Replace with bigger hard drive on HP 620

[PinguThePenguin]

I need a bigger hard drive on my laptop, a HP 620 Notebook, product no WT249EA#UUW, serial no CNU1060PR9. It is originally equipped with a 320 GB SATA II HD. I wish to install a a 500 Gb or, if possible, even a 1 TB HD. I am looking at

HITACHI TRAVELSTAR Z7K500 2.5" 500GB 7200RPM SATA/600 Buffersize 32MB and

HITACHI TRAVELSTAR 7K1000 2.5" 1TB 7200RPM SATA/600 Buffersize 32MB.

Both drives are SATA III and the original drive is SATA II.

I have tried to work out if my laptop can handle a larger drive but the information I can find is contradictive. I am most grateful for any help!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Below is the link to the service manual for your notebook.

Chapter 3, page 37 lists the supported hard drives.

http://h20628.www2.hp.com/km-ext/kmcsdirect/emr_na-c02780494-1.pdf

I don't think that you should have any issues installing a 1 TB hard drive, but that is just my opinion.

In other words, I don't see any reason why a 1 TB HDD wouldn't work in your model.

However a SATA III drive will only run at the SATA II speed in your notebook.

The chipset in your notebook only support transfer speeds up to SATA II.

[PinguThePenguin]

The largest drive in the manual is 500 GB.

But I looked at this page:

HP 620 Notebook PC - Removing and Replacing the Hard Disk

There I found the 500 GB drive HP original part no: 611029-001

Then I searched the HP parts store with that part no and checked the page “Products using this part”:

HP Parts Store

Clicked on “HP 620 Notebook PC”, and was disappointed not to find the product no for my laptop (WT249EA) in the list.

But, the motherboard that can be used in my laptop (WT249EA), can, according to HP Parts Store, also be used in WT260EA (one of the laptops that is mentioned in the list “Products using this part”).

So the safest option for me is probably to order the original 500 GB drive.

It will hopefully be large enough until it is time to buy a new laptop.

Many thanks for your quick answer!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

You can buy any 500 GB drive you want.  You do not have to buy a HP-branded drive.

For your notebook, I would recommend this one...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136856

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

If it will take a 500 it will take a 1TB and yes, do not try to buy the hdd from HP. Buy it from a retail source due to price considerations. If you buy a 1TB drive and it does not work I will buy it from you at cost I am so sure it will be fine. 

[PinguThePenguin]

I am know encouraged to buy the Hitachi 1TB HD. I am on a tight budget now and this drive will be much cheaper than the HP 500GB original drive. Thank you all for taking the time to answer me!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[PinguThePenguin]

I have now successfully installed the Hitachi 1TB HD on my HP620 laptop.

Thanks again for great help!

Sharing knowledge and experience like this is wonderful, now I wish to share, maybe someone finds this useful.

I followed the instructions given by HP in the hard disk removal video:

HD removal HP620

After that I connected the RJ45 internet cable, booted the PC with a Windows 7 Pro DVD, created two 100 GB partitions and installed Windows 7 in the first partition, booted with a Windows 8.1 DVD and installed Windows 8.1 on the second partition. I used Windows 8.1 to format the remaining space on the HD. The PC is now operating at lightning speed!

HP doesn’t encourage users to upgrade models purchased before October 1st 2011 to Windows 8 (and since my laptop was delivered in April 2011 maybe I was just lucky).

Read more on HP support site:

HP620 support page

All the drivers needed (wifi, touchpad, etc) was installed with Windows Update on both systems.

Nevertheless I downloaded HP Support Assistant on Windows 7 (not available for Windows  😎 and ran the HP Support Assistant "Maintain" function which updated 3 drivers and “HP Software Framework” automatically.

Sadly CD/DVD/MP3 playback only works if I choose to boot Windows 7 on my system, but I am still trying to make it work on Windows 8, if I find a solution I will post it later.

[PinguThePenguin]

After upgrade to Windows 10 CD/DVD/MP3 playback works!

I also had another problem with both Windows 7 and 8.1. The laptop freezed every now and then when running on battery, this has never happened after I upgraded to Windows 10.

I like Windows 10, it runs smoothly on my HP 620 laptop.