I’m looking to upgrade two key components in my Toshiba A25 laptop. What memory and hard drive should I install?
I’ve got a couple of questions regarding my Toshiba A25-S307 laptop. I’m looking to upgrade two key components first is my RAM. So I ask this, is there any specific brand I should go with or does it not really matter about the brand? Second question is do I need PC 2100 or PC 2700, and if available should I get it in dual channel? And for my final question what is the largest hard drive and RPM speed I can put in my laptop without over heating it. The reason I’ve turned to you, is due in large part to the run around I’ve been getting from Toshiba.
According to the Toshiba specification for this model, you should use PC2100 memory and can install up to 1GB (512MB+512MB). There are no recommendations about memory brand, but I would go with brands like Kingston or Crucial. I believe both companies offer a life time warranty on their memory. You can use PC2100 or PC2700. If you use PC2700 it will automatically slow down to PC2100 speed, you shouldn’t have any problems by using PC2700. This model doesn’t support dual channel technology.
60GB, 5400RPM is the largest and fastest hard drive that Toshiba installs into this model. You can use any larger hard drive. I don’t think that you’ll experience any heat issues if you install 7200RPM hard drive.
By the way, both memory slots are located under the keyboard. Here’s a guide that shows how to access the memory slots on Toshiba Satellite A25 laptop.
September 13th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
I have a faulty DC Socket on my medion notebook and can’t find any info on how to take it apart to replace the socket.
I really could use some help with this. I have been to repair shops, but they don’t do Medion Notebook repairs!
September 17th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Sorry Denis,
I cannot help you with your Medion notebook, I’ve never seen or repaired any of them. Check out my guides for taking apart Toshiba laptops (www.irisvista.com), may be it’ll help you to get an idea. All laptops are kinda similar and if you know how to take apart one model, you can take apart any other too.
September 23rd, 2006 at 10:51 am
I have old compaq presario 1620 laptop computer, 166mhz with 84mb ram, I have 2gb hard drive and I replace it with 30gb HD. my problem it connot recognized my new HD is there any trick, the bios read only 8gb
September 25th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Mond,
Most likely the BIOS doesn’t support large hard drives. Check out if there is a newer version of the BIOS that fixes this problem. I think 8GB is as much as you can go.
November 15th, 2006 at 12:44 am
I have a toshiba laptop – satellite A60 and I want to know if its RAM can be upgraded or not. Currently it shows 192 MB of RAM when seen by right clicking my computer in windows XP.
I want to upgrade to 512MB can anyone expert please advice me.
Thanks in advance.
November 15th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
Raman,
Toshiba Satellite A65 has one memory module integrated into the system board (not sure if Satellite A60 has onboard memory: see the next comment) and it also has one memory socket available for memory upgrades. The memory socket could be accessed from the bottom of the laptop if you remove the cover right in the center. It looks like at this time you are using only onboard memory. You have 256MB and 64MB are allocated for the video card, that’s why you can see only 192MB in the “My Computer” properties. You can install one more memory stick into the slot on the bottom. If you install 256MB module, the total amount of memory in the laptop would be 512MB but the properties it will appear as 448MB (64MB still used for video purposes).
I believe that Satellite A60 uses PC2100 RAM modules, but PC2700 should work to (it will run at PC2100 speed).
November 16th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Hello Laptop Freek. Thanks for your reply, its not only helpful but 100% correct. I just called in Toshiba and they told me the same thing except the fact that they told me it has 2 slots… well it does not matter as I have ordered a single 512 MB of RAM and now I expect it to grow to 256 (Orignal) + 512 New.
Now its my time to help you…I am a web designer and I am willing to extend any sort of help I can offer with your website or elsewhere. Please feel comfortable to ask me.
Thanks Again
Raman Ladhani
(You have my email!)
+1.323.284.5001
December 1st, 2006 at 7:23 pm
I recently acquired a second-hand Toshiba Satellite Pro 490, 233Mhz 64Mb RAM, but no hard drive. It has a CD-ROM drive, no 3.5” drive
I installed the latest BIOS (version 8.00) from the Toshiba web site. I have assumed the BIOS still limits the Hard Drive to 4GB or 8GB. I purchased a new Samsung 80GB 2.5” drive and I therefore downloaded the software tool ‘DM Creator’ from the Samsung web site, which Samsung state will overcome the HDD BIOS limitations.
