Upgrading the
Sony Vaio PCG-Z505

Hard Drive Upgrade

This upgrade could be a bit challenging if you didn't know what to disassemble and how - but you will.

Get the Parts

The stock Vaio came with an IBM Travelstar 12GB drive. Theoretically, you can replace it with any other 2.5 inch notebook drive, but you have to mind the power consumption of the new drive. There's a variable speed fan in the laptop that will compensate for a hotter drive, but you don't want a loud fan running all the time.

The easiest option is to buy a drive upgrade kit such as the EZ-GIG. This will allow you to easily copy the contents of your current drive to the new drive and then use the old drive as an external drive. There's a lot to be said for starting with a fresh install, though.

If you're going to start with a fresh drive, note that you can buy an adapter (shown attached to a drive below) to allow you to install your laptop drive in your desktop to prepare it. An adapter is necessary because laptop drives don't have a separate power cable and have a 44 pin IDE connector instead of 40 pins.

Laptop to Desktop Drive Adapter

Once again, Pricewatch.com is a great source for finding hard drives at a good value.

The Upgrade Process

  1. Remove the decorative plastic parts where the screen and laptop body meet per the following photos.

    There are no screws - just clips molded into the plastic parts. Note that the parts are not interchangeable between the left or right so it's best to store them separately once they are removed.

    2. Plastic trim Plastic trim Plastic trim

  2. Remove the two screws (one on each side) next to the speakers.

    3. Plastic trim removed

  3. With the laptop closed, turn the laptop upside-down and remove all of the twelve visible screws.

  4. Turn the laptop right-side-up and open it. The keyboard & frame around the keyboard will now be free to move, so be careful with it. Some plastic decorative parts on the sides will be free to fall-off once the case is opened. They can be snapped back into place after everything is put back together.

    5. Note the ribbon cables & wires limiting movement of the case top. Each has a quick-release connector, so you can remove them to gain greater access.

    Inside

    You can get sufficient access by only releasing the front-most ribbon cable as shown below. You should prop-open the case as you'll need both hands for the up-coming tasks.

    Inside

    If you've got a compressed air source, this would be a good time to clean things out.

  5. There's the hard drive at right-front mounted on rails. You'll have to unscrew the jog-wheel to gain access to it.

    6. Job Wheel Removal

  6. There aren't any other sand traps so go ahead and replace the drive and reverse the steps above.

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