Upgrading memory on Dell Latitude D505?

[novice]

I am desperate to upgrade the memory on my wife's Dell Latitude D505. It currently has 256 MB and is pretty slow running XP. From my research, it appears that any SODIMM 200 pin module should fit, and PC-2700 is the rated speed for the mainboard. Dell's website says you have to remove the battery, (no problem, makes sense) and the hard drive. Is that really necessary? I have never worked on a lap top before, but I have assembled a number of desktops, and figure adding memory to a desk top is a piece of cake. Anybody?
PS, it is my wife's laptop, but it actually belongs to the school district that she works for, so she is a little paranoid about me damaging it. Should I forget about it, not worth the risk? Newegg has the Corsair PC-2700 DIMM for just $25 shipped, and the local Bestbuy has a PNY 512 mb DIMM for $29.99. It is a single channel mainboard, so I believe you can mix and match.
Recommendations? Thanks in advance.

 

[TheStu]

Just pull the hard drive, it is contained in a cage that makes it easy to remove and replace.

 

[novice]

Thanks for the response. So, it really is necessary to pull the hard drive on a laptop just to add memory to it? Dell's instructions indicate running the system restore disk after reinstall,but I assume that would only be required if you were replacing the current drive with a new one. I doesn't sound like the hard drive removal is that big of a thing, but again. It isn't mine. (If it were mine, I would have either added the memory myself or paid to have installed years ago. With the current budgetary restrictions, the teachers will hva to madke due iwth these laptops for hte foreseeable future, so I am hoping to make my wife's system a little faster and less frustrating to use