HD Upgrade - Sony VAIO F650K

To gain access to the hard drive in my Sony Vaio F650K, the keyboard must be
removed. My problem is that the single screw (above the F6 key) that must
be removed to free the keyboard appears to be extremely tight. Application
of reasonable force has not been able to loosen it. Not having a phillips
screwdriver small enough to grip the head of the screw, I used a 2mm slot
screwdriver. The slot screwdriver gripped the head quite well, but not well
enough to break it free. I believe that I need a JIS (Japan industry
standard) type screwdriver (similar to a phillips) to properly fit the head.
Can anyone who has experiences a similar problem offer any suggestions for
loosening this screw?

Thanks.
Jack

I bought an inexpensive set of jeweler screwdrivers from Fry's. Find the
best fit, grip the screwdriver with a pair of pliers (slip joint), hold down
on the top button, and turn with the pliers. Works for me.


"Jack Mandelman" <> wrote in message
news:tEA%a.160238$o%2.68155@sccrnsc02...
> To gain access to the hard drive in my Sony Vaio F650K, the keyboard must
be
> removed. My problem is that the single screw (above the F6 key) that must
> be removed to free the keyboard appears to be extremely tight.
Application
> of reasonable force has not been able to loosen it. Not having a phillips
> screwdriver small enough to grip the head of the screw, I used a 2mm slot
> screwdriver. The slot screwdriver gripped the head quite well, but not
well
> enough to break it free. I believe that I need a JIS (Japan industry
> standard) type screwdriver (similar to a phillips) to properly fit the
head.
> Can anyone who has experiences a similar problem offer any suggestions for
> loosening this screw?
>
> Thanks.
> Jack
>
>

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 01:12:57 GMT, "Jack Mandelman" <>
wrote:
>To gain access to the hard drive in my Sony Vaio F650K, the keyboard must be
>removed. My problem is that the single screw (above the F6 key) that must
>be removed to free the keyboard appears to be extremely tight.
>Can anyone who has experiences a similar problem offer any suggestions for
>loosening this screw?
>
Go to Radio Shack and get their Electronic Screwdriver Set. Runs
~$5 and I've gotten many VAIOs open with it - heck, I was inside the
Picturebook just a few hours ago. Some of those screws require firm
twisting, and you can't apply it with the wrong tools - I know that
from experience!
Emanuel
--
Portable Computing FAQ - http://home.att.net/~epbrown01
Sony VAIO 505 info - http://home.att.net/~epbrown01/sony505.html
Join the 505 Mailing List - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sony505/

Emanuel - you mention you were inside your Picturebook - PCG-C1VE by any chance?
I need to replace the (Hitachi 12GB) drive, but have not yet managed to separate
the two halves of the case. I've lifted the keyboard and removed all visible
screws. What's the trick for actually getting to the drive?

thanks, Clive.

Emanuel Brown wrote:

> On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 01:12:57 GMT, "Jack Mandelman" <>
> wrote:
> >To gain access to the hard drive in my Sony Vaio F650K, the keyboard must be
> >removed. My problem is that the single screw (above the F6 key) that must
> >be removed to free the keyboard appears to be extremely tight.
> >Can anyone who has experiences a similar problem offer any suggestions for
> >loosening this screw?
> >
> Go to Radio Shack and get their Electronic Screwdriver Set. Runs
> ~$5 and I've gotten many VAIOs open with it - heck, I was inside the
> Picturebook just a few hours ago. Some of those screws require firm
> twisting, and you can't apply it with the wrong tools - I know that
> from experience!
> Emanuel
> --
> Portable Computing FAQ - http://home.att.net/~epbrown01
> Sony VAIO 505 info - http://home.att.net/~epbrown01/sony505.html
> Join the 505 Mailing List - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sony505/

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 18:57:37 GMT, Clive Oldfield <>
wrote:
>Thanks for the link, Emanuel. You were right - I had not noticed that extra screw in
>the hinge. I've just ordered a Toshiba HDD2170 (MK4018GAS) 40GB replacement for $113
>from zeehoo.com. I've heard good things about Toshiba drives, and bad things about
>Hitachi. Hopefully the Toshiba will last longer than the 2.5yrs the original one did.
>SMART on the Hitachi didn't tell me a thing! Should I expect a warning in WindowsME
>when a drive is going bad? It rapidly got worse and ultimately won't even boot - just
>quits with a blank screen, no error message!

Hitachi took over IBM's drive-making operation, and I've never had
a problem with Travelstars. I've never gotten a SMART warning, but
then I've never had a drive fail. I moved up because I wanted to rip a
LOT of DVDs to my Picturebook and needed the space.
Come to think of it, the only drive I've ever had fail was a
Toshiba drive in an old 505 back in the 90s.
Emanuel
--
Portable Computing FAQ - http://home.att.net/~epbrown01
Sony VAIO 505 info - http://home.att.net/~epbrown01/sony505.html
Join the 505 Mailing List - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sony505/

I figured out how to get it to continue past the blank screen that occurs a few seconds
after seeing the "SONY" startup screen - pressing F1 allows the boot to continue! I have
no idea why the boot pauses at this point, but it does...
(Having got past that blank screen, the fact that the drive is failing badly is only
confirmed...)
Clive.