The Computer: IBM Thinkpad 600E
The Hard Drive in Question: Toshiba MK8032GAX. Size 80G

Are these two compatible? The BIOS would not show the 5G( ) hard drive I have now, nor the 80G hard drive. The guy at the store I talked to said that on most computers as old as mine, the hard drive isn't compatible, but sometimes they get lucky. Are they compatible?

can you lookup the bios vertion on IBMs website and download the newest verstion.

But yes some bioses can only hold some sizes.

Besides the new BIOS which I can't seem to find, are those two compatible?

not really a lot ya sure the 80gb works ok have ya tried it in another computer?

Look at the DOM (date of manufacture) on each item.
If the disk is somewhat newer than the machine, how can the computer be expected to know what it is?
Your tech is right, in that, occasionally. you may be able to go as much as double the size of OEM fitment. But from 5 to 80 Gb? Sorry, can't see that happening without a BIOS flash upgrade. If one exists, for your machine, and it is a flashable BIOS chip.
Your best bet might be to hunt down a smaller drive. Secondhand, 10\12 Gb notebook drive, in good condition? Best of luck, but just don't hold your breath while looking.

Shorty943.

Because there's a standard in place? That's how it is with desktop hard drives.

If you can't get it working, putting it in an external enclosure might be your best option, especially if your laptop has a firewire port.

Because 5 years ago 80 Gb hard drives just were not built yet. So there was no idea that the support for large drives would be needed.
Yes, there are standards in place for every machine type ever built on the planet. Automobile, computer, toys for kiddies,you name it, there is a standard to define safety, use, even who is allowed to play with things.

Undeaf, are you old enough to remember the limitations of MS DOS? IBM's claim that nobody would ever have a use for a "personal" computer?, or their claim that nobody could possibly ever need more than 640 Kb of RAM to operate a computer?

I have seen your little jabs in other posts, PULL your head in son.

I haven't heard any general rules about laptop hard drive size limitations, I have no reason to assume they're any different than the desktop 2, 8, 30 and 130 gig limitations. I doubt that a laptop with a 5 gig hard drive would have an 8 gig limit, especially if aspects of the bios circuitry are shared between laptops and desktops. I also haven't heard about hard drives not being compatible at all because of size.

I have heard that computer have a limit what what they can hold in size but never had the problem.

sure try the bios update and just read the fixes that they have but again they probable stoped updating the bios 2 years after they made your laptop.

Isn't limit by odd powers of two? So 2, 8, 32, 128 (2^1, 2^3, 2^5, 2^7) I think... some of those external enclosures even have a 512 (2^9) limit I believe.

Anyway, sounds to me more like a backwards compatibility problem (DMA modes). More than one generation back and testing becomes an expensive proposition for the manufacturers. So I'd expect an ATA/133 drive to work with an ATA/100 controller, for example. But wouldn't be so confident with, say, an ATA/133 drive hooked up to an ATA/66 or ATA/33 max controller.

Just a guess... no warranties express or implied.

stick the 80gb into a usb shassy and use it for storage.

Thats kind of wierd. I have a Thinkpad 390X, from 1999, and I had the hard-drive upgraded from 6gb to a 40GB toshiba hard-drive.
I have no idea if the bios was updated, but I can bet it must have been...

My ASUS P5A MoBo (AMD K6-III) from around 1999 has a 32GB limit; it refuses to boot with a 80GB HD enabled; too lazy to see if a BIOS update will solve the issue, so added an old 2GB HD for boot.

So you can be lucky (see post 12) or unlucky.

Crito is right, All versions of BIOS have limitations as to the number of heads, cylinders, and sectors, they count, therefore, limiting the capacity of hard drive one can install.
As for hard drive compatibility? I have had hard drives refuse to work on the same cable, just because they were from different manufacturers. Put them on a different cable, or in another machine with a different drive, and no problems. Disparate sizes, or identical, seems to make no difference. Some drives just don't play well with the other kids.

In finishing my advise would be to try a smaller capacity drive, see if it is a BIOS limitation, flashing a BIOS, whilst usually safe, can be full of traps and leave you with a dead machine.

Best of luck.

Shorty943.