Hardware Analysis Community Forums http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/ 2009-01-08T00:12:24-05:00 http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/ http://media.hardwareanalysis.com/halogo.gif text/html 2004-08-06T01:53:02-05:00 Paul K http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/?o=20#157946 Hi<br /> <br /> Does anyone know if the HD is easy to replace a sony vaio PCG-R600HFP its clicking, If so whats the max I can go to . Also Is there a way to get the operating system installed without using an iLink cd rom, as that seems to be the only way as far as I see and I only have a external USB cdrom, I do have an IDE connverter cable cable that would alow me to rig the new HD up to my desktop pc, dunno if I could load the OS like this but thought I would ask anyway.<br /> <br /> Cheers<br /> Paul text/html 2004-01-07T09:01:12-05:00 Stephen Berman http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/?o=20#90140 Hi Everyone. Just a few notes . I did manage to find a great source for Hard drive replacements on <a href="/action/r/http://www.ebay.com/">eBay</a> that went up to a 80 Gig that was very reasonable .<br /> <br /> Second I totally agree with everyone on trying to get any info from Sony when it comes to anything other than part replacement. No real help there.<br /> <br /> Third .I am in a dilema .I have a old by todays standards Laptop mod PCG F 430 that crashed reasently and I have misplaced the recovery disc,s .Sony of course does not carry them any more and it seems that it is the only way I can do any upgrading to other OS eg. XP without doing a upgrade .If you do a clean install it will not allow you update the Bios or any of the drivers from the sony web site. It needs some key stuff from the original OS in order to proceed with the updates. Acording to Sony they had modified the os at the time so it became proprietory to this laptop .<br /> If any one can get me a copy of there Recovery Disc,s ( i believe there are 2 disc's) at a reasonable price I would be most grateful. text/html 2003-11-05T06:15:53-05:00 snsei - http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/?o=20#72578 There is a guy who sells a vaio laptop lcd repair manual on ebay. It has photo's and a detailed description of how to take the screen apart. It's only $15. text/html 2003-09-04T20:49:45-05:00 G Dodge http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/?o=20#57949 Know this just slightly &quot;bends&quot; the topic - but I'm trying to replace the latch on a Vaio PCG-FXA33 - which means I've got to take the LCD screen apart, which is not intuitively obvious - anybody know how to split the 2 plastic &quot;halves&quot; (um, like, correctly so I can put them back together again...) ?<br /> <br /> As noted elsewhere on this site, Sony won't sell a repair manual, and the &quot;Manuals are Us&quot; folks can't get one either<br /> <br /> thanks,<br /> GreyD text/html 2003-06-07T04:43:24-05:00 eric holeman http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/?o=20#37795 <a class="ext" href="/action/r/http://www.divideby0.com/photos/vaio-f280/" target="_blank">http://www.divideby0.com/photos/vaio-f280/</a><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> try this link it may help text/html 2003-04-10T22:59:24-05:00 carol kim http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/?o=20#30315 I've had a PCG-XRS77 since Feb 2002, so that makes a year and 2 months for my HD.. it's been clicking away noisily for the past few months, and recently got banged which totally did it in. (i'm a bit wreckless i'm afraid). opening it up for fun, but looking on <a href="/action/r/http://www.ebay.com/">eBay</a> for a replacement now.<br /> <br /> ps: my battery doesn't last too long anymore (went for several hours brand new, but after 3 months, went down to 1.5 hours) maybe an hour max. is that normal? text/html 2003-02-04T01:32:10-05:00 Will reghetti http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/?o=20#21222 I have an f350 with a couple of HD's I could sell. The HD controller on the MB went bad (I think) but the monitor is good and the HD's appear to be good as well as the floopy drive and dvd/cd drive. It has 196MB RAM. I had the 20GB HD loaded w/Win2000 pro by a computer specialist in case the problem was with the DVD/CD drive. I sold my F450k after in stalling WinXP clean (I did not use the sony restore disks and encountered no problems). I sold it to a friend so I'd hear about it. I have never seen a pictorial about breaking down a machine. Be careful go slow and don't drop any screws. Good luck text/html 2003-02-04T00:29:59-05:00 Ethan Mallove http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#21207 Hi folks,<br /> <br /> Has anyone been successful (or know about) in operating a Sony Vaio notebook (pcg-f430) with an external hard drive only. I tried booting off a CD and installing Windows XP on the external drive but was unable to.