I need a new hard drive on an Dell XPs 1330. I am not too computer knowledgeable, but i've seen

[demosincebirth]

some videos on taking one out and putting one in. Seems simple enough. My question is: does the hard drive,from Dell, come with everything installed on it like when the computer was bought new? Or do I have to purchase and install the operating system and Windows XP? Thanks for any help. Just trying to save some big bucks.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

1. new hard drive

Generally an HDD comes entirely blank.

Here is a youtube of the steps to make the mechanical replacement:

Once you have the new drive install, you will need to install the OS and any programs that you use. Do you have data on the current drive, like tax records, letters, photos...? If you do, you'll want to have those copied to the new drive.

There is software available to "clone" your old drive onto a new drive. One such program is Norton Ghost. I would ask one of the other folks here such as hobbit709 or RoccoR5955 what they recommend. I haven't done this in quite a while. You will also need a way to connect your new drive to your pc while the cloning takes place. I like the products like this Thermaltake unit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066 It's currently $29 ($24 after the $5 rebate).

Best of luck.

[demosincebirth]

3. Thanks, wish me luck.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. best of luck, friend :) n/t

[Mnpaul]

2. If you buy a new drive(boxed model)

you will probably get software along with it to clone you drive. All you need is a device like discntnt_irny_srcsm mentioned or an even simpler version like this http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276554&CatId=3770

One the software is installed. It will copy your files to your desktop and then you hook up the new drive and it copies them onto the new drive. The last one I did was a Seagate and it worked quite well. Seagate disc wizard came with the drive.

[demosincebirth]

4. Thanks for the information. this is a great place.

[Mnpaul]

8. Teach a man(or woman) how to fish......

I just love it when people take the initiative and try to figure it out themselves. Use the Google(or whatever). I worked with an old guy in his late sixties who only knew how to operate a computer. When his old computer died he bought a new one but the went back and bought a hard drive and used a restore disk to get the old one running again and used it as a second computer in his basement.

This is how I learned to fix computers. I read one book that was about 4" thick and went at it. It also taught myself auto mechanics, how to fix vcrs and photo and video editting plus some other things.

[demosincebirth]

9. i'm and old dog and I can still learn new tricks. My dad use to say if you don't know something, ask

[hobbit709]

5. The drive comes blank The operating system IS XP

Is the old one still working? If it is then you can clone it. If not then you are probably SOL.
Do you have the Dell restore disk for XP? You can get one here for $15 + shipping
http://www.softwaresupplygroup.com/microsoft-windows-xp-pro-professional-sp1-restore-cd-dell-6u814.html
This will install XP on any Dell without having to authenticate. If you don't have the driver disk, you will have to go to Dell's website, click on drivers and downloads and enter your service code to download the correct drivers(this best done onto a flash drive on another computer). Then you will have to install the basic utilities and applications you want since Windows is only the operating system
I suggest Firefox as your browser, Thunderbird as your email client, LibreOffice as an office suite, Foxit Reader for PDF. I would use Malwarebytes Antimalware and Microsoft Security Essentials for security-all of these are downloadable and free.

[guardian]

6. Don't forget to backup

Before you replace the hard drive and if your computer is still working, don't forget to back up your important data files. A couple of easy ways are to backup to a thumb drive or to an internet backup service (several are free for modest amounts of data).