Maximum PC

How pathetic is a 30GB hard drive these days? I am looking for a internal hard drive that will fit my Dell Inspiron 5100. I was looking at the Hitachi 7K200, but will it fit? The Dell website does not have the dimensions and I need the space badly. Right now I have 2.97GB left. It's funny how and iPod has more storage in a much smaller device. Is 2.5" the general width of these drive bays?

Most internal laptop drives are 2.5" 9mm form factor.

A long time ago (1999-2001) Dell used to use 2.5" 12.5mm hard drives.


Make sure you get the correct interface for your laptop (ATA/6, SATA)

How do determine the correct interface? Will it be on the old hard drive? Will pulling the hard drive to check cause any circuitry or memory issues (while the machine is shut off of course)?

The Dell website shows the drive to IDE;

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=6X762&mfgpid=157980

Can I find the interface without removing the drive?

You can look in your BIOS. You will see either IDE or SATA or both drive options depending on what you have.

You can check you device manager under disk, IDE controlers or SCSI and RAID controllers.

Or use Windows system information tools.
Click start, all programs, accessories, system tools, system information then expand the list under components and storage.

Yeah, I found it to be ATA under the IDE tab. That was very helpfull thanks 00john00. I will be changing out the old hard drive for a new one, probably a big Hitachi. What's the best way to go about doing this? Will I have to reinstall everything or what?

You can have more than one listed in the Device Manager. I have an IDE DVD\CD drive and a SATA hard drive. Just make sure none of them are listed. The best way I guess is to physically check or look into the BIOS.

You should reinstall everything.

I figured as much. Thanks 00john00.