<br /> <br /> Also, how long did your hard drives last? Mine lasted about 3.5 years <img src="http://media.hardwareanalysis.com/smilies/smile2.gif" width="14" height="14" border="0" alt=":(" title=":("><br /> <br /> Thanks,<br /> Ethan text/html 2003-01-31T05:25:10-05:00 David Risko http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#20769 I have been able to successfully upgrade the RAM on my F430 to 320mb and I would assume that it can handle up to 512 safely given my results.<br /> <br /> For those who also own a F430 and have upgraded your harddrive. Did you have to use drive partitions or would it recognize the full drive without partitions? text/html 2003-01-06T08:20:11-05:00 bruno pisani http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#18454 Myles Holt Hello, <br /> <br /> My Name is Bruno and living in Torino –Italy <br /> <br /> Also I have a f430 and I would like to upgrade the HD to 20 or 30 GB but unfortunately the my second System Recovery CD #2 G.29 is damage .Can you please make a copy of your and send to me? <br /> I will pay you all the expenses you required.<br /> If you agree I will send to you my detail address.<br /> <br /> Thanks for cooperation.<br /> <br /> Bruno Pisani <br /> <br /> text/html 2003-01-06T02:34:59-05:00 myles holt http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#18439 hello, <br /> <br /> I have a f430 and i have upgraded the ram to 256Mb and the hard drive to 30Gb, both were quite easy, I believe that the HD was an IBM, I also run a tripple boot, win98, win2000 and Linux, all the function keys don't work in win2000 and I can't be bothered to mess with drivers so I kept my 98 partition. Linux for development.<br /> <br /> To replace the hard drive I had to unscrew the speaker cover and remove keyboard, the harddrive is essentially right under the keyboard and was a snap to replace, fairly straight forward, I am now considering replacing the cpu, I have just begun to do some research on this and hence I have come across this form. <br /> <br /> I have a question to any one intrestred in replacing their cpu, where can you purchase one on these mobile pentium III's ? as I figured there is no documentation on the motherboard so I don't know if there are jumpers to set for the clock speed.. etc, can anyone confirm this? <br /> <br /> one last thing, I would like to upgrade the ram to 512Mb, but this unit is only rated to 256Mb. has any one gone above 256? <br /> <br /> just looking for some feed back and direction,<br /> <br /> Thanks, <br /> <br /> Myles<br /> <br /> PS. I never buy what those sales reps try to tell me about what I can and can't do with my hardware. text/html 2002-08-29T05:20:13-05:00 bruno pisani http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#12222 I have Sony Vaio PCG-F430 and when I try to replace HD I found the second System Recovery CD #2 version G29.0 damage. Can anybody help me with one copy of this CD?<br /> <br /> Thanks in advance!<br /> <br /> <br /> text/html 2002-07-11T22:00:55-05:00 Redbeard http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#10345 <a class="ext" href="/action/r/http://www.digitalziggy.com/PCG505F.htm" target="_blank">http://www.digitalziggy.com/PCG505F.htm</a><br /> <a class="ext" href="/action/r/http://www.divideby0.com/photos/vaio-f280/" target="_blank">http://www.divideby0.com/photos/vaio-f280/</a><br /> <br /> Here are two sites i found that are Similar... See if they help anyone ese out.<br /> <br /> Mike text/html 2002-07-11T21:20:21-05:00 Redbeard http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#10343 Hello all, <br /> <br /> I was wondering if anyone had found any good Websites/FAQ/pics of how to take apart the Sony Vaio (specifically a PCG-F430) laptop to change out hard drivers. I've taken apart <a target="_blank" href="/action/r/http://www.dell.com/">Dell</a> laptops before but I’m afraid with the poor tech support and seemingly blatant attempt to keep us from doing anything to Sony laptops that It’ll be Something funky and I’ll break it.<br /> <br /> So i want to make sure i do it right.<br /> <br /> TIA<br /> Mike<br /> <br /> text/html 2002-06-08T22:34:27-05:00 Jeff Lagasca http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/342/#9227 This may seem elementary to most of you that have upgraded: <br /> <br /> I'm looking to upgrade my F-560 to a 30-40gb hard drive (Travelstar or Toshiba) and need advice locating where the hard drive is physically in the laptop casing. I'm currently running a P-III 600 with Windows XP (upgraded last week from win98, with updated sony bios). The computer's been running great (7 days/wk, 20-24 hrs/day), believe it or not, best one I've had to date.<br /> <br /> Those of you that have upgraded your hard drives personally, what process did you undergo to complete the upgrading process (disconnecting the battery, taking off the keyboard, what tools to use, etc.)? <br /> <br /> I plan to transfer system files through cardbus to the new hdd and then slip it in hoping for the best. Would this be wise, or should I upgrade and then re-install everything?<br /> <br /> Thanks in advance!