Installing laptop harddrive

[edong]

My niece's HP laptop with XP Home won't boot because of "system32/config/system" error. She did not have a recovery disk nor created one from the hard drive so I could not get to Recovery console. I tried Safe Mode and Last Known good configuration to no avail.

Anyway, since it is still under warranty I called HP and was told they will send a new HDD and a Recovery CD. They want to do it the easy way for them instead of fixing the registry. Problem is I have to install the HDD. I have worked on some desktops but have not yet seen the inside of a laptop, let alone, its hard drive. Is there something critical that I should be careful about installing a laptop hard drive?

Edit: Also, my niece has some important files she wants recovered. I also want those erased because HP wants us to return the HDD in exchange. Is there a way to transfer those data to another HDD? Thanks.

[edsmith77]

Having changed out several Laptop HDD, rest assured it is no more difficult than a desktop. The only difference is it is smaller. Just be sure to not drop anything inside the laptop. Like cover screws, etc.
OBTW, be sure to remove the laptop battery for safety sakes.
All that is required is to locate the access cover, remove the tie down screw and carefully slide out the HDD. Take note of the orientation and if there are any jumpers installed on the HDD. Remove the cable again noting which side is connected to pin 1 (usually a red stripe on the cable). Then reconnect up the new drive and slide in carefully being sure not to bend the connector pins inside the HDD tray area. Just go slow and do not force it. But do be sure it is seated properly. Reconnect the tie down and replace the access cover.
Power up and reinstall the OS and other SAVED data.

Now respect to the data on the old HDD. That may be a bit more difficult. There are programs out there that can recover programs from dead and dying disks, however, the HDD needs to be hooked into the system. Which is diffcult for a laptop. You might consider an external USB HDD case made for laptops and try that route. The process is easier for desk top units that have extra HDD connectors. Which is not the same for any laptops that I have run across. The external case is probably your best bet.
There may be others on this site that have a different solution.
In any case good luck.

[edong]

Thanks. It gave me confidence that I can do it.

[oldandinthe way]

www.acortech.com

usually has a USB external box for 2.5" IDE drives for $10. If the file system is intact but the o/s is crapped this a good way to access your data, and cheap.

We occaisionally acquire hdds which are replaced by businesses, we add one of these boxes and have portable storage up the wazoo.

[redwudz]

I've also used a device like this to adapt a bare drive so that it can be read over a USB port: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812186015

Most useful if you have to do this once in a while. Probably for your use, a external 2.5" drive box like edsmith77 suggested would work better for you.

[lordsmurf]

How old is the HP? A lot of HP laptops, mine included, actually have the capacity for two drives to be installed.

[edsmith77]

LS,
Back then they were called luggables, not portables.

[edong]

Thanks guys.

We have not used the HDD enclosure that my son bought because it has PATA connection. My son said that the laptop HDD has serial connector and his desktop has one. He connected the laptop HDD to his desktop MB and then I copied the five system files in the "Repair" directory to the system32/config directory replacing the corrupted ones. Kind of GUI Recovery Console. We're just lucky that the backup system files are not the corrupted ones. Of course, all programs installed after the date of those files won't run anymore.

We already created recovery discs after booting up. We might return also the new HDD that HP sent us. They are very quick (just two days) after we called. BUT, they did not include the recovery disc they promised so it's useless.

Now I'm curious if an PATA laptop HDD can be connected to a desktop using the same procedure.

To answer lordsmurf's question, the laptop is 8 months old but I don't see any other HDD connection.

Thanks again.

[Ron B]

The PATA connection on my Thinkpad T30 is a little different than the PATA drives in my PCs. The connector is a little smaller for the laptop drive. When I'm fooling around with hard drives, I use one of these things whenever I can.

[ViRaL1]

I use one of these things whenever I can.

That could come in handy. I normally use an adapter that does 2.5" to 3.5" or an enclosure. But that would kill two (or more) birds with one stone.