Help needed: laptop HDD replacement

[lath19]

The hard drive on my neighbors hard drive bit the dust and I'm trying to replace it for him. The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite P25-???? I don't know the exact model and neither does he. I can't find the serial number for the laptop either.

Anyways, I know desktops in and out but have never messed with a laptop. Physically swapping the hard drives is easy but how do I know what kind of hard drive to buy? I looked at the specs for all Toshiba P25 models and the hard drives are either ATA-5 or ATA-6. How do I know which interface to purchase? Or is ATA-6 backwards compatible and I can just buy that interface? Also what company makes quality laptop HDD? I usually buy WD for my desktop builds.

Thanks in advance.

Here are some photos of the current drive in its bay if that helps.

[Cytoxan]

Take the drive out of the mounting kit, you should be able to see what kind it is.

[lath19]

Originally Posted by Cytoxan

Take the drive out of the mounting kit, you should be able to see what kind it is.

Toshiba MK8025GAS.

http://www.baber.com/drives/internal...5gas_specs.htm

Looks to be ATA-6. When I purchased the new drive should I wrap it in the foil from the current drive?

[Cytoxan]

That’s not necessary, just mount it and try to find something fun to do while you’re waiting on the OS install.

[Unfiltered]

Originally Posted by Cytoxan

That’s not necessary, just mount it and try to find something fun to do while you’re waiting on the OS install.

Like read "War and Peace."

[lath19]

Originally Posted by Unfiltered

Like read "War and Peace."

Or drink.

[Cytoxan]

Did you get that drive in ok?

[lath19]

Originally Posted by Cytoxan

Did you get that drive in ok?

Ordered it from newegg today. I'm sure it won't be a problem but I'll post and let you know when it's done. Thanks again for the help.

[dgrycan]

I just did one of these today. Word of advice, make sure to have the latest available Windows disk handy. The guy who's drive I was replacing couldn't find ANY of his restore discs, so the best I could find was a Windows XP SP 1 install disc. It's amazing how many hotfixes have been done on that damn OS since then. A lot of downloading, that's for sure.