HDD died, need a new one. Please read and Suggest one of me :)

[Shpati]

Hi,

My brother has a Dell E510, and his Hard Drive just died. It says "2 active partitions found" and "no boot device available" on start up. I switched it with another Hard Drive, it used different types of cords, but it worked. So I am 99% sure that my brother needs a new Hard Drive.

Can someone here suggest me a good Hard Drive off NewEgg.com. I would like to get him one that was similar to the one that just died after 6 years (because I know it will work). I rather not take a risk on the fancy ones.

The one that died was a Western Digital Caviar SE. It says Serial ATA on it. 250.0 GB. 7200 RPM. So anything along those lines should work.

Any good suggestions?

He has Pentium D 3.4 GHz, 400 Watt PSU, 4GB of Ram. Dell E510.

Some numbers I found on it (not sure if that are of help):
S/N: WCANK2595040
WD2500JS
MDL: WD2500JS - 75NCB1
DATE: 06 MAR 2006
DCM: DSCACT2AA
DS/N TH - 0FC063 - 12552 - 636 - 03QH
DP/N 0FC063
C/O TH
Rev A00

EDIT: Also, how would I do a factory restore on a new HDD. Can I use the Dell Recovery CD? Or will I need to buy a new Operating System.

My brother is going to call Dell tomorrow to see if he can get a new Recovery CD.

 

[pdxalex]

The Dell didn't ship with a full copy of Windows? Or perhaps that's what's on their "recovery CD'. What does it say on it? Usually it says something like "operating system - already installed on your computer" or the like.

Either way, you'll need a full copy of Windows to reinstall it on the new drive and if you don't have one already, I don't think Dell would be so eager to supply you with such.

As for suggesting a new drive, any Seagate/WD/Samsung 7200rpm drive will do. Just stay away from anything "green" as they run 5400.