Hard drive replacement question

Polaritie

So this morning my hard drive died on me. Easy diagnosis - clicking and rattling from exactly where it's located (It's a laptop, so it's easy to listen to one spot). About two minutes after I get the stuff I most care about to the safety of the internet, it fatally BSODs. (It no longer recognizes a hard drive is installed)

Considering the computer still runs games perfectly well, and the relative costs, I'm planning to just replace the drive.

I've never replaced a hard drive before, and want to be absolutely sure I have my bases covered on this. Is there anything in particular I need to do besides hook it up and boot from the windows disc to install the OS? (And then, obviously, reinstall everything I had on there) Is there more than one standard configuration of plugs I need to watch for with regards to laptop HDDs?

Dehumanized

You'll want to look up instructions on HDD replacement for your laptop (most manufacturers will provide that information on their support webpage). Chances are you can figure it out yourself with a screwdriver and a bit of patience, but the important thing this will provide is sizing information for the drive. For a laptop, you'll be getting a 2.5" HDD. Within that general size, there are 7mm, 9mm, 12.5mm, and 15mm heights. If the drive you buy is too tall, it won't fit. Chances are pretty good that you'll have a 7mm drive enclosure, but 9mm wouldn't be unexpected.

Once you've got the new drive installed, then just go ahead and install windows from disc. If you've got another computer handy, it might be a good idea to pull down drivers from the manufacturer to make the install process smooth -- laptop network drivers in particular usually aren't included in an out-of-the-box windows install.

Polaritie

Dehumanized wrote: »

You'll want to look up instructions on HDD replacement for your laptop (most manufacturers will provide that information on their support webpage). Chances are you can figure it out yourself with a screwdriver and a bit of patience, but the important thing this will provide is sizing information for the drive. For a laptop, you'll be getting a 2.5" HDD. Within that general size, there are 7mm, 9mm, 12.5mm, and 15mm heights. If the drive you buy is too tall, it won't fit. Chances are pretty good that you'll have a 7mm drive enclosure, but 9mm wouldn't be unexpected.

Once you've got the new drive installed, then just go ahead and install windows from disc. If you've got another computer handy, it might be a good idea to pull down drivers from the manufacturer to make the install process smooth -- laptop network drivers in particular usually aren't included in an out-of-the-box windows install.

Well, it's an OEM disc, so the drivers should be there. Thanks for telling me to check the height - I had the width bit figured out, but not height.

Edit: So things didn't quite go as easily as I'd hoped.
The OEM recovery disc just... failed. Miserably. (Never started)
Couldn't find any recovery discs for other computers in the house.
Thankfully, I was able to get an install iso through my school/Microsoft.
Which kept giving an error.
Which required me to download a driver for the hard drive for some reason

But then it worked fine. Now I just have to download... lots and lots and lots of data. (Steam, GO!)