Much bigger Hard Drive - HELP needed

[Muserseven]

Hi, I have a PCG-F801A lap, originally loaded with Windows ME, which has been successfully replaced with Windows XP.

I want to replace original hard drive, which I think is 6GB and have found available drives from 40GB to 320G, all specifically listed as suitable for my particular model.

Is it possible to make a simple swap and upgrade to something much bigger, or would I have to upgrade BIOS (or anything else??) as well?

Help please.

Thank you.
Gill

[Blencogo]

Hi Gill and welcome.

Computers sold with the original version of XP or earlier (like yours) had the limit imposed by the 32-bit addressing of 137GB for the hard drive.

Although subsequent Service Packs for XP have addressed this problem, it was common for this limit to be part of the BIOS.

However, most of the upgrade sites seem to think that you can install up to 160GB. Have a look here: -

http://www.drivesolutions.com/cgi-bin/shop/ug2store.cgi?command=listitems&kind=sol&pos=0&type=itemid...

I think you are probably OK but if you want to be absolutely sure, limit yourself to 120GB.

You may find this link useful: -

http://www.mikeshardware.com/howtos/sonyhdswap/