As I don’t have a 3.5” FDD drive and Samsung don’t have a CDROM ISO image on their web site. To overcome this problem is downloaded the ISO for the ‘Ultimate BOOT CD’ from http://www.ultimatebootcd.com. This includes the Samsung ‘DM_Creator’ utility and allows you to boot from the CDROM and chose to run DM Creator from a menu.
The Samsung utility runs and finds the 80GB HDD correctly, and partitions/formats the disk. All going well, but this is where I start to run into problems.
Once I had run the Samsung utility, I thought I should be able to boot directly from the HDD (to a command prompt?), but if I set the BIOS to boot from the HDD first, when I power-up, I just get a completely blank screen apart from a blinking curser.
I can boot from my Windows 98SE CDROM and start the WIN98SE setup, but the system hangs permanently when I get to the part of the W98SE installation which says ‘Copying files needed for Windows setup’.
I don’t know where to go from here. Any guidance you can give would be appreciated.
Thanks
Ron
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:26 am
I want to add memory to my Toshiba A100 998. I recently broke my old laptop (Acer)with water damage. I brought it to a shop to see if they could fix the Acer, they couldn’t but they did say that the hard drive was still ok in it and could be put into another computer. I want to add the 40 Gb hard drive from my acer into the toshiba while still keeping the current 200Gb hard drive in my toshiba. I’m hoping to have 240Gb by the end. Will there be a pci slot available in the Toshiba to add in the Acer hard drive and how do I have to take the Toshiba apart to access it’s hard drive/pci slot. Also any info on how to access the hard drive on the Acer(haven’t got the model no. with me at the moment).
December 3rd, 2006 at 12:33 am
Ron,
I’ve never tried “DM Creator” and don’t know what you can expect when you use this utility with old laptops and big hard drives. You said that the laptop hangs trying to copy needed files. Is it possible that you have a bad Windows CD?
Most likely this utility just partitioned and formatted the drive but in order to boot with a command prompt you have to transfer Windows system files to the hard drive. Normally you boot from a Windows 98 boot floppy disk and at A prompt type: sys c: and reboot the laptop. This command will copy Windows system files from the floppy disk to the hard drive and the laptop will boot to a command prompt.
December 3rd, 2006 at 12:38 am
Crosshair,
You cannot add second hard drive to your Toshiba Satellite A100. As most laptops this model has only one hard drive.
December 14th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Hi,
I have a HP Compaq business notebook nx6110. It comes with 256MB of memory. I bought a 512MB PNY memory card and self installed. This is the correct memory card for the laptop. When I restarted the laptop, it did not recognize the new memory card. I believe that I installed it correctly–pushed the card firmly into place. Please help!
December 15th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Julita,
Make sure the memory module is seated correctly, reseat it. Check out comments 4 and 6 in this thread. Alex had exactly the same problem with his HP Pavilion zd8000 notebook, the computer “didn’t see” one memory module. He resolved the problem by cleaning the memory slot.
December 21st, 2006 at 8:56 am
Hi, im on a toshiba satelite p10-804.
the processor has an fsb of 800Mhz
I was wonderign why have they installed 2100 memory
this leads me to believe that it will not take 2700 or 3200 memory and i cannot find a way in th ebios to change the clock ratio. would just assume that 3200 memory woudl be alot mor eeffective.
(lookign to upgrade memory btw)
thanks
December 24th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Kris,
I just checked Toshiba Satellite P10-804 notebook specifications and for some reason Toshiba doesn’t mention what kind of DDR memory it takes, it just says up to 2GB DDR memory. Very funny. According to other sources I was able find on the Internet, this model comes with PC2100 DDR memory. I assume you can use PC2700 memory but it will clock down and run at PC2100 speed (266MHz).
December 25th, 2006 at 2:24 am
ahh rite thanks.
Kris
December 29th, 2006 at 11:02 am
Laptop Freak,
I have a Toshiba A25-S208, which, I’m assuming is very similar to the laptop at issue in the main question of this post.
