new hdd for laptop

hi - I have an older dell latitude D600 laptop which runs pretty slow - hdd seems to run forever on boot up. The hdd is pretty full; its a 20gig hdd and only 4.5gig is free. I'm considering putting in a new hdd - dell has a 60gig 5400rpm one available.
Is this change a good idea, will it help my slow performance (I really don't want to spend big bucks on a new laptop)?
What's involved in making this change - I don't have all the disks for the installed software?
Is there any way to transfer everything from the old hdd to the new hdd?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
cal

 

You can find a hard drive (faster too) MUCH cheaper than anything on the Dell web site. Any ATA hard drive will work, it doesn't have to be from Dell. Also, plodr's advice about more memory is solid- more RAM is one of the most cost efficient ways to speed up a PC. As for the cloning, there are several free programs that will do this for you, and they are available right here at MajorGeeks. When you get to this point, let us know and we'll be glad to help. Feel free to check the Drive Utilities section for more info http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html

 

Thanks for the thoughts.
right now the system is a pentium M, 1.3GHz, 1024kb ram, 256mb system memory. I believe all the sockets for ram are full. Can you suggest a source for an ata hard drive?

 

I did some research on your laptop. You can install up to 2gb of RAM as long as it's the right type (200 pin DDR333 PC2700). If you currently have 256mb and both slots are full, then you have 2 x 128mb. Persoanlly, I'd install at least 1gb. Here's some details http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Latitude D600 Now, for a hard drive.... you can get one at ANY computer store. Even BestBuy has 'em. If you have a small independent PC shop in your town, try to buy the drive from them. They'll install it and image your old drive for a small fee (maybe even for free), plus they'll answer any other questions you may have. They can probably handle the memory upgrade too. Here's some hard drive ideas: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150380+1035507776&name=7200+RPM
As you'll see, a new 7200rpm drive is very affordable. Up to 100gb is under $100. If you've been working with a 20gb all these years, a 60gb drive should be plenty....

 

Thanks for the help. I'm going to check out the local store route for the new hdd. I'm not real comfortable doing the shadowing myself since I've never done it before and I don't want to mess anything up... I need the laptop for work.
If that doesn't pan out I'll be back in touch for some guidance on doing the hdd myself.
Cal