Sony VAIO VGN-SZ Hard Drive Installation Guide
July 19, 2006 at 12:54:00 AM, by Thai Tan
The step by step guide to upgrade the 2.5-inch hard drive in the Sony VAIO SZ series laptop.
The VAIO SZ
One of the most versatile laptops available is the new VAIO SZ series. This thin and light machine comes packed with portable power, a stylish design, and loads of features, while maintaining a light and thin profile. These attributes should definitely appeal to most users who demand power and portability in a sexy package. The fastest model available uses Intel's Core Duo T2500, clocked at 2.0GHz. It is also equipped with 1GB DDR2 (supporting up to 2GB) RAM, up to a 120GB 5400RPM hard drive, and a beautiful 13.3-inch widescreen LCD powered by NVIDIA's GeForce Go 7400 graphics chip while weighing less than 4 pounds. With these specs, one may find this machine ideal for both travel and as a desktop replacement.
Speaking from my personal preference, this laptop fits the profile both as a perfect work machine for home and on the go. Add the optional docking station for additional connectivity including more USB ports and DVI to turn it into a desktop machine. Unfortunately, none of the SZ models offer a 7200RPM configuration to provide power users with the hard drive horsepower they need. Like most thin-and-light laptops, accessing the hard drive can be cumbersome. One must disassemble most of the laptop in order to replace or upgrade the stock hard drive. Unfortunately, the SZ is one of these types of machines.
This guide will show you step by step how to open up the chassis to reach the hard drive component, allowing you to install a mobile 2.5-inch hard drive of your choice.
Setup
We used the VAIO VGN-SZ260P, which is the Premium model that uses a Carbon Fiber LCD lid, however this guide applies to all other SZ models as well. In this guide, we replace the stock Toshiba 120GB hard drive with 5400RPM with a speedier 2.5-inch Seagate 100GB hard drive with 7200RPM. Keep in mind you need a Serial ATA hard drive, the regular old Parallel ATA drives aren't supported on the VAIO SZ series.
The only tool required for this project is a Philips screw driver. Let's get started!
Step 1 - Remove Screws
Flip the entire laptop over and remove the battery.
There are a total of 4 screws you need to remove as depicted in the red circles.
Begin removing one at a time.
Step 2 - Removing the Keyboard
After you remove the four screws from the bottom chassis, flip the laptop over and take a look at the keyboard area.
Now look carefully at the top corners of the keyboard, there is a tiny little button that you need to push in order to release the keyboard.
Push it inwards with your screw driver or finger.
Push both the release keys while pulling the entire keyboard towards you.
Gently lift up the keyboard towards you, while flipping it over.
The keyboard has been removed!
Step 3 - Removing the Palmrest
Looking inside, you will need to remove three screws as depicted in the red circles below.
Next, gently slide the entire palm rest chassis towards you.
Before you lift the palm rest, notice the delicate ribbon cable on the underside. Then lift it upwards, flipping it over. Be careful not to rip the ribbon cable that's connected!
You now have access to the hard drive!
Step 4 - Removing the Hard Drive
Remove three screws from the cage holding the hard drive as depicted below in the red circles.
Next, gently remove the SATA cable from the hard drive. It may require a bit of effort to pull the SATA cable from the hard drive, just try to be gentle. Note that there is tape over the SATA cable underneath the hard drive making the SATA cable more difficult to pull out.
Be careful in this step not to rip the ribbon.
The hard drive is now removed!
The next step is to just remove the stock hard drive from its cage be removing the screws on the edges and replace it with the hard drive of your choice. Carefully screw it all back in place, slide the keyboard back in and power on your system!
Replacing Toshiba 120GB hard drive 5400RPM with Seagate 100GB 7200RPM 2.5î Hard Drive.
Enter the BIOS by pushing on F2 key during the VAIO boot screen. Ensure the proper hard drive is listed in the BIOS.
Insert your Windows XP or Recovery DVD disc to begin installing the operating system!
Enjoy the extra 7200RPM performance boost! To see which drives perform the best, check out our hard drivereviews. Discuss in our forums if you have questions!
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Comments
Nasir at 05:15, August 18, 2010
I have had the vaio sz 650n for 2 years. At first I have been satisfied with it, but 2 month ago the geforce gerphic chipset failed, and right now the fan makes too much noise. I have to use it 8 hours a day, and the noise drives me crazy! I was wondering if anyone can let me know what I should do????
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unidec at 04:47, February 24, 2010
I have upgraded my vaio SZ to 2Gb mem. and to 320Gb 7200rpm HD since this upgrade i have a boot problem need to boot/stop the pc 3 to 5 times before the boot effectively starts,already reput the old mem and tried a slower hd 5400rpm no succes any idea what could be wrong, many thanks in advance
David at 03:43, February 03, 2010
This is a great article and perfectly accurate. I upgraded to a 250Gb 7200RPM Seagate but I'm having all sorts of problems, ranging from BSOD at boot (before the logo screen) and now it can't find "ntoskrnl.exe" even though it exists in c:\windows\system32 and after replacing it off the original installation CD using expand. I'm guessing there is some BIOS problem or similar. Going to call Sony.
