Changing hard drive and memory on my Dell Latitude D410

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DTYANEZ

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Hi Everyone, I am new to this just joined 2 days ago so I dont know if I am posting this in the right place or not so forgive me if its wrong...
I am in desperate need of help I have many issues on many devices but I will start off with one at a time.
I have a Dell Latitude D410 running XP pro version 2002 with service pack 3, Intel(R) Pentium(R)M, processor 1.86GHz, 504 MB RAM. I am trying to change my memory and hard drive I switched the memory on the bottom of the computer not under the keyboard, but when I put the new hard drive and memory in my laptop wouldnt turn on so I put the old memory back in and still wouldnt turn on so I put my old hard drive in and it turned back on. I got an external cloning device because I thought if I cloned my old hard driver maybe it would turn on with the new hard drive if it cloned the old one on it. I went thru whole process following the instructions that came with the cloning device but it said it needs another hard drive to clone to but I had the new one in it, its as if my laptop isnt reading it for some reason. Also it says there is no D drive partition. I need help quick cause I ram a diagnostic on Dells website and it couldnt finish it cause it said my hard drive was about to crash and I can tell it is cause its running so slow I cant hardly do anything with it and I use it for work. Pleeeease help I hope someone knows what I am talking about I am not very computer literate so I hope its not too confusing and I gave the right info.:??
 
Hey mate, I'm not 100% sure what the issue might be. What cloning software did you use? You need to expand on the process you went through to help identify what the problem might be.

To clarify, your old harddrive (HDD) contains your entire XP operating system. When the computer starts up it loads files from the HDD into the RAM. Therefore, if you remove the old HDD and insert a new empty HDD, it will not work, because there is no operating system to load.
This is why you need to image your old HDD onto your new one.

I recommend using Macrium Reflect for imaging which is 100% free for personal use and works very well.
You will need an external HDD.

Download and install Macrium Reflect, Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

The free version does not support restoring onto dissimilar hardware, but since you are only replacing the HDD, you should not have any driver issues. However, I have not done this onto a different HDD so cannot be 100% sure it will work.

But if you wish to try:
Run the installer to complete the install
Run the program
It should prompt you to create a boot CD. You will need a blank CD-R or CD-RW for this. You will need to create this disk. If you choose not to do it now, there is a button on the left of your menu bar with a picture of a CD with a red arrow over it. This button will allow you to create this disk later.
Select your internal HDD on the main screen. It should be called MBR disk 1.
Select all the partitions you wish to image. You need to select your Active partition, your boot partition, and your C drive. If you are unsure, tick all of them. If you only have 1 partition, that will be your Active and boot partition.
If you have not already attached an external HDD, do so now.
Click on 'Image this disk...' below.
Under 'Destination' make sure 'Folder' is selected.
Click the "..." button next to the address box and browse for your external HDD. Click OK when you have selected a location on your external HDD.
Click Next
Click Finish
Wait for backup to complete.
Insert your boot CD which you should have created by now.
Shut down your computer.
Replace you HDD with your new one.
Turn on computer and tap the F12 until the boot menu shows.
Select the CD/DVD drive.
This will boot a linux enviroment. Select the macrium reflect option and Macrium will load.
If your external HDD is not attached, attach it now.
You may need to click 'Rescan' for it to show.
Browse for the folder containing the backup image
Select the image from the window on the right.
Continue through to restore the image on your new HDD.
There may be the option to overwrite MBR which you will want to do. (i dont remember the exact steps, but if you have any questions ask)

Whatever you do, dont wipe your old HDD. If you get stuck you can put it back in and XP should load fine.

Also, you should hopefully be able to replace your RAM with no issues. Try replace RAM with your old HDD and see how it goes.
 
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