old Pentium motherboards.
>
> That's what I get for posting tired.  You are of course correct, it is  
> the
> BIOS.
>
> > I would recommend a BIOS upgrade, if available from the Dell web  
> > site, on
> the
>> faint hope that it will increase the drive capacity supported by the  
>> BIOS.
>>
>> Heat is the villain of computers, especially notebooks, where space  
>> for
>> circulation of air is cramped.  I would recommend a 4200rpm  
>> replacement
> drive.
>> Drives that spin faster are enticing, but they also run hotter and  
>> may
> cause
>> overheating of the system or the drive... Ben Myers
>
> I haven't had a problem with that.  I've installed a 5400 drive in a  
> Fujitsu
> Stylistic 3400 (5 years old), and it runs like a champ, even though  
> this
> thing has less free space than most laptops.  I imagine newer  
> technologies
> are keeping temps down in laptop drives.
>
> Seagate has just announced a perpendicular recording drive that's  
> supposed
> to ship this winter.  It'll run at 5400, but should be quite fast due  
> to the
> data density.  How does a 160gig laptop drive sound. heh
>
> Pagan
>
>> On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 21:57:57 -0700, "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org>  
>> wrote:
>>
>> >"Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
>> >newsuJpe.6028$CF.43365@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
>> >> So it just trial and error? And it doesn't matter about the
> manufacturer
>> >of
>> >> the hdd?
>> >
>> >In very rare instances, it does, but more likely what matters is the
>> >manufacturer of your laptop, and what they were thinking at the
> particular
>> >point in time when they designed it.
>> >
>> >As Ben mentioned, older chipsets often have problems with large  
>> >drives.
>> >Newer ones don't.  But here's the rub, with laptops, designers often  
>> >make
>> >little changes here and there that can muck things up if you aren't
> aware.
>> >For instance, I have a portable computer with no CD drive, and when  
>> >I
>> >install a new hard drive in it, I have to Fdisk the drive while it's
>> >installed in the computer.  Not a big deal, but then I have to  
>> >figure out
>> >how I'm going to install Windows, with no CD drive, no practical way  
>> >to
> hook
>> >one up, and the limitation of not being able to install it in  
>> >another
>> >computer, then just plunk the drive in the portable, because that  
>> >simply
>> >won't work with this model, though it works with the earlier and  
>> >later
>> >models.
>> >
>> >I'm guessing a 20 gig drive for you, because I installed one in an  
>> >older
>> >system (Pentium 120) and had no problems.  It may be possible to put  
>> >an
> 80
>> >or 100gig drive in your computer, but I can't be certain without  
>> >trying
> it
>> >myself on your system.
>> >
>> >You may have heard about problems with certain manufacturer's hard  
>> >drives
>> >not working in certain systems, but that was quite a while ago, back  
>> >when
>> >hard drives were anything but standardized, despite the IDE specs.  
>> >At
> one
>> >point I had to update the firmware in my Connor drive just to use  
>> >another
>> >drive from Connor.  This of course was back in 1994 or so, when I  
>> >had to
>> >connect directly to their BBS to download the update because the  
>> >Internet
>> >and WWW weren't quite ready for prime time.  This was in a desktop,  
>> >by
> the
>> >way.
>> >
>> >Anyway, those days are over.  No hard drive manufacturer wants to  
>> >screw
>> >themselves out of, say, the entire Toshiba supply line, so they make  
>> >darn
>> >sure to follow the standards to the letter.  Trial and error is  
>> >probably
>> >your best bet.  Dell isn't likely to care about your laptop,  
>> >although you
>> >might want to check their web site and see if they offer upgrades to  
>> >that
>> >particular model. (Don't bother calling, as the guy your talking to  
>> >will
> be
>> >in India and have no clue, but will probably sell you one anyway so  
>> >he
> can
>> >look good to the higher ups)  If not, then trial and error it is.
>> >
>> >When you install the drive, simply power up the computer and see  
>> >what the
>> >BIOS tells you.  If it shows the rough capacity of the drive (you  
>> >know it
>> >won't be exact, I hope) then you are in luck, install your OS and  
>> >have a
>> >beer.  If it doesn't, and shows instead something like 8 or 32 gig,  
>> >or
> some
>> >off the wall number that's not even close to the drive's capacity,  
>> >then
>> >immediately return the drive and find a smaller one.
>> >
>> >One more thing, there is plenty of variety in regards to hard drive
>> >performance, even for laptops.  You can go with a slow 4200rpm drive  
>> >to
> save
>> >battery life, a screaming 7200rpm drive for a speedy system, or a  
>> >5400rpm
>> >drive so you can glide somewhere in the middle.  I personally favor  
>> >the
> 5400
>> >drives with 16mb of cache.  I find them even faster than the 7200  
>> >drives
>> >(which have 8mb) and they do just fine with battery life.  On the  
>> >other
>> >hand, if you just want to watch movies on a plane or something, a  
>> >4200
> would
>> >probably suit you better.
>> >
>> >Again, all these are standard, so you have some choices, with your  
>> >only
>> >possible limitation being capacity.
>> >
>> >Also, it is sometimes possible to get the higher capacities, even  
>> >with
> older
>> >systems, by using drive translation software, which used to be  
>> >freely
>> >available, but now most manufacturers charge for it, if you can even  
>> >get
> it.
>> >You have to use whatever the drive manufacturer supplies.  For  
>> >instance,
> you
>> >can't use IBM software to get your Western Digital drive working.  I
>> >personally don't like this method, as it adds another chunk of  
>> >Things
> That
>> >Can Go Wrong.  If you need more capacity, I suggest a PCMCIA card
> external
>> >hard drive.  Not easy to find these days, but much better than funky  
>> >BIOS
>> >tweaks.
>> >
>> >Pagan
>> >
>> >> "Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
>> >> news:11acou8lcgglkec@corp.supernews.com...
>> >> > "Peter Brown" <peter@brown9322.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
>> >> > news:Hxnpe.6007$CF.43326@news-1.opaltelecom.net...
>> >> > > I've got a dell latitude CPi D266XT with a 4Gb HDD. I want to  
>> >> > > get a
>> >> bigger
>> >> > > HDD off ebay but which one? When I bought more RAM I had to  
>> >> > > check
>> >which
>> >> > were
>> >> > > applicable, but how do I do this for HDD. Check against the
>> >motherboard?
>> >> > > I've seen HDD from Toshiba etc.Can I buy any of these?
>> >> >
>> >> > Most likely you can fit a 20gig, possibly more, in there, and  
>> >> > have it
>> >all
>> >> > recognized by the BIOS.
>> >> >
>> >> > If you want to be sure, buy the hard drive from a local shop  
>> >> > that
> will
>> >> allow
>> >> > you to return it.  If you find one that works, you can either  
>> >> > return
> it
>> >> and
>> >> > buy one off Ebay, or just keep it and enjoy having a warranty.
>> >> >
>> >> > Pagan
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

