How would I go about upgrading the RAM on my Latitude D800?

Either through Dell or on my own? I have 512MB but for the past year or so I have ALWAYS been over it for whatever reason (I blame Windows Search 4.0) and it's had a pretty negative effect.

 

You can do it yourself, you just need to buy the RAM.

There should be a compartment on the bottom of your notebook.

 

Along the way, you might want to consider upgrading your hard drive. I did so on my Inspiron 8600, and it made a huge difference; not only did I quadruple my space, but the new hard drive ran faster and cooler.

 

DDR RAM is a bit expensive, but if you have a perfectly good computer right?!?

The D800 supports up to 2GB of RAM, 1GB per slot. Just get some RAM from Newegg. I just tried linking a search result, but that didn't work very well sorry. You want 200pin DDR333 or DDR400 RAM in a 1GB (2x 512MB) or 2GB (2x 1GB) kit.

The laptop supports DDR333 speeds, but DDR400 RAM will work. Just get whatever is cheap and has a long warranty.

 

Is there a guide for how to open this compartment? Also is plugging in/removing the RAM as simple as it is on a desktop board?

I didn't even know my notebook supported DDR memory, hm.

I've thought about upgrading the hard disk too, but backing everything up seems like a pain in the . What's the process of getting all the old data onto the new hdd like?

 

There is a guide, but it's not much of a guide, since accessing the memory only requires you to undo a single screw: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd800/sm_en/upgrades.htm#999869. Replacing laptop memory is just as easy (if not easier) than replacing desktop memory if you ask me.

Make sure it's not DDR2 or DDR3; those are physically and electronically incompatible.

You can install Windows onto the new HDD and get an enclosure or adapter for the old HDD. Then you can just copy all your files straight off the old drive onto the new one. You can also copy your drive image straight onto the new drive with something like Acronis, but you'll still need that enclosure or adapter.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm positive my system doesn't use DDR or DDR3 memory, it's from 2003. I thought it predated DDR in notebooks.

Is there any particular type of laptop hard disk I need to look for, or would any 2.5in ata-6 drive work fine?

EDIT: and is there any BIOS limitation to hard disk size on the D800? I have the A12 (or A13, whichever the latest one is) BIOS. I've read some comments on newegg hdd reviews saying some older notebooks may have issues and require partitioning.

 

You should be able to use any 2.5" PATA drive. I've only tested drives up to 80GB on machines of this generation, so I'm not sure if the 160GB size restriction applies. I do believe you can get it around it with partitioning or just not using the unaddressed space. K-TRON should know, he's got a lot of old machines with big PATA drives.

In the worst case scenario, it'll definitely work, you just won't be able to use all the space.

 

Well the restriction is 137GB, right? I think I'll play it safe and just go with a 120GB drive. ATA-6 is PATA, right?

 

ATA-6 should be PATA.