Computer help, hard disk problem, where to buy a new one?

My laptop has broken

It's a dell Inspiron 15r se, windows 7

I got a warning message saying there was a problem with my hard disk, soon after the laptop turned itself off and now when I try and turn it back on it says

Status 0xc000000F
The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible

It suggests using a repair disk, tried that, doesn't help, just gets to the searching for windows instillations and does nothing from there

I don't think it's going to be fixable but I haven't got anything I really need to recover, the laptop works fine otherwise minus a poor battery life, I should just get a new hard drive right? I searched on YouTube how to install a new one and it seems straight forward enough even for a noob like myself

So My problem is what type of new hard drive should I get and where should I buy it? I don't know if they're all the same or different variations specific to certain types of laptops..? I want something decent but I don't really want to pay a ton, hopefully under £200.

Any help appreciated, thanks

 

Likely to be a 2.5" and SATA interface. Decide the capacity you require and go for a SSD if at all possible because these are much faster than traditional based hard disks that have moving parts. Crucial or Samsung EVO models are fairly popular. Any more specifics about your exact laptop model and existing hard disk capacity?

This may be of interest. Look on HotUKDeals web site for any special offers on SSD hard drives.

 

thanks, I was looking at a Samsung 850 2.5 from pc world which is 500mb for £125, can get a 1tb for £100 more but that's just extra memory rather than better performance right?

I think the hard drive that died is 1tb but I never really needed that

Thanks for the video, I'd already come across it when looking how I would go about putting a new hard drive in, thankfully seems very straight forward

As for more details about my current laptop, I have no idea what the important details are other than it has an i5 Intel core processor

 

Amazon usually has pretty competitively priced computer components. Other suppliers I've had success with in the past:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/
http://www.cclonline.com/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/

If you didn't get close to filling up 500GB before, you're right that there's not much point in paying the extra for 1TB. But the speed benefits of an SSD over a hard drive could be huge. I certainly wouldn't buy a hard drive as the main drive for any machine in 2016 (though I still buy them as data storage drives for desktop PCs but the OS/programs are all on a separate fast SSD drive)

 

Overclockers are very good fyi, have ordered hundred of times over the years, including a new LG ultra-wide today!

 

I upgraded my Dell laptop from a 500GB mechanical drive to a 480GB SSD and it's great step up in performance.

It's a doodle to replace a hard drive so you'll have no issues. If you're near Staffordshire I don't mind lending a hand if you're stuck.

 

ebuyer.com - they do next day delivery for most orders placed by 11pm .. prices are decent also.

 

Thanks guys

I went with a "SAMSUNG 850 Evo 2.5" Internal SSD - 500 GB" from pc world because they would deliver it tomorrow evening and there wasn't any real difference in price elsewhere

Now I just need a copy of windows 7 and to find a small screw driver hmm

 

You can download the .ISO direct from Microsoft if you still have your original key, normally on a sticker on the laptop, as long as it hasn't worn off.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7

 

Wow, I never knew that. That's awesome!

 

Thanks! I will use that