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dalerojo at 19:36, January 13, 2010
does anyone know if i can replace the sata drive with an SSD sata drive?
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mohit rishi at 22:22, December 14, 2009
awesome i repaired my lap on my own
mohit rishi at 22:22, December 14, 2009
awesome i repaired my lap on my own
Richard at 11:18, December 03, 2009
Just like leviticus, I detached the cable from the motherboard, the drive comes out very easily.
R K Singh at 21:12, November 29, 2009
Very nice guide. Thanks a lot.
R K Singh at 21:12, November 29, 2009
Very nice guide. Thanks a lot.
Fleon at 13:46, November 12, 2009
Great Article. Thanks a lot. Does this procedure apply to VAIO VGN385e?
Mohammad Ali at 09:12, August 22, 2009
Thanks Thai Tan, The explanation and images are very much easy to understand.
Polish Salon at 12:18, July 09, 2009
I need help with my sony vaio, i think the os is damaged BUT i was told that my hard drive is fired not the os. Maybe someone out there can help me out with this problem. OK, when i turn on my laptop the main screen just keeps on returning back to the main screen again. I would gladly appreciated it.
keith at 10:36, July 04, 2009
Thanks. Great article. Get me all set in 20min. Smooth ride in change my HDD. Thumb up.!!
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letmep at 23:48, June 23, 2009
Thank you very much for the instruction. you're the man and awesome. I'm now able to replace the HDD myself. I'm so happy.
David Lim at 11:47, May 31, 2009
You saved my life! Great work and thanks
Ali Rauf at 15:27, May 28, 2009
My laptop is not booting. When I press the power button, the power light and the battery light turns on for a sec and then goes off. Nothing else happens. Can anyone tell me what's the problem. I used it last night but today when I tried to turn it on, it is not working!
Phil at 03:39, May 07, 2009
My mouse freezed up and I was told becasue of a electrical short (I can feel the buzz when I plug the charger in) I need to remove the touchpad and insulate it from the palmrest. Above instruction gets to removing the plamrest, any additional instruction on how to remove the touch pad and insulate will be greatly appreciated
me at 23:54, March 05, 2009
Thanks but still cannot get the hdd out. Do you know hoe to remove the side panel so that the hdd can be slided to the side?
Glenn Derringer at 10:19, February 23, 2009
You guys are terrific. I need to change the hard drive on an older Sony Vaio VGN-T250. I can get down to removing the keybaord as I've changed the RAM. However, how does one get to the hard drive. Even though it's an old computer, I like it for it's size. Can you tell me how to get to the hard drive in this laptop? Thanks!
mue at 21:59, February 22, 2009
hey guys, great work here! i have same laptop that i need to change the fan, i was wondering if you could guys post a tutorial on how to replace the fan on this laptop, be greatly appreciate it! thanks in advance
mue at 21:58, February 22, 2009
hey guys, great work here! i have same laptop that i need to change the fan, i was wondering if you could guys post a tutorial on how to replace the fan on this laptop, be greatly appreciate it! thanks in advance
moe at 21:56, February 22, 2009
hey guys, great work here! i have same laptop that i need to change the fan, i was wondering if you could guys post a tutorial on how to replace the fan on this laptop, be greatly appreciate it! thanks in advance
mu at 21:53, February 22, 2009
hey guys, appreciate your work here, i have a vgn sz laptop that i need to replace the fan. i really need your help there, if you guys could post a tutorial on that as well would be greatly appreciated thanks
Janine at 18:43, February 15, 2009
Thanks so much. I replaced my keyboard through this article because trying to figure it out throught the service manual was like learning a new language...
ryanmagin at 13:21, October 31, 2008
how do i view this guide? i see no link...
ryanmagin at 13:21, October 31, 2008
how do i view this guide? i see no link...
fitmoc2910 at 20:37, October 31, 2008
where's the link ..
steelen at 04:33, November 01, 2008
glad its not just me! Where's the damn link???
avenloh at 07:58, November 02, 2008
STupid site !!!!no link!!!
avenloh at 07:58, November 02, 2008
STupid site !!!!no link!!!
Ace5719 at 11:24, November 04, 2008
The guid had photos? whats up?
leviticus at 07:07, December 30, 2008
Excellent guide! A few comments: 1) It would have been great if all photos were clickable, to get a larger version. 2) When removing the keyboard, I had to use a bit of force and actually bend it a litte, to make it loose from the small stops at the top left and top right corner (left and right of the tint buttons). 3) Removing the HDD is much easier if you simply detach the cable from the motherboard first. At least on my VGN-SZ61XN_C, there was a white connector on the motherboard and the cable was easily detachable.