Kenny said:
Ah thanks yall have been what I needed to buy a new hard drive...thought
for
sure there was a driver, but I dont know a whole lot about laptops. No I
am
going to erase everything off of my laptop, and set it back to factory
settings with the CD that came with my laptop I guess because thats my
only
Operating software cd, and it has the drivers on it for all the other
hardware. So I wouldnt need to copy the old hard drive via usb right?
Just
buy a new one ( I checked to make sure the new hard drive is compatible)
and
swap it, and then pop in the Manufacturer cd and everything is gravy?
In this case, once you get the new drive, you pretty much don't need to do
anything other than physically swap the drives and run the system restore CD
you got with your laptop (or just reinstall Windows and apps if it came with
those disks).
If you got a Windows CD rather than a restore CD, pay attention to the other
driver CDs that come with the set. These don't apply to the hard disk
itself, but to the other hardware on the motherboard, some of which may not
work until those drivers are loaded. Usually, this means that the network
adapter and modem won't work till the drivers are loaded - which means you
can't get updates or drivers via the internet.
Simply copying files will NOT give you a bootable disk, or properly
configured hardware. You have to install them properly, which is what the
laptop's system restore disks will do (not to be confused with Windows
system restore).
You should not need to use any special drivers for a different brand or size
or model of hard disk. The interface standards are really standards, and
pretty much anything works.
However, you do need to be aware of the interface *type* when you go to buy
the drive, specifically if the drive is IDE or SATA (newer and faster).
The connectors are totally different. Be sure before you buy. Once you
get the model number from the old drive, you can look that up and know the
type.
It's really not a big deal to change hard disks on a laptop.
Just have the right-sized tools and be aware that some systems use a special
header on the drive pins that you have to pry off and put on the new drive.
You will see this right away when you compare the old drive and the new one,
which won't have the header. Under the header, the pins are the same.
Laptop drives are often bolted into little trays or shields. The screws are
small and like to wander off, so use a clean area with lots of light.
Remove the power adapter and the battery before removing the drive.
At the end, yes, you can use a USB2 drive case or adapter to copy old data
files.
HTH
-pk
