- Dell inspiron 8600 hard drive drivers#
- Dell inspiron 8600 hard drive portable#
- Dell inspiron 8600 hard drive software#
I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your specific question about the 250 GB drive. Good idea to make sure you have A14 BIOS installed. If you can return the 250 GB drive, maybe you should do that and try to get the Hitachi or the Seagate which are known to be supported by the Dell BIOS.
Dell inspiron 8600 hard drive drivers#
But many large drives have drivers which trick the BIOS into recognition. You may have to play around if the drive is not recognized by the BIOS. You can choose a "proportional clone" which will clone the 35 GB into a X size (250 GB perhaps?) and then see what happens when you swap them.
Dell inspiron 8600 hard drive software#
That software and the drive adapter will allow you to boot your I-8600 from the EZ-Gig CD and clone your drive onto the new drive. Try to get something which includes their EZ-Gig software. Go to or some favorite vendor and search for "Apricorn" and you'll find something. While that won't prevent it working, it is a shame to not take the opportunity to get a fast drive in your computer.Īpricorn makes a nifty little case which attaches by USB and holds a 2.5" drive (IDE) and they also make an adapter which will allow you to connect any drive (IDE 40 pin, IDE 44 pin, or SATA) via USB. The drive is probably 5,400 rpm instead of 7,200 rpm. If you bought a 250 GB drive without careful consideration of the applicability, you may have a couple problems. I hope you didn't get your hopes up on that. ST3160812A by Seagate (Barracuda 7200.9 PATA) - that is a 160 GB drive, 7,200 rpm, PATA (IDE) and Dell documents the setup of that drive in the 8600 at ĮDIT: I don't know why Dell lists that drive as "supported" because I just looked at the data sheet on Seagate's website and that is a 3.5" drive!! It is four inches wide and one inch high and there is no way it would fit in the laptop. Regarding the 250 GB drive, I don't know the answer - if there is a limitation on hard drive size, I don't know what it is.
Dell inspiron 8600 hard drive portable#
After you are satisfied with the new drive, format the old one and use it for a portable drive. You will have to reinstall the Operating System - I'd recommend you get the Apricorn EZ-Gig software, clone your drive (very easy) and then swap the drives. You can change this drive out yourself if you have a #0 Phillips screwdriver and just a little skill. I don't know if this will make it, but here's a link for a spec sheet on the 7200 Travelstar drives. You cannot use the SATA drive, so don't go there! You could use a 5400 rpm, but you'll LOVE the zippy performance of that 7200 rpm drive which will make your I-8600 outperform many current production computers. The other things you might see are "54" which is 5400 rpm and "SA" which is SATA (Serial ATA). Pay particular attention to the "72" which designates 7200 rpm and the "AT" which designates the ATA-6 interface. Here are the model numbers you should look for: I was lucky to purchase a Hitachi Travelstar 100 GB drive which I will use as a replacement and then put the 60 GB in a carrier as a portable drive. I have the I-8600 with the Hitachi Travelstar 60 GB which has been most satisfactory. The Hitachi information will refer to the drive in some places as ATA-6 and in others as PATA. The IDE interface is also known these days as PATA (Parallel ATA) which differentiates it from SATA (Serial ATA). Get a Hitachi Travelstar IDE drive if you can find one! The drive is fast, fast, fast - but it may be hard to find because everyone is going to the SATA interface now.