Installing Mac OS X on an external drive

Hey guys, I'm using a MacBook Pro 7,1 - 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, comes with the standard settings for everything, including the annoyingly small 250GB 5400rpm HDD.

I was planning to purchase a 2.5" 500GB (or more) 7200rpm HDD and stuff it into this MacBook Pro once and for all.

And because I backup my data very frequently into a seperate HDD by using Time Machine, all I need to do is to install Snow Leopard onto the new hard disk, perform my usual configuration and just click on "restore" from Time Machine.

Question is, how do you install Snow Leopard into this new HDD?

And cramming a 7200rpm on the specified hardware - will it have issues running the hard disk based on this MacBook Pro's current specs?

Your inputs are definitely appreciated! Thank!

 

Cool. But is it recommended to switch from a 5400rpm to a 7200 rpm based on this laptop's specs?

 

Ah thanks. If there isn't much of a difference then I'll just proceed with a 1TB & 5400 rpm on it. Won't really notice the difference unless if it's an SSD.