Swapping 5400rpm for 7200rpm HD. Best method?

I'm wanting to upgrade my 120GB 5400rpm HD for a 100GB 7200rpm HD. I don't really need the extra 20GB storage space, but the extra speed would be nice. I'm wondering what the best possible method for doing this upgrade is. I want it to be the exact same PC I have now, essentially an exact HD clone, but with the faster rpm HD. I have Acronis, which I use over my network to create backup files. Is there any way to restore to a new HD over a network? The only real way I can think of is to get an external enclosure and use Acronis to make a clone of the current disk to the new one. But then I'd have to spend even more getting the enclosure, only to use it once. The 100GB HD is at my price point, and I wouldn't be able to get it if I had to get the enclosure as well. Any suggested or recommended methods to perform this swap?

 

Keep in mind that if you did get the enclosure, you could then use it with your current 120GB drive, giving you a nice external, so in that sense it might be worth the money.

 

That would be nice. I forgot to mention that I'd be selling the 120GB to help pay for the 100GB. So I'd really only be using it once. Also, I'm wondering how cloning would work with the recovery and MD partitions. Would they be compied over as well?

 

Why? Less battery life, less storage and extra cost for a small speed increase that will barely be noticeable and if it is, it will only be noticeable in certain scenarios. Not to mention the work involved, albeit it being a once-off task. And while you may not need the extra space now, it might be worthwhile later on. Not worth it IMO.

Anyway, for the partitions, you may want to make a full disk image or simply recreate the partitions, utilities such as GPartEd can do this for you easily.

 

dump the image on dvds... Acronis supports it, i think... or not

 

I believe you're correct. It appears I can put them on DVDs. It'd take 10 DVDs though. I'm not sure if that'll backup the MD and Recovery partitions so I can have the new HD exactly like the old one without any additional effort.

I'll be the first to admit my novice understanding of this subject, but from everything I've read it looks like the battery life decrease is minimal. Even so, I have two 9-cell batteries so battery life isn't a concern for me. Any speed increase is a welcome one. And my home PC has more than ample storage for all my permanent files, the notebook is my work PC and doesn't need much storage space.

 

Don't worry... the jump to 7200 is worth it... the new drives are eating less power (some reports say about the same as a 5400 rpm drive) and you WILL notice an increase in performance... unless you ONLY cruise the web and work with word documents, lol. In other words, no one can say if you should get a 7200 rpm drive or not... it depends on what you do.

For me, I had to have one. After working on laptops with 7200 drives and those without, never will I get a 5400 drive again. There is a difference. 7200 drive for my Uncle, never in a million years... he could use a 4200 rpm drive and never push it. lol

It kills me when people talk about not getting a 7200 rpm drive without fully understanding why the person wants/needs the drive. Cost vs. performance, maybe you don't need the drive... take cost out (like in my case) and what is left? Performance. Well, even a little is better than nothing. lol

Then again, I'm the guy who shelled out $180 for a 200 gb 7200 rpm drive to put in a laptop that I don't even have yet.... both are in the mail...

 

What specific drive are you looking at buying, could you perhaps provide a link?

 

I'm looking at the Seagate Momentus 7200.1. I know it's a refurb, and I have no problem with that. Does anyone know of a cheaper, or larger for the same price, 7200RPM HD? I'm looking at 100GB minimum size. So I suppose once I order the drive I can try the Acronis DVD method and see if it works. If not, I have a Tiger Direct store here in Miami that I can get an enclosure at.

 

got a desktop computer?

just plug both drives. with standard sata ... i think

 

Huh, that's an interesting idea. I hadn't even though of that. Yes, I do have a desktop. It has two HD's in it now, but one of them can be unhooked temporarily to clone the two drives. Is the SATA interface identical between the two (except for drive size of course)? That would work really well if I could just plug both notebook drives into my desktop SATA cable, and clone it over directly. Can anyone confirm this would work? Thanks for the idea.

 

Just checked, my desktop is IDE. Good idea though.

 

I did it on my 1720 ..so it should work for you.

SATA interface is same, physically, for both drives.

I am doing some testing .... cloned original Seagate 160GB 5400rpm
to Hitachi 100GB 7200rpm without an issue so far.

Note: I use PowerQuest 5.x and it complained of "Upscale Table" values being invalid ..but the clone process worked from all i could tell. I am going to try
TrueImage also.

 

Just so you know, that's not really the best 7200RPM drive by any means. Newer 5400RPM's are as fast or faster than it, and it's one of the louder, hotter, and power hugry-er drives available.

Do you know the current brand and model of your 120GB 5400RPM drive?

 

I have the Fujitsu MHW2120BH right now. I saw a 120GB 7200rpm 16MB cache Hitachi HD end on ebay today for $85. I think I'm going to keep checking ebay until I find a deal like that. I tried to win that one, but lost the auction.

 

Refurbished hard drive from ebay? Sounds like a really bad idea, if you ask me. You'll be much better off spending $120 on a Hitachi 200 gig external hard drive at Best Buy - it has Hitachi 7K200 inside.

 

Wow, that is interesting. Now I'm tempted to somehow increase my budget for this new HD. 200GB, 7200rpm, 16mb cache. It seems worth the extra few bucks, plus I wouldn't have to wait for shipping. Now I'm conflicted.

Edit-Do you have a link to that HD? I don't see it anywhere on Best Buy's website.

Re-Edit-Seems the coupon to get that price is dead, so not really an option. It's $140 now.

 

$153 with taxes... I just spent $180 for it, and did not get a free external case. You can't go wrong there... unless you get unlucky and be one of the saps who get a 5400, as some have got.

I did learn something though... I can use the drive I take out of the dell and place in my external sata case... I never thought about the connections being the same size on sata 3.5 and 2.5 drives. It will be slow, but to archive data it will be perfect.

 

True, but that is way out of my budget. I really wish the 10% coupon was still available. I'll keep on the hunt until I find what I'm looking for, thanks for the good suggestions guys.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com has some good suggestions on hard drives.

Seems you have a couple of options:

- save your money until you have enough for a decent 7200 drive (I would stay clear of ebay, as others suggest... no use in wasting your money on old 7200 technology that has been bypassed by new 5400 drives).

- get a 3.5 external drive in an external hd case. Below $100, get more storage than you could need (based on what you said).

- purchase a new, but good 5400 drive now.

- visit some of the coupon sites and wait for more rebates/coupons to come your way. They are sure to be here within the next six weeks... black friday, thanksgiving sales, etc, etc.... deals are sure to abound.

- bite the bullet and spring for a new 7200 drive now.

Either way you go, please do some research on the drive before purchase... I'd thought this was a given... but I guess not.

 

i think all th new fujustu drives are PMR, so the magnetic bits are flipped vertically, and that causes the read speeds and whatever to be faster.

 

I thought it was as well, which is why I did. I read this review which is overall positive, the reviews on NewEgg which are mostly positive, and this review which has the Seagate beating the other drives in the review. What I had trouble finding was a comparison with the new drives. Which is partially why I haven't ordered yet. I'm just glad there are some kind people here that are willing to help fill in my gaps in knowledge.

 

I'd agree that you should wait before purchasing a new drive, either until your budget increases or the price of the latest generation 5400 and 7200 drives comes down.

 

Those were from like 2005... tech moves so fast, I would be looking for reviews a max of six months out on hard drives...