I want to change the drive in my new notebook. The specs for the computer says it has "Smart SATA". Is this something different to just normal SATA - what does it mean? I am also completely confused as to what needs to be done to get the computer to recognize the drive. There is an Intel SATA AHCI Controller Driver on the manufacturer's website but is that for Intel processors??? The specifications for the AMD chipset say "Serial ATA controller supports the advanced high speed serial ATA connection; with hot plug and RAID 0,1 function to enhance performance and data security." Does that mean it doesn't need an additional driver for the hard drive? Can anyone explain and tell me what I have to do? Thanks.

What's the make and model of your laptop? Also, why do you want to change out the hard drive?

HERE is a definition for SATA.

HERE is a definition for S.M.A.R.T. SATA.

If you've got an hour to kill, HERE's the definition of SATA from Wikipedia.

Thanks stevealmighty ( )
HP nx6325. (The why is a long story and not that interesting.)
I'd already researched Wikipedia and figured out what SATA is, I was just trying to find out whether this SMART business needs me to get any particular sort of drive or not. I assume that SMART monitoring stuff is software-based???

From what I've read, the SMART can be turned on and off in the BIOS. Any hdd should do. Worst case scenario is that the hdd you buy doesn't support SMART and you have to disable it in the BIOS, which means that you'll waste roughly 1 minute of your life doing so!

You overestimate my abilities Try 1 day Thanks.

When you go to install Windows, it's gonna prompt you to install RAID/SCSI drivers (it's shows at the bottom of the screen on an XP installation and asks you to press F6) - that's when you'll insert the disk with the SATA drivers into your floppy drive (yep, that's what I said - floppy drive is required!)

You can usually use a USB floppy drive for this.
You can also image the old drive and restore the image to the new drive - but this will bring up additional problems with Windows. If you need to do this option, post back and I'll go into more detail (probably more than you'll ever want to know!)

Good luck!

Thanks, I've bought a USB floppy, but how do I know what SATA drivers I need? The Intel controller driver? Or do I have to get something from AMD? How do I get the right ones? What am I looking for?

I don't want to image the old drive.

The SATA drivers should be available on the floppy that came with the hard drive. Windows does have a generic set of SATA drivers that it will load if you don't have a disk.

AHA! Thanks

Here's a thread that discusses your system and the SATA drivers: http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/...eriesId=1849082

Thanks everyone. The final word appears to be that there is no need for drivers because the hard drive "is accessed using legacy PATA mode (although it has SATA connector)". So it's sorted - I need to get a SATA drive, but don't have to worry about drivers. Thanks again.