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

[Murray]

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

 

[Murray]

Likely to be a 2.5" and SATA interface.

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

 

[Edwin]

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)

 

[ian]

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

 

[wonder_lander]

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.

 

[ELIFE-MZ]

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

 

[Murray]

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

 

[spiderspider]

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

 

[Edwin]

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!

 

[Murray]

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

Thanks! I will use that