Upgrading HDD in Toshiba Laptop without invalidating the warranty?

Question

I have a Toshiba A105-4254 laptop with a 2 year warranty and I was wondering if there was any way of upgrading the HDD (by possibly sending it back to Toshiba) without invalidating my two year warranty.

I don't really like this part of the warranty, (I could easily swap the thing out myself) but it's alot cheaper if something goes wrong with the motherboard.

Answer 1

From what I can tell it does not invalidate the warranty to replace the hard drive. However the hard drive you place in the Toshiba will not be covered by their warranty, instead problems with the hard drive will refer you to the manufacturer of the hard drive.

Take a look at these instructions on how to access the hard drive.

• Locate hard drive compartment:

  

• Remove cover

  

• Replace hard drive

Answer 2

What I recommend you to do is what most of us DIY hard disk swappers usually do - swap the hard disk, but keep the old hard disk somewhere safe.

Thus, if your notebook goes down, and you are worried about the warranty validity if you return to Toshiba tech support, just swap the old hard disk back, and deny with feigned ignorance ("you mean the hard disk can be changed??" + incredulous looks) to whichever nasty tech support you are not likely to face.

However, most notebook manufacturers do not have such draconian policies, though I have known a couple or two who have tried to charge for repairs, using the excuse that the harddisk/memory has been changed (sly tactics). A bit of force and S.O.B customer attitude should resolve that.