http://support.dell.com/support/do [...] 1&devlib=1
 
BIOS updates are available , a12 is the last. However, due to the
fact that a 4 year old BIOS is the newest, it is unlikely that
large modern drives will work.
 
 
"Pagan" <adsa@deputysheriff.org> wrote in message
news:11agl8lmf4hqsaf@corp.supernews.com...
> <ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
> news:42a83be3.2238192@nntp.charter.net...
>> It's not the motherboard chipset that gets in the way of support of
>> large
>> drives.  It's simply a limitation in the way the BIOS was originally
> written,
>> usually well before large capacity drives were manufactured.  Some
>> brands
> of
>> desktop computers have long had aftermarket 3rd party BIOS upgrades
>> from
>> companies like MicroFirmware (R.I.P.) with support for drives up to
>> 132GB
> on old
>> old old Pentium motherboards.
>
snipped

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Pen" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:GbqdnbQTYJpcETXfRVn-1A@adelphia.com...
>
http://support.dell.com/support/do [...] 1&devlib=1
>
> BIOS updates are available , a12 is the last. However, due to the
> fact that a 4 year old BIOS is the newest, it is unlikely that
> large modern drives will work.
 
The 80gig Fujitsu 5400 drive works perfectly in my ST 3400, and it's 5 years
old.
 
Pagan

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Pen" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:naCdnSEA55aeETXfRVn-uQ@adelphia.com...
>
http://support.dell.com/support/do [...] 1&devlib=1
> BIOS updates, a12 is the last, are available. However, due to the 4 year
> old
> BIOS is the newest, it is unlikely that large modern drives will work.
 
It'll likely handle a 20GB and probably 40GB. 4 years is recent on this
issue.