hard drive replacement questions

[aerospace1028 at hotmail.com]

Hello,
I'm looking around for a replacement hard drive for my laptop.  My first concern is telling what kind of connection my current hard drive uses.

My understanding is the two connection types are sata and IDE.  How do I know what method my machine uses?  I'm still scrounging for the manual that came with the laptop, but I'm not sure if it's that informative.

The first Linux system I tried was Ubuntu 2007.10, so I’ve had it since fall of either 2007 or 2006.  It was better than its predecessor, but nowhere near top of the line for the time.  It was also an off-the-shelf model from the store, which I presume uses the cheaper, more-established options.

Other than the sata vs. IDE connection type, what other issues should I be looking for that could impede a new hard drive from working in my laptop?

If I pop the cover open on my laptop, is there a label of some sort on the hard drive (ideally with a manufacturer and maybe product code) that sighted assistance might be able to access without disconnecting any of the hardware?  I can still use the Windows partition at the moment, which is buying me a little time to sort through my options.

Thank you in advance.  I'm certain to have more questions later, but I’m tackling this in small sections; mapping out my replacement plan before I go ahead, in an attempt to make the eventual transition as quick and painless as possible.

 		 	   		  
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