How to figure out if hard drive is upgradeable?

P

punkmartyr

New Member
I have an 80 gig harddrive and need more memory. I use externals but really I want more installed in the computer itself.

My computer model:

Lenovo ThinkCentre M52 Series Type 8215


I don't know the first place of where to start.. I tried to look in google and am not having luck on what the process would be.
 
punkmartyr said:
I have an 80 gig harddrive and need more memory. I use externals but really I want more installed in the computer itself.

My computer model:

Lenovo ThinkCentre M52 Series Type 8215


I don't know the first place of where to start.. I tried to look in google and am not having luck on what the process would be.
Click to expand...

It is. You need a 3.5 inch Serial ATA hdd. Hold on and I will have some options.

EDIT- Don't buy until someone else confirms this, but this should work. You just have to narrow it down. For example, how big (in memory not in physical size) do you want it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N=2010150014 1035507776 4804&name=New Product
 
Last edited:
hey thanks for the quick response

80 gig is the least I would want to go up to (160 total)

If a very high amount such as 500 gig or a tetra is available, I will consider going very high based on the price. I would like to pay $100-200.
 
It should be fine, I initially thought you might have an LBA issue but I'm pretty sure your system is new enough that it supports 48 bit LBA. :)
 
I got the hard drive

I opened up the case again. I feel like im in way over my head. I can't figure out where this thing is going to fit. I am starting to suspect maybe theres not a spot for it. I'm not sure yet.

At the back of the computer there is a space kind of.. and theres.. like two clip things on the very back, metal pieces that look like they come off if you want to install a (soundcard?) or something . Thats the only spot I see. I don't know why but I thought I would be able to stack this one under my already present drive. I don't see that happening.

It doesn't make sense though I mean there are two plugs for drives. I will keep digging around and watch some more videos on youtube (watched one but the guy had a top of the line computer with a cage and 4 slots for hard drives)
 
punkmartyr said:
I got the hard drive

I opened up the case again. I feel like im in way over my head. I can't figure out where this thing is going to fit. I am starting to suspect maybe theres not a spot for it. I'm not sure yet.

At the back of the computer there is a space kind of.. and theres.. like two clip things on the very back, metal pieces that look like they come off if you want to install a (soundcard?) or something . Thats the only spot I see. I don't know why but I thought I would be able to stack this one under my already present drive. I don't see that happening.

It doesn't make sense though I mean there are two plugs for drives. I will keep digging around and watch some more videos on youtube (watched one but the guy had a top of the line computer with a cage and 4 slots for hard drives)
Click to expand...

We will get you through this. Do you see the other hard drive? And you see the cord connected to that hard drive?
 
Thanks for the quick response guys. I have a cam and will get pics up tomorrow at the latest (its pretty late here and I can get better pics during the day). I just watched another video on youtube of someone installing a drive. Wish they had one of my model but mine is a few years old.
 
OK IM BACK

Thanks again for the help. I have put up 4 pictures here:
http://feed1.tinypic.com/rss.php?u=7pQKw+hh7K+Xs95N3jm5Pw==

I can take more and post them if needed. Please click picture 2 first it shows the overview. Picture 4 shows my current drive. There is no room under this drive for another one that I can see. It is a tight fit already.

QUESTION1: Do you guys see any way to make this work? The only thing I can see is maybe jury rigging it across the back corner as seen in picture 3. I don't see anywhere to put this thing but I am not that computer savy. I installed ram in this computer a couple of weeks ago using the help from this site and have done a windows install one time in my life to give an idea.

QUESTION2: I have purchased an external dvd / cd drive and it is hooked up. Should I take out this dvd drive and use that slot for the HD maybe? I don't want to do this unless its the logical route. If I do this I am wondering if I would be screwed if the system became inoperable and I needed to format and install windows.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I looked at the price of a DROBO and can't justify spending what they are asking for one. In fact I found myself asking if they have a patent (and/or monopoly) on the technology that the price is that high.
 
punkmartyr said:
OK IM BACK

Thanks again for the help. I have put up 4 pictures here:
http://feed1.tinypic.com/rss.php?u=7pQKw+hh7K+Xs95N3jm5Pw==

I can take more and post them if needed. Please click picture 2 first it shows the overview. Picture 4 shows my current drive. There is no room under this drive for another one that I can see. It is a tight fit already.

QUESTION1: Do you guys see any way to make this work? The only thing I can see is maybe jury rigging it across the back corner as seen in picture 3. I don't see anywhere to put this thing but I am not that computer savy. I installed ram in this computer a couple of weeks ago using the help from this site and have done a windows install one time in my life to give an idea.

QUESTION2: I have purchased an external dvd / cd drive and it is hooked up. Should I take out this dvd drive and use that slot for the HD maybe? I don't want to do this unless its the logical route. If I do this I am wondering if I would be screwed if the system became inoperable and I needed to format and install windows.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I looked at the price of a DROBO and can't justify spending what they are asking for one. In fact I found myself asking if they have a patent (and/or monopoly) on the technology that the price is that high.
Click to expand...

That's a bad link. And have you thought about taking out the old hard drive and just putting in the new one? You can easily clone it so that it is exactly like your old one, just larger.
 
bkribbs said:
That's a bad link. And have you thought about taking out the old hard drive and just putting in the new one? You can easily clone it so that it is exactly like your old one, just larger.
Click to expand...

Not sure whats going on with the link when I click it it loads.. maybe the site is down

How do I clone it I would like to do that (?) Would I open the case, plug in the new one, use a program to copy to the new one, turn computer back off, unplug old one, install new one, start computer in a nutshell? Only thing is the case would be open and the new drive sitting on my desk while it clones the way I just described. Is that how I would do it?
 
punkmartyr said:
Not sure whats going on with the link when I click it it loads.. maybe the site is down

How do I clone it I would like to do that (?) Would I open the case, plug in the new one, use a program to copy to the new one, turn computer back off, unplug old one, install new one, start computer in a nutshell? Only thing is the case would be open and the new drive sitting on my desk while it clones the way I just described. Is that how I would do it?
Click to expand...

I get a bunch of junk, but no pics.

And to clone it, you would actually still need to hook it up somehow. So if you could unplug whatever is in the other sata port (I believe you said a dvd drive?) and plug in that hard drive, then you download this (as long as you bought that Western Digital hard drive): http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&wdc_lang=en which is a cloner program. Then, you just launch the program and follow the prompts to clone it. Once it is succesfully done, as long as everything happened right, you just unplug the old hard drive, plug the new one in, and connect the dvd player back in, then turn it back on. It should boot up, and you shouldn't notice any difference other than it sayong you have more free space on your hard drive.
 
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