I’d like to upgrade from my 40 GB HD to something larger. My questions:
1) Which brand would work best with this model laptop?
2) How large of a HD can I go without causing problems with my machine?
3) Would you recommend a memory upgrade as well?
3a) If yes, same questions as 1 and 2 but regarding memory.
Thanks in advance!
Diana
December 29th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Diana,
If the laptop works with 40GB hard drive, it will work with any larger hard drive too. What brand to use? Doesn’t really matter, they all about the same. You can use 60GB, 80G, 100GB or 120GB hard drives made by Toshiba, IBM, Hitachi, Fujitsu. Make sure to buy a regular ATA laptop hard drive, not SATA.
The maximum amount of memory that you can install is 1GB (512MB+512MB) PC 2100 or PC2700 (backward compatible with PC2100). I prefer to use Kingston or Crucial brands.
January 1st, 2007 at 1:51 am
Hi, Laptop Freak! I quite like the site, it is possible to find valueable information quite fast.
I have recently bought a toshiba l10 notebook, and I quite like it. There is, however, one thing that quite disappoints me: constant hissing coming from built-in speakers. The hissing comes even if the notebook is turned off, it only stops if I remove the battery and dismount the AC adapter. Being a musician and planning to use the notebook for music creation purposes, this displeases me greatly.
I’d like to know if there is any relatively easy way to disassemble the notebook and cut off/disconnect the speakers from the motherboard?
Maybe there is some trick?
P.S. Strange, my wife’s L20 doesn’t hiss that way.
January 2nd, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Vasiliy,
There is no easy way to unplug the speakers from the motherboard. I’m not familiar with Satellite L10 (probably Europe) model, but I think it’s similar to Satellite L25 (USA). The connector is located under the top cover; it’s circled in green on the step 14 of this disassembly guide. I think your laptop is still under warranty and not sure if you want to open it up.
BTW, the hissing coming from the speakers (even when the laptop is turned off) might indicate a problem with the motherboard. Take it to a repair service center if you can.
Удачи!
January 2nd, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Thanks, LPF. After re-reading this and other questions here on the site, I think I got exactly what you suggested to me here.
Now just to gather the tools and take on my dtr’s A15′s CD-RW/DVD drive and my A25′s hard drive and memory.
Wish me luck!
February 18th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite A25 and already know that it is not equipped with wireless capabilities. I am not computer savvy and would like any advice on exactly what hardware and software I need to make it wireless capable to connect to the internet. Any help or suggestions will do. Thanks.
February 20th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Daniel,
If the laptop is not equipped with wireless capabilities you’ll have to use an external wireless PCMCIA card. These cards are not expensive and they come with software. You just install provided software, plug this card into available PC slot in your laptop and you are ready to go.
March 19th, 2007 at 4:53 am
I have an old Dell Inspiron 6000 without the ability to connect to the internet by DSL. What kind of card do I need and where do I stick it?
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Mary,
You need a laptop PCMCIA network card. You plug this card into PC slot in your laptop and then plug the Ethernet cable into this card.
June 25th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Hi I have been given a HP Compaq Presario 2100. the existing problem was a back light fault,its been in storage for almost six months, now it will no light up at all. the power supply is good (tested ok) the battery is dead. with the batt installed or removed it will not start up nor light up. stone dead!
any idears as to what the problem is and how can I fix this my self without costing a bomb at a dealer repair outlet. Im very keen to have this sorted so I can use it as my out door mobile storage pack for digital photography. any info will be of help to me so thanks and have a nice day.
Dave.
September 15th, 2007 at 10:31 am
I am upgrading an HP Pavilion ze5730us with memory. I know the memory is PC-2100 but I found a greaqt deal on PC-2700 1gb memory and ordered it. I installed it but it won’t recognize the memory. Previous to this I installed a second 256mb pc-2100 module (as the laptop came standard with only 256mb, so I boosted it to 512mb (256+256). I was intending on making this a 2gb machine (1gb+1gb) but after the 1gb didn’t work I read up on this HP Pavilion and see the max memory is only 1gb
Anyways I was assuming this would still work as it would only clock the memory down to pc-2100 speeds. Is the bad news now, in order to have 1gb of memory I need to use both slots of 512 chips? I don’t want to have to return it as I am installing this on someones laptop and I am on vacation and will be leaving here in a few days. Thanks.
