Toshiba satellite second drive upgrade

[Brian_69]

I have a Toshiba Satellite x200-fg1 PSPB9C-FG108C I would like to either increase the size of the present Toshiba MK2046GSX 180 GB with a larger sata drive or add a second hard drive. There is no connection for this second Hard Drive in the Bay it is meant to fit. Is there a kit to enable this?

 

[AntiZig]

what bay are you referring to? 2.5" hdd should come with its own ribbon i believe

 

[Brian_69]

what bay are you referring to? 2.5" hdd should come with its own ribbon i believe

Hi Antizig Its the second bay on the bottom right when you turn it over on its lid. the cover on the bay has 2 retaining screws. the drive that came with the laptop is in the middle has a cover with 1 retaining screw. looking at the x205 model there is a extra connecting block in the second bay. does this shed any light on the subject. Thanks for your reply

 

[RetiredChief]

I have both the Toshibia A205 and the A305.
(1) There is a 2nd drive bay on both - BUT Tosibia did NOT put the HDD connector on the MB. SHAME on them as added cost would have been about $5 if that much. Often thought about having the connector solder on, BUT then Do not know it the "Limited" bios would ever recognize it.

(2) Addind a larger HDD should not be much of a problem.
.. (A) first verify that it is a SATA HDD. If unsure, just look at the current drive, or get model number off of it and google (Most Laptops use the SAT version)
.. If using windows 7. Select Back-up form control panel, then create an image of your system drive. You can put this image file on either a external HDD or on multiple DVDs. when done you will be prompted to create a bootable restore disk. When done.
.. Remove Old HDD, and replace with new larger one.
.. Pop in restore Disk and select restore from image.

.. Bang-pop- gee wess - Done. Reboot and everything is just like it was only on a larger HDD. No reloading windows, no re installing programs, all email and favorites are there.

Added - just googled your HDD - Yes it is SATA
Your choice: http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600003459&IsNodeId=1&name=SATA%203.0Gb%2fs

I did not see the x200 listed, but the x205 does show two HDD bays that can be used.
Should just have one or two screws holding the cover. Remove and look to see if there is a connector to plug the Drive in. If so You will probably have to get a "holder" for the HDD (if you do not have, or not included then will probably need to order from toshibia.

 

[AntiZig]

looking at this: http/www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba-Satellite-X205/take-apart-laptop-1.htm

the step 2 pic shows as you say a plastic assembly at the bottom right. the black piece of plastic between the metal holder for the hdd and the point where the dial up modem board begins is covering the connector for second hdd. But even in that pic it looks weird unless it plugs straight into the mb.
are you saying that part is missing in yours?

 

[Brian_69]

Hi RetiredChief, Thanks for the feedback. The only concern I have with getting and putting a bigger Hdd in is to what size does the BIOS detect too. I purchased this when I was living in Canada now I'm in Scotland. I have sent a request to Toshiba in Canada still waiting a reply. Thanks again.

 

[Brian_69]

looking at this: http/www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba-Satellite-X205/take-apart-laptop-1.htm

the step 2 pic shows as you say a plastic assembly at the bottom right. the black piece of plastic between the metal holder for the hdd and the point where the dial up modem board begins is covering the connector for second hdd.
are you saying that part is missing in yours?

Yes

 

[Brian_69]

Yes it is missing though the BOIS allows for 2 drives

 

[RetiredChief]

You should not have a problem with size. What size are you looking at??
Most common used size is the 500->750 Gig (1 TB the largest @ newegg currently).

I used a 500 gig in my old A205.

Note the Prices of HDDs (Both laptop & Desktop) prices have skyrocketed due to flooding of plants in SE Asia. Probably will not come back down for several months. If memory serves me right I paid less than $75 for a 750 gig drive. What I've done with my laptops is to replace all the mechanical HDDs with SSDs (for performance). But even a $150->$200 SSD is only 120/128 gigs. I put the HDD in a USB enclouser and connect when I need the extra space. Also use 32 gig/64 gig thumbdrives.

On connector. Most laptops use a connector on the Motherboard that the drive plugs directly into. It is that MB connector that is missing on my A205 and A305. I recently bought a samsung RF711-S01 (17" I5-2410M) that does have dual bays (I put two 128 gig SSDs in), it uses a short cable. Sata at one end for pluging into drive and a NONstandard connector on the MB.

 

[Brian_69]

Hi RetiredChief Its good to know that you have tried putting the larger drive in and it works. I will now go and see how good a deal I can get here in the UK. Thanks once again

 

[RetiredChief]

Good Hunting
Oops that's for me - going deer hunting next week.
So Make that good bagain shopping!!

 

[Brian_69]

Thanks, Hope you have good luck too.