Pavilion dm4 Hard Drive Replacement

[lcd42]

So, I have a HP Pavilion dm4 1165dm windows 7 64 bit, around a yeah and a half old.

A week ago, the hard drive suffered some sort of permanent fatal event and quietly left this mortal coil.  If you want details: any kind of boot was impossible.  System recovery couldn't even see the drive, an external reader couldn't talk to it, and it crashed any machine that tried.  I was forced to send it out for data recovery- they tell me the drive has hard errors and at least one of the reader heads is non-functional.  They will be able to recover stuff for me, but the drive is a loss (yeah I know, I know- I should have backed up).

So as I see it- I've got two problems to overcome.  One- I need a new hard drive.  Two- I need the stuff to put on my hard drive (it came with nothing- I don't have disks for the OS, drivers, nothing).  What does HP offer in terms of fixing these problems?  How much do these options cost?  Who do I talk to to get them?  (I've tried calling tech support, but there's been a bit of a language barrier.  Also, I'm out of warrenty, and they want $60 to troubleshoot before they'll even talk about hardware and/or software replacement).

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

You can order a 500 GB 7,200 hard drive to replace your existing one.  You can't go smaller if you want to use recovery disks.

I like this place to order PC hardware.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600030594&IsNodeId=1&bop=And...

I would go with the first one listed, but that is up to you. Look at the reviews and prices and pick the one you think will suit you the best.

You can order recovery disks from HP. You will need to call them as the link to the website to order them is broken.  Cost should be less than $20.00

You will need the full model number of your PC. I don't see a dm4-1165dm.  I see a dm4-1165dx, and you will need to provide the serial number.

If HP doesn't have a set of recovery disks for your PC any longer, you may be able to use this workaround to install W7 on your new HDD.

If you can read the 25 character Microsoft windows 7 product key, you can download plain Windows 7 ISO files to burn to DVD's for the version of windows that came installed on your PC, and that is listed on the Microsoft COA sticker on your PC's case.

Burn the ISO using the Burn ISO option on your DVD burning program and burn at the slowest possible speed your program will allow. This will create a bootable DVD.

Use the 25 character product key on the PC to activate the installation.

The key will activate either a 32 or 64 bit installation.

Then go to the PC's support and driver page to install the drivers you need.

Link to the W7 ISO file downloads is below.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-s​p1-iso-from-digital-river/

Paul

[lcd42]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah, it is 1165dx.  Sorry for the typo.  Would recovery disks even help though?  If I'm starting with a clean drive, I wouldn't think there would be anything to recover.  Unless there are other resources on the disk that would be of use to me, burning an instalation cd sounds like the better option (thankfully the product key is completely legible and even protected by plastic).

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Recovery disks reinstall the operating system and all of the programs that came with your PC when it was shipped from the factory on an existing or new hard drive.

If you can live with what you can get from your notebook's support and driver page, then using the workaround is the cheaper way to go, and your notebook will run better, since the OS isn't full of "bloatware."

For an antivirus/antispyware program, I recommend the free Microsoft Security Essentials program.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials

Sometimes folks have trouble with the recovery disks not working.

Since you can read your product key, you can elect either option.

Paul

[lcd42]

Follow up question.  When shopping for for a replacement hard drive, what do I need to be looking for to make sure it'll be compatable?  Aside from the phsyical dimentions, of course.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I posted the link to drives above that would be compatible.

If you want to buy elsewhere, then you would want to get a 7,200 RPM drive to maintain the drive performance you had.

If you don't care about performance as much as battery life between charges, then get a 5,400 RPM drive.

If you want to get a 1 TB drive, then you must ensure it has the same physical thickness as your current drive or it may not fit in the drive bay. Some 1 TB drives are thicker than 500, 640 or 750 GB HDD's.

And again...if you plan on buying recovery disks, do not go smaller than the 500 GB drive your notebook came with.

Paul

[lcd42]

No, I meant something more along the lines, what are the criteria for compatability?  Are gross memory capacity and RPM really the only significant factors?  I expected to have to account for something like differing communication protocols, or connector styles, or something.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

OK, I get ya...

The only other thing you need to be concerned with, is that the connector is a SATA interface (vice IDE), and on your model, you want a SATA II (3.0 GB/S) drive.

Paul

[CCVirginia]

In a DM4, I replaced the original 500g drive with a 750g drive, did a block-level drive clone using EaseUS Todo. After the copy the new drive would not boot.  The new drive is:

Seagate Momentus 7200 750 GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 16 MB Cache 2.5 Inch Internal Notebook Hard Drive -B...

Is there any reason to suspect either this drive or the software? Could there by an issue with the drives bloc size?

I updated the BIOS. Also, the drive seemed to test ok from the bios.

Thanks!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Try installing windows 7 using the method below since you have your data backed up.

The main goal here is to test the hard drive to see that it will boot with a plain installation of windows 7.

If it does, then your image is bad.  If it doesn't then your hard drive may be defective.

If you can read the 25 character Microsoft windows 7 product key, you can download plain Windows 7 ISO files to burn to a DVD for the version of windows that came installed on your PC, and that is listed on the Microsoft COA sticker on your PC's case.

Burn the ISO using the Burn as ISO option on your DVD burning program and burn at the slowest possible speed your program will allow. This will create a bootable DVD.

Use the 25 character product key on the PC to activate the installation.

The key will activate either a 32 or 64 bit installation.

Then go to the PC's support and driver page to install the drivers you need.

Link to the W7 ISO file downloads is below.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-from-digital-river/

Paul