Dead HD in laptop - can I run windows to it from an external drive?

[RTSDaddy2]

Wasn't quite sure where this goes, so I put it under 'everything else.' 

A parent at our school wishes to buy a laptop from us, but the hard drive appears kaputski.  I explained this and she asked me if I could install a new drive; I think I can but I suggested she might want to try an external, portable drive.

HOWEVER, on the way home a question ran through my head (I think too much while I'm driving - or is that not enough? Anyway....) as to how in the hell I thought I would get the laptop to recognize windows on an external drive when I cannot get it to load anything onto itself now.

SO, my question, Mighty Heroes, is would something like that work, or do I just need to get an internal drive replacement. I do not know the model number, but it is a Sony Viao (sp?)

[DaOld Man]

Internal drive with a fresh install of windows. But make sure it is the drive, I worked on a laptop a while back that wouldnt see the new drive, turns out it was a bad motherboard.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

You'll need to know if its sata or ide. A cheap drive can be found new on newegg or such for like 4
$40. More for a bigger/nicer drive.

[lilshawn]

any particular reason you wouldn't just put a new Hd in? most laptops now have a door on the bottom... open it up pull out the old drive...put in a new one. takes 45 seconds.



bada boom  you're up and runnin'

[NiN^_^NiN]

I like lenovo laptops small screw on the side of the laptop then the drive just slides out quick and easy.

But your best to replace the drive

[WhereEaglesDare]

HOWEVER, on the way home a question ran through my head (I think too much while I'm driving - or is that not enough? Anyway....) as to how in the hell I thought I would get the laptop to recognize windows on an external drive when I cannot get it to load anything onto itself now.

It depends on your BIOS, most newer BIOS versions will allow you to boot from a USB drive while the older one just will not all it.  The answer is yes, there is a good chance that it will work, but you may need to flash your BIOS first.

Also not all laptop have an easy to access HDD, my ASUS 1201N has mine under the keyboard, you have to take the entire thing apart to get to the HDD, and void your warranty.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Just because you CAN do something doesn't necessarily mean you SHOULD do something...

[Funnel]

Just because you CAN do something doesn't necessarily mean you SHOULD do something...

 
What the hell? LOL!

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

What the hell? LOL!

Pentium II, sans fan. Boot from CD, run linux from thumbdrive.
Pointless, and mildly entertaining.

[WhereEaglesDare]

Is he hanging that by a ThumbTack?

I dont know if this guy needs a raise or if he needs a helmet...

[Funnel]

What the hell? LOL!

Pentium II, sans fan. Boot from CD, run linux from thumbdrive.
Pointless, and mildly entertaining.

 
Yeah I can see that hahahaha! I think he needs the helmet.

[CCM]

As others have already said, it's not very difficult to put a new drive in the laptop.   Who would want to carry an external drive around to boot their laptop? 

Just google around for your model of laptop, there's bound to be some walkthru's on HD upgrade/replacement.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Is he hanging that by a ThumbTack?

I dont know if this guy needs a raise or if he needs a helmet...

I used thumbtacks, paper clips, and rubber bands:





Unfortunately the PII just wasn't quite fast enough to run YouTube.. Sadly the Walltop V2.0 wasn't as thrilling to look at:

It also made more noise since you can't run a P4 on a stock cooler without a fan on it.

[Funnel]

Dude... why did you do that???

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

The guy in the red shirt needed a computer to use, and that's what I had on hand (:

As I said.. just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should.

[Funnel]

The guy in the red shirt needed a computer to use, and that's what I had on hand (:

As I said.. just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should.

   
Fair enough.