Upgrading laptop hard drive question

[killza]

This may sound like a dumb question but I was wondering if my mouse and keyboard functions (and other built in functions like wireless) will be functional after I upgrade the hard drive without any data transfer from the old hard drive and then installing a new OS. Or would I HAVE to use the recovery disks that came with the laptop in order for those internal functions to work?

[caperjack]

This may sound like a dumb question but I was wondering if my mouse and keyboard functions (and other built in functions like wireless) will be functional after I upgrade the hard drive without any data transfer from the old hard drive and then installing a new OS. Or would I HAVE to use the recovery disks that came with the laptop in order for those internal functions to work?

What OS id it running now ,if its xp and you want to change to win7 you will need to check if there are drivers for win7,if you don't want to use the recover disk its ok ,you then go to the laptops makers web site search for drivers for your model .if you want/need you can post your exact model [usually on a sticker on the bottom of laptop ]here i can find correct downloads for you .what OS are you planning on install ,

if you are using winxp and want to go to win7 then check if it will have issues with win7 , http://windows.microsoft.com/upgradeadvisor

[Pjieter]

As long as you have an internet connection, you'll be safe (normally)
But even without a connection to the web, windows has some integrated drivers, to start out.
As far as I know a mouse and keyboard doesn't require any special drivers, nor an internet connection or extra update.

[rubberman]

The mouse and keyboard should be just fine. The BIOS in all current systems supports USB devices like this without futzing about with drivers and such. Some older operating systems may not like them, but current ones from XP on for Windows, and any but really old Linux operating systems should be just fine. I did read a recent post on the Linux Forums where someone had installed a distribution that put the old LiLo boot loader on his system and it did not like the USB keyboard, but the current grub/grub2 boot loaders are not so brain-dead.

[killza]

Thanks for the responses, I currently have a FUJITSU MHZ232OBH G2 ATA hard drive, and I"m unsure what kind of hard drive would be compatible with my computer, for example, I"m looking at tigerdirect, and it has PATA,SATA,SATA II, what are the differences and are they compatible with my computer and also just to be sure, all laptops use a 2.5" hard drive?

[caperjack]

Thanks for the responses, I currently have a FUJITSU MHZ232OBH G2 ATA hard drive, and I"m unsure what kind of hard drive would be compatible with my computer, for example, I"m looking at tigerdirect, and it has PATA,SATA,SATA II, what are the differences and are they compatible with my computer and also just to be sure, all laptops use a 2.5" hard drive?

your ATA is the PATA, sata or sata 2 will not fit the plugin connector of the laptop

[killza]

Okay thanks, I was wondering though as I was looking in my device manager, I have a Intel(r) ICH9M/M-E family 4 port SATA AHCI controller, does that have anything to do with the hard drive I can have?

[rubberman]

Even if your system drive is PATA, if you have a SATA controller and associated ports, then yes, you should be able to install a Sata drive, although it probably won't serve as your system/boot device in this configuration.

[killza]

If I got a SATA type hard drive, what configuration would I need to do in order to use it as my system device? Also, would a hard drive like http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-5-IDE-PATA-320gb-8M-cache-Western-Digital-WD3200BEVE-/360311862786?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e442b602#ht_2741wt_1270 <-- that one work?

[rubberman]

The drive you refer to is not a sata drive. It is a standard parallel ATA drive (hence the PATA nomenclature). That will work with your internal ATA/IDE controller, but not with your SATA controller. Also, I don't know if your system will allow you to boot from the SATA controller. It may, but it would require some configuration changes to your BIOS. I don't have enough information to say if that is the case. On my system, I have both IDE and SATA controllers, and can configure the BIOS to boot from either. I boot from the internal SATA controller, and use the IDE controller for my 2 DVD+RW drives.

[killza]

Now you've confused me lol, I have 4 IDE channel and the intel thing under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. So basically what you're saying is that the four IDE channel have different functions from the Intel SATA controller and that the hard drive I posted will work on my machine without any configuration in BIOS? I just want to make sure before I invest in something relatively expensive for a student. Thanks =]

[caperjack]

i goofed ,your old harddrive is a sada hdd,sorry ,i just google it

[killza]

lol that's alright, I will probably take a picture of my connector when I take the hard drive out and compare it to the SATA connector just to make sure. So any SATA/SATAII hard drives will work?

[rubberman]

Any sata drive will work in any sata port, although you are limited in speed and bandwidth to the lowest common denominator. IE, a sata-1 drive in a sata-3 port will run only at sata-1 speeds, and vice-versa - a sata-3 drive in a sata-1 port will still only run at sata-1 speeds... :-)

[killza]

oo okay, gotcha! Would I need to configure anything in BIOS after I install my new hard drive or should it automatically detect it?

[rubberman]

oo okay, gotcha! Would I need to configure anything in BIOS after I install my new hard drive or should it automatically detect it?

I assume you are replacing the old drive with the new one. If so, it should not be a problem with the BIOS recognizing it. What is the make+model of the laptop? FWIW, I have replaced the system drive in my Dell laptop (also a sata drive) without problems.

[killza]

It is a HP HDX 16 Notebook PC

[fordlavon]

I was using my system and I realized my software intel(r)ICH9M/M-E Family 4 Port SATA HACI Controller -2929 was outdated; is there any website that would allow me to download a updated copy for free?

[rubberman]

Try the Intel site. They have drivers for most (or all) of their hardware there available for download.

[caperjack]

or there may not be an update ,when i google i find drivers for but they are 2007 dated,you could check the computer makers wesite also ,some brand name computer may have there own updates to chipset drivers