Easy instructions on how to replace a Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive. First, you will need to find out the current connection type on your Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive. You need to check whether it is ATA (aka IDE) or SATA. Click here for a picture to help you see the difference between ATA and SATA. Pay close attention to the difference in cables as an ATA drive will have a much wider cable than a SATA drive.
Next step is to decide on the size of drive you want. You are basically free to choose any size hard drive you want to, but your best bet is to go with one that is the same size as your Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive or bigger. It is usually not good to go with a smaller disk if you can help it. If you are not sure what size your Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive is you can check yourself by opening “My Computer” on your desktop and then right-clicking on your “C” drive and selecting “Properties”. From there you should be able to figure out the size of your current hard drive. Another way to find out the size is to take the drive out of the computer and look at the sticker on it which will usually state the size.
Next is to purchase a new disk to replace your Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive using the information you just gathered (i.e. 360GB SATA drive or 500GB ATA drive). You can buy new hard drives from many different places online as well as in many stores. Just hunt around until you find a good price that you are willing to pay.
After you purchase a new hard drive you will need to transfer the information from the old to the new. There are two different ways of accomplishing this:
Method 1: Clone your Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive. This method will make an exact copy of your old Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive and transfer it to your newly purchased drive. The result will be an duplicate of how you had things as before. All your programs will be installed, your desktop will sill look the same, etc. The main drawback is that if you had any viruses or errors on your old disk those too would be transferred to the new drive.
How to clone your drive: You will need to obtain cloning software from somewhere online or in a store. Two popular titles include Norton Ghost and Easeus Disk Copy. (Note: Easeus Disk Copy is free to download, just Google it!) One you have the software installed you will need to learn how to use it as it pertains to cloning disks. The quickest and simplest way to clone a disk is to make a bootable CD or flash drive. The cloning program should be able to create one for you. Then, simply connect both hard drives to the computer and boot it up using the created CD or flash drive. Because each program is different I can only tell you to take it step by step until it is copied. After that, you simply remove the old hard drive and boot the computer to the new one. Once done, you should have your Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive replacement ready to go (If not then you will need to move on to method 2).
Method 2: Clean install and copy your files over. This method simply means installing a fresh copy of Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista or 7 on your new drive and then copying over all your important documents, pictures, music and anything else you want to keep. This is a much simpler method than the previous, but the drawback is that you will have to re-install all of your programs. This may sound like a daunting task but if you try the first method and fail, you will have to use this method anyway. This is called a “clean install” because it gets rid of all the old unused junk files on your disk and as a result it tends to speed up your computer quite a bit.
You should now be proud of yourself because you just saved a whole lot of money by not taking it to a professional to have this done. You should also feel good because you just replaced your Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX-XQ hard drive all by yourself.