How do I replace a storage hard drive that's built into my laptop?

[GWT]

I have a Dell Precision M4500 laptop that I bought a couple of years ago. It has a 64GB SSD with 64bit Win7 on it, and a 500GB internal 5400rpm Toshiba storage HD linked to the SSD. Lately I've noticed that the Toshiba drive is starting to click noticeably, which means it's probably time for a replacement.

The question is if I go out and buy a new 500GB or 1TB drive, is it just plug & play and the OS will just detect it automatically? Or will I need to install some kind of Intel storage drivers and do some additional tweaking?

I've never done this before so any help here would be most appreciative.

 

[Mellon Head]

It will likely be plug and play, but laptops can be kind of finicky. If it does require drivers, Windows should install them automatically, or through Windows update.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If your new drive comes with any software, I'm not sure I'd install any of it. See if you can get by with whatever Windows wants to supply.

I particularly wouldn't be likely to install any backup software that might be included.

 

[derekimo]

This might be helpful,

 

[GWT]

derekimo, thanks for the video. At least I now know how to open it.

~

If your new drive comes with any software, I'm not sure I'd install any of it. See if you can get by with whatever Windows wants to supply.

I particularly wouldn't be likely to install any backup software that might be included.

No it will be a bare bones HD, probably a Western Digital Scorpio Blue in either 500GB or 1TB. I've had good luck with those. So far.

It's just that I've never replaced a drive with this kind of set-up before, where you have two internal drives that need to be recognized by one another.

I know I'll have to format it using Disk Management with NTFS, but I just want to make sure I don't need any kind of storage drivers, the kind Intel have on my machine, even though I don't have a RAID set-up here.

Any additional input would be most welcome.