Toshiba Hard Drive in Dell Laptop, PROBLEM!

[Vajra]

2.5-inch Hard Disk Drive Model MK1652GSX - Toshiba is the brand and the model number of the hard drive. It is a SATA interface. The Laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1318. I've tried everything with this.

I bought it from Ebay, and like two weeks ago it came. I thought all you had to do was put in the Hard Drive and then turn on the laptop and install the operating system. The Operating System I want to install is Windows Vista Home Basic 32Bit SP1. I have been using the re-installation disk to install it. It came with the Dell Inspiron 1318. Each time the installation reaches "Expanding Files" or "Installing Updates" it freezes.

This hard drive has no cables or other hook ups. All I had to do was unscrew the outer casing and screw the outer casing on the hard drive, then push it into the slot on the side of the laptop, then screw it all back together. Didn't need to open the mother board or anything. In the system BIOS the laptop detects the Hard Drive as 160GB Hard Disk. During the Windows Vista Home Basic installation it detects the Hard Drive as the "Primary" device in which it wants to copy the Windows operating system onto.

I'm not sure what the problem could be, I did a diagnostic test and the hard drive passes all of them, even the dell diagnostic test that takes 2hrs to finish (mostly because it's testing the hard drive). So far I've saved over a hundred of dollars by not bringing it to Best Buy Geek Squad, because they would of charged 60 dollars to do a diagnostic test (that I can do on my own) and then 60+ more to fix the problem (not including w/e the price of the item replacement needed). The hard drive cost $32.00 on Ebay and that's all I've spent so far.

I do have the Dell Utilities and Drivers CD...I've tried it, and it says the hardware (not sure if it means the hard drive or the laptop as a whole) is compatible with an "Intel Driver" that is at the top of the list. Does this mean that no other type of Driver will work? I've tried looking for a Toshiba Driver that will match this hard drive. I've also set the interface mode (in the System BIOS) from ACHI to SATA, and set the boot sequence to:
1. HDD
2. DVD/ROM

I've wondered if the Windows Vista re-installation CD had errors on it, so I wasted like seven 4.7GB disks on trying to take the errors off of an extracted Windows Vista Home Basic OS Iso (extracted it off of the re-installation disk) then re-creating a bootable image ISO and trying to install that...and it still froze It must be a missing link between the DVD drive and the hard drive. I've found different and various drivers on Toshiba's site and Dell's site, but I don't know which one is the correct one. I'll add more once I get a response (in a response post of course)!

Oh, I forgot to add that the old hard drive was replaced with this new one (it was a SeaGate brand). It gave the blue screen of death (BOS) and failed all diagnostic test (gave various errors). The reason it probably died was because my Mom would always leave the laptop on all the time (not even close to lid light). Yes this is her laptop I'm trying to fix. I guess I'm too novice, but I hear even the smartest computer geeks get stumped on installing some hard drives too .

P.S. I was using some WinHex + dasm32 program to edit values in the iso files extracted off the original re-installation CD...The original CD is fine, but I don't know why it keeps stopping at expanding files and giving errors...Is there a way to download a version of Windows Vista Home Basic 32Bit SP1 that installs drivers for you? I don't need cracks + activators or anything because I have the product key on the back of the laptop and I've written it down...

[sruon]

I've also set the interface mode from ACHI to SATA

Isn't there another option called IDE or compatible-IDE?

Also: Windows 7.

[Vajra]

No my laptop only has ACHI and SATA interface modes...This laptop was built for Vista so dunno if Windows 7 would perform well on it. I have the product key and re-installation disk for Windows Vista. Just that it freezes at "Expanding Files" or "Installing Updates." Keep in mind I am installing a fresh copy of Vista, I'm not upgrading or anything. This hard drive is blank, no operating system on it or anything.

[Rockstaru]

If it was "built for Vista," there's a 99.9% chance 7 will run better on it than Vista ever would.

[orinthia]

Sounds more like a problem with your re-installation disc's files, but who the hell wants vista when win7 performs much better?

If you're very adventurous you can try upgrading your laptop's bios to win7 oem's 2.1 SLIC (vista oem is 2.0 SLIC) and then going about creating your own win7 oem install disc for dell. I did this for a friend's dell inspiron 1420 and it worked like a charm. No loaders or anything, oem key keeps it activated forever.

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/index.php to look up how to accomplish most of this, as well as get a clean win7 iso (can install without a key to see if it works - can fix it later to be oem or use loader for activation). Have fun.

[Vajra]

Thanks man, I will try reading through the forum and try this, I will need to get some more 4.7 GB DVD/ROM disks to experiment with, hopefully it works...I did think at one point that it was the CD that had errors, and then I thought it was a missing hard drive driver, then I thought I had to rebuild master boot record and bootmgr or something...I guess if I can get the proper OEM upgraded into the BIOS then install a windows 7 iso disk and have the product key adjust to the new OS then things should be ok, or I can use a loader...thanks Orinthia and thanks everyone who responded!

[Vajra]

OMG I GOT VISTA REINSTALLATION CD TO INSTALL, I was like: "you know what, before I try Orinthia's solution, I will try to install with the reinstallation CD again"...This time I noticed that when I picked up the laptop the % of the installation would progress further. It went all the way to 100% expanding files and then installed features, installed updates and restarted, then completed installation...

I kept flipping the laptop upside down and right side up the whole time and it seemed to install that way...? Could it be the DVD/CD ROM Drive has a problem or maybe the CD has errors like Orinthia says and flipping the laptop multiple times (yes I flipped it literally) progressed the installation...

It's complete! I have Vista installed, maybe I will upgrade to Windows 7 in the future..and transfer all files, but I don't really want to have to upgrade the BIOS to Win7 OEM.to install a bootable Win7 Iso on DVD etc...THANKYOU EVERYONE, YOU ALL ROCK! Someone can close this thread now Problem solved, and I also saved the link to that forum Orinthia, it has some useful discussions and tips there! You rock man !

[Vajra]

By the way, I also installed an Intel Driver (seems like these are universal hard drive drivers since Dell doesn't make it's own hard drive brand) and it seemed to work with the Toshiba Hard Drive...Windows Vista allows you to install a driver before you begin the CD's installation, so I took out the CD and put in the Dell Utilities and Drivers CD and found the compatible one...Keep in mind I did this many times before, I'm not dumb...

Anyways though the solution was flipping the laptop upside down and right side up while the installation was going on, and it progressed...Didn't freeze at expanding files, nor did it freeze at installing updates again, just went through the installations and installed updates, restarted then completed installation...two weeks after getting the hard drive from Ebay for 32 bucks(free shipping), I finally got the operating system installed, so sad but oh well, things happen for a reason!

I Saved probably $150.00+ dollars that BestBuy would charge as total for fixing these things(60+ dollars for diagnostic which I on my own to find out that hte old hard drive had failed(had Blue Screen of Death too), and to find out that the new hard drive was working correctly before installing operating system; then they would probably charge 50+ more to change to a more expensive hard drive, then they would probably charge more for just solving the issue or adding things that would be unnecessary...or things that I could do on my own!)! Thank you everyone for your responses and thanks Oranthia!!!

Case solved!