After 6+ faithful years my 250GB HDD is making weird noises. Before it takes a complete dump I want to install a new one. I don't need a bigger HDD, just comparable. Not sure if there are still any 250GB out there. What is the proper procedure for installing a new boot-able HDD with Dell reinstall disk WinXP pro sp2. I read somewhere that the new HDD must be of the same size, cache etc. I don't want to buy a full retail version of XP, this is a spare desktop that I still use.
Dimension 9200 E6600 2.4GHz 4GB DDR2 sdram @ 533 MHZ 4x1GB
250GB SATA II Samsung spinpoint HDD 8MB cache 7200 rpm
Win XP Pro 32bit Dell OEM