Replacing my HDD with Seagate Momentus XT

I am going to replace my original HDD (320gb Hitachi, 7200 rpm) with the Seagate Momentus XT (500gb, 7200 rpm hybrid drive). Here is how I plan to do it:
1. Physically swap the drives.
2. Use the recovery DVD's to reinstall the system as per factory specs.

My question is: Do I need to partition + format the XT before using the recovery discs, or will the DVD format it automatically creating a separate recovery partition, as it is on the original Hitachi?

 

I suggest you get an HDD enclosure for the Momentus, download Seagate DiskWizard and clone your old drive to the new one. They switch out drives and after you're sure the new one is working well, format and use the old one as a backup

 

So you think the recovery DVD's won't work. Why wouldn't they? It would be a straightforward job if they do.

Anyway, I want to try this first, since it is a more simple solution.

 

Recovery DVD's should work.

If you are using HP branded recovery discs (not the ones you burned yourself), then you may hit a snag when using the HP branded recovery discs on a new or blank hard drive, see the link below, it is a utility to burn a disc, boot from the disc and let it do its magic to the new hard drive, once it is done you can successfully use the HP recovery DVD's on the new drive.

This Does Not apply to recovery discs you make on the HP notebook, only ones made by HP.

CyberLink Recovery Discs Utility - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

 

Or just do a clean install and download the specific drivers you need from HP support?

 

+1, this is the best way, IMO.

 

Thanks for your input.

So, I don't need to partition + format the XT. The recovery discs will do that for me?

 

I agree with this post. It'll be the least painless in terms of making sure everything is working correctly, and it'll mitigate any issues that may arrive from the other solutions.

 

I also like the clean install idea. The only thing is that there are a lot of toys in the dv8 that I like and I may not find drivers for all of them after a clean install.

 

No, if you are using Recovery discs burned on that PC, then they will do everything. If they are HP branded recovery discs you may need to run that disc I linked to before you run the recovery discs.

If you decide to do a bare metal clean install from a non Recovery disc, then install the HP Support Assistant from this page to help with driver updates.

 

HP Support Assistant is already installed in my computer. How specifically would HP Support Assistant help me with driver updates after a clean install?

 

There is no need to do a clean install unless the current system is not working very well or is sluggish. Using any decent disk cloning software will save a lot of time and effort. if this was an SSD then I could understand why people would recommend a clean install but it is simply a larger disk with a small SSD section on it.

 

If you install from a non HP recovery media, then you will need some essential drivers not included in a plain W7 install disc, HPSA will scan the PC and check the HP website for drivers you need, and then install them if you wish.

 

Good luck finding all the drivers you need, doing all the Windows updates and reinstalling the programs you already use, etc.. Just do a clone, and in an hour or so you'll be up and running.

It's not a more simple solution.

 

That would be lovely! Is it the Tune-Ups that scan + install the drivers? What section do I click? What are the specific steps? I played with the HPSA a little but couldn't find anything that do that?

 

Well all I would need to do is run the recovery discs and they'd get the computer back to factory specs. Then reinstall my programs and do the updates... Remove bloatware...

No need to hunt for drivers.

 

Athough I just installed a Momentus drive in the wife's laptop by cloning with Clonezilla, as soon as I get enough funds to replace some of her dearest games (which she previously got for free), I will no doubt custom install her OS (Win 7). As I have downloaded all drivers from ACER website since she's had the lappy and have custom installed her OS a few times already, I will just pop in the install media, delete all partitions, create a new one, and run the installer.
I LOVE that new car feel I get from a fresh install! Least problems all around.

As a side note: The Momentus has impressed me with its ability to boot her to a working desktop in less than 30 seconds. With a 5 year warranty, I believe that will last the life of the machine.

 

Aside from the fast booting, have you noticed any speed gain in other areas, like program launching or general computing?

 

As I rarely mess around with the wife's laptop (only if there is a real or perceived problem), I can only say that programs that are accessed most frequently load faster and respond quicker. To be fair, though, the drive that was replaced spun at 5400 and the Momentus spins at 7200. The games she plays are serious graphics hogs, but they load almost in half the time.
Temps run 3-5*C cooler. The laptop runs better than when new.

 

The Momentus XT is only average in speed as far as 7200rpm drive go, so no, you won't notice any difference outside of the data stored in the flash memory.