October 9th, 2007 at 1:57 am
Hi Laptop Freak
I (in the UK) have a Toshiba L10 which will not run. I believe that the L10 is the same as the L25 – I have studied your notes on disassembling the latter and the layout of the screws would seem to match those on my L10.
It overheats and the CPU fan doesn’t spin which is I believe one problem. However, on occasion, I do manage to boot it into Windows XP for a while so I don’t think that this is the only problem.
I suspect that the Fujitsu 40Gb HDD may be faulty / flaky because when I try to switch on, there are a couple of muffled clicks from the area of the HDD bay.
I wouldn’t have any difficulty replacing the HDD, but I really wouldn’t know where to start with replacing the CPU cooling fan – can you help?
How extensively would I have to dismantle the laptop in order to get at the CPU cooling fan?
Any suggestions as to where I might get a replacement?
Finally, do you have any idea whether I can fit a larger (replacement) HDD (e.g. 80Gb) to this laptop or will the maximum capacity be fixed?
ps – thanks for the disassembly notes – VERY clear
October 11th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Hey surv1v0r,
In order to replace the cooling fan on a Satellite L25 laptop you have to remove the motherboard. There is no easy access to the cooling fan from the bottom of the laptop. Now I’m working on a new disassembly guide for a Satellite L25 laptop, it will show step-by-step disassembly process.
I plan to publish this guide soon on http://www.irisvista.com
You should be able to use any larger hard drive 60GB, 80GB, 100GB and 120GB without any problem.
I believe the fan comes with the thermal module (heatsink) and you cannot buy it separately. Here’s a part number for the thermal module for a Satellite L25 laptop: A000004350. If your Satellite L10 is similar to L25, this thermal module should fit into your laptop.
January 12th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite A25-S307 and was just wondering if I can upgrade the Video card or if it’s integrated into the motherboard? It seems the Trident CyberALADDiN-P4 that it came with dosn’t support pixel shading which is causing some programs not to run properly.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Hi, I own a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pro V2055 and after checking a few sources I am under the impression that the maximum HDD I can install is 60GB (as any larger will overheat the laptop) and 2GB DDR2 SODIMM 533MHz. Are these details correct or can i go higher on either or both?
Thanks in advance!
November 7th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Hi,
I have been reading the problems and solutions here for hard drive upgrades. I have a similar problem. I have a Toshiba Satellite A15-S127 2G processor,768 memory,40G hard drive. I am trying to upgrade the hard drive to a 160G. Is this possible and if so do I need to upgrade anything else? I understand the 5400 speed could cause overheating. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Rocco,
I cannot tell if it’s possible, Toshiba doesn’t provide this kind of information. You’ll have to try.
Some older laptops cannot recognize large hard drive. It might be necessary to update the BIOS.
I don’t think so. It should work just fine.
February 16th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
I have the Toshiba A25 laptop mentioned in the main posting. Once i have the new HD, can i just use the Toshiba “Recovery and applications/Drivers DVD” that came with it to restore the OS and drivers and restore it to the factory install?
Can you give me any other details regarding this process that would be helpful? My HD is going bad.
Thanks for all the GREAT information here.
February 17th, 2011 at 8:36 am
Jeremy,
Yes, you can.
Turn on the laptop and press F12 when logo appears on the screen. This will give you a menu of boot devices.
Insert the first recovery disc and select DVD drive from the menu.
Close the drive and press enter.
Follow instructions on the screen.
June 4th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
can i replace hard disk on Toshiba Satellite A60-S1661 with higher RPM? Any consequences to be aware of?
currently (original) running with 2.5″ Hitachi Travelstar 40GB 4200rpm IDE, 5V 1A.
Any problem to replace with Samsung or Seagate or WD 160GB or 120GB, 5400RPM, 8MB, IDE? It’s hard to find 4200rpm IDE nowadays.
Thank you.