Install Larger HDD

**borgward** · December 3rd, 2012

How do I determine how big a HDD the bios on my laptop will support?

Dell Inspiron 1520 bios version A09

**Bucky Ball** · December 3rd, 2012

Try the manual ...

If you don't have a hard copy then one will surely be available online ...

**borgward** · December 3rd, 2012

Originally Posted by Bucky Ball

Try the manual ...

If you don't have a hard copy then one will surely be available online ...

Nothing in the Inspiron™ 1520 Owner’s Manual that specifies how much HDD capacity the bios will support. It just describes physically removing and replacing the HDD. Maybe I am looking at the wrong manual.

I need to know how much capacity in TB bios version A09 will support.

**cybrsaylr** · December 3rd, 2012

Dell has decent support forums where someone will help you out on this.

FWIW I have never thought it a good idea to use laptops to store important data. Laptops are too fragile and by simply dropping one, you may lose everything.

**ahallubuntu** · December 3rd, 2012

I have worked on many Dell laptops including my own. I would venture to guess you can't buy a hard drive too large for your 1520. (larger than 2TB would be too big, but you can't yet buy one that large for a laptop). The old limit (from about eight years ago) was 137GB but that's long gone. The new limit is 2TB; the new UEFI BIOSes handle larger partitions than 2TB.

[I could explain why these limits existing, but it's a long story.]

However, to be sure, I would update your BIOS (if a newer BIOS is available) from Dell's website before installing a very large hard drive. I recently worked on an HP from about 2005-2006 that still had the 137GB limit bug - easily fixed with a BIOS update, though. I was surprised.

**borgward** · December 4th, 2012

Originally Posted by cybrsaylr

Dell has decent support forums where someone will help you out on this.

Still waiting on them

Originally Posted by cybrsaylr

FWIW I have never thought it a good idea to use laptops to store important data. Laptops are too fragile and by simply dropping one, you may lose everything.

I agree. I used to work at Dell refurbishing laptops. The newer crop of laptops starting about the time the really slim line ones where you just insert a cd or dvd into a slot are extremely fragile. Very difficult to tear down and repair. You had to tear down and remove the mobo just to replace the optical drive.

The old Latitude D620 and D820 are very rugged though.