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I need to install a new hard drive into my Inspiron 1100 Notebook, because my old one died on me. I was just wondering if there are any precautions with handling the hard drive that I should know about before I do it? Or any other precautions or suggestions for installing the hard drive that I need to know about?

Whoops, wrong place. It's a hardware question not a software question.

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Moved to General Hardware - dodecahedron.

Natalie wrote:I was just wondering if there are any precautions with handling the hard drive that I should know about before I do it?

Two screws and its in your hand, it and the PCMCIA slot come out together. Both are IDE devices. The BIOS should have no problem recognizing any HD you install.

The only problem will be installing WinXP from the Dell supplied CD and of course reinstalling all your software. Your looking at several hours.

How did it die? Were you backed up?

I have had a 1100 for the last 18 months, I've been very impressed for such a budget box.

Well, I'm not sure how it died. My laptop had been acting funny for a while and I didn't think anything of it. For a couple months, there was this blue screen that would appear that said it was dumping my physical memory. But, that would go away and my computer would be fine. However, about a month ago, it just completely died. I called DELL and we ran diagnostic tests on it, and we found out that I just needed a new hard drive. And no, I was not backed up of course. So, I just have to reformat everything. I think I had my 1100 for about 18 months before things started going wrong with it. But, anyways, thanks for your help! I hope my computer will be up and running soon!

Natalie