I have an HP Pavilion a1642x PC (Circa 2006). I suspect the hard drive is bad. I have just purchased a Windows XP CD from Microsoft. I want to have a hardware tech replace the hard drive if it's bad and install Windows XP. The old hard drive is Western Digital WD2500AAJS 250GB SATA (3.0Gb/seec) 7200 rpm.
I talked to a Geeksquad Tech at Best Buy about purchasing the drive from Best Buy and having them replace the hard drive and install Windows XP. They do not have the same hard drive at the store. He said that Windows XP is not compatible with any of the hard drives they have in the store. But then he told me something I did not expect. Something about XP being compatible with non-advanced format and that the newer hard drives are "advanced format"! Does this mean I have to get a hard drive exactly the same as the old one? I saw nothing in the hard drive specifications at the web sites I've shopped about the disk formatting!
Please enlighten me. Thanks.