Cant' find replacement hard drive for Toshiba laptop

[anken]

Hi, I have the Toshiba Satellite P775-S7236 laptop. It is about 6 years old.
The HDD died and I can't seem to find a place where to purchase a new drive. Have purchased one online (was supposed to be for the Toshiba Satellite P775 series) It did not fit.
The pins lined up but the little prongs on either side kept it from sliding in. I have contacted Toshiba Support but have been told to go to their website which I have done several times. Their phone support is of no help either.
Can't find the replacement anywhere...The other online retailers don't specify if it fits my laptop and I don't want to buy the wrong HDD again.The original drive is: MK757GSX (750GB) Has anybody had as much problem with Toshiba? I had no idea that it would be so difficult to buy another laptop HDD.
Does anybody know where I can find this replacement? Any suggestions will be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[mazboy]

according to the interweb, your old drive is a SATA2 2.5" HDD, nothing special. You can replace it with an original Toshiba (here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00B9U44NY/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all)

or just buy a current SATA3 drive (https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000LM048/dp/B01LYNQXCP/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1515799004&sr=1-3&keywords=laptop+hdd)and accept the fact that it will run at SATA2 speeds.

The only reason I can think that the drive you tried to replace the old one with didn't fit is because you tried to install it without the original carrier. Theoretically, all 2.5" SATA drives are interchangeable.

 

[R_1]

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laptopmarket.ie%2Fimage%2Fcache%2Fdata%2FHard%2520Drive%2F2.5%2520Sata%2520HDD%25202-800x800.jpg&f=1
this is what the drive connections should look like. All SATA drive will have the exact same connection so the drive should connect unless the drive has an adapter that need to be moved from the old to the new drive. some makers will use an adapter that connects to the hard drive to save space or use a special connection. check the old drive and see if you see anything that can be removed, like this may be different example only.

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cctvcameradvrs.com%2Fimage%2Fcache%2Fdata%2FHDD%2FUnknown%2F500gb-high-write-duty-2_5-inch-sata-cctv-hard-drive-for-standalone-cctv-dvr-kit-system-500x500.jpg&f=1
the board at the back is removable and should connect to the new drive, this adapter is an adapter for a new drive (SATA) in an old (ATA) system.
https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmlb-s2-p.mlstatic.com%2Fconnector-adapter-sata-p-hp-dv6000-dv9000-dv9500-dv9700-10784-MLB20033250147_012014-F.jpg&f=1
or something like this that allows the drive to drop into the connector rather than plugging in

 

[SchizTech]

Hard drives themselves are interchangeable as you intuit and there is no 'special' Toshiba HDD (they make HDD under their brand but those are just like WD or any other make). Instead I suspect there's something else you're missing here. Is it possible you could provide some pictures? The "little prongs on either side" in particular needs further explanation. If the new HDD came with another piece (like an adapter), it might gently pull off to reveal the same pin structure.

 

[RolandJS]

I was going to suggest gently removing those little prongs, however, that would void any ability to return the HD while it's under warranty. I had to install a 2nd HD into my laptop without an original carrier, got it in and used a little piece of rolled up paper to keep it in place.

 

[anken]

according to the interweb, your old drive is a SATA2 2.5" HDD, nothing special. You can replace it with an original Toshiba (here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00B9U44NY/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all)

or just buy a current SATA3 drive (https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000LM048/dp/B01LYNQXCP/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1515799004&sr=1-3&keywords=laptop+hdd)and accept the fact that it will run at SATA2 speeds.

The only reason I can think that the drive you tried to replace the old one with didn't fit is because you tried to install it without the original carrier. Theoretically, all 2.5" SATA drives are interchangeable.

 

[anken]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to answer my question. Yes, I found out that most SATA drives are interchangeable. I swapped the HDD out of my old laptop and installed it into the Toshiba. So far, so good. Had to reinstall Windows. Used a previous purchased Win7 DVD for the old laptop. At installation I used the key on the bottom of my Toshiba since it originally came installed with Win7. Somehow it didn't load all drivers and I was unable to go online to download them. After 2 weeks of frustration, I took it to a very helpful computer repair place. Bottom line: Now I have a new SSD with Win10 in the Toshiba and all is well. Most of all, thank you very much for all of your help! This forum is so informative!