Not sure

[Averiex]

Forgive me if there is a better spot for this, but I've decided to go ahead and make my laptop my winter break project. I've decided to pop the case open and put in a new harddrive on god's good humor. I realize I will have to reinstall the drivers and the operating system, but is there a simple way of finding out what drivers I need exactly? Or am I able to use a system restore CD and have it reinstall those drivers to the new HD?

[Midknyte]

all you have to do is put in the system restore disc that came with your laptop. that will restore it to 'out of the box' condition.

[Averiex]

If I am unable to find this disc, what is the next best method?

[Midknyte]

you never said what make/model you have. you can call the vendor and get a replacement. some OS cds, like dell, are bios coded.

[RamonGTP]

Worst case scenario is you do a manual reinstall with an XP disk and go to the laptop manufacturer's website and download the drivers for your particular model.

[Sterling_Aug]

Or you can buy an extrenal USB enclosure, install your old drive in it, then copy the old OS to the new drive with no drivers or data loss.