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    Swapping Hard Drives

    Discussion in 'HP' started by michaelearth, Dec 29, 2011.

  1. michaelearth

    michaelearth Notebook Geek

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    For Christmas I got one of those hard rives that has both a hd and ssd memory in it and now I would liketo put it in my dv6t qe. But.I'm not totally sure on how to do this. Is there a guide for putting it in? Also do I need to reinstall windows when I do this? And lastly, what a the best way to back up my PC (HD) before I swap the drives?

    Thanks a lot guys!
     
    michaelearth, Dec 29, 2011
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  2. hotstocks

    hotstocks Notebook Consultant

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    I just did it with no problems.
    1) Buy Acronis
    2) Backup your laptop to an external hard drive
    3) Switch laptop to SSD
    4) Restore laptop using Acronis DVD boot media (make sure you make it),
    press F8 I think on boot and boot from DVD drive of Acronis, then restore with image you saved on the external hard drive.
    PS. Make sure you have the latest Acronis version for SSDs. If your external hard drive backup drive is a Western Digital, you can download Acronis WD from them for FREE!

    If you don't have an external back up drive, get a Western Digital 1T or 2T drive and download the free Acronis for less than $100.
    OR you can reinstall everything from HP recovery disks from scratch
     
    hotstocks, Dec 29, 2011
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  3. hotstocks

    hotstocks Notebook Consultant

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    Actually, I would return the hyrbrid drive and buy a good SSD.
    Even a cheap one would be better than a hybrid.
     
    hotstocks, Dec 29, 2011
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  4. michaelearth

    michaelearth Notebook Geek

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    Thanks for the replies but is there a free option? I'm kinda short on cash after the holiday. Also I need a guide to show me how to physically put the hard drive in my specific laptop. And probably a more in depth review then the one posted above lol. This is my first time doing this.

    Thanks
     
    michaelearth, Dec 30, 2011
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  5. hotstocks

    hotstocks Notebook Consultant

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    I don't know if there is a free option, and without an external hard drive it would be very complicated.
     
    hotstocks, Dec 30, 2011
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  6. michaelearth

    michaelearth Notebook Geek

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    I have an external hard drive.
     
    michaelearth, Dec 30, 2011
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  7. hotstocks

    hotstocks Notebook Consultant

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    Well if it is a Western Digital just go download Acronis WD from them, back up the laptop. Open the bottom panel (push battery switch and pull off), unscrew old drive, insert new. Boot Acronis from DVD and press F8 I believe to get it to boot from DVD drive. Restore Image.
    You may be able to just use windows backup and restore, but I have never trusted or tried it, but it is FREE.
     
    hotstocks, Dec 31, 2011
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  8. michaelearth

    michaelearth Notebook Geek

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    I looked up windows backup and restore and I think I might just go with that. Do you think i should reinstall windows on my new hard drive? This is turning out to be alot more simple than i thought it would have been, something must be wrong ha
     
    michaelearth, Dec 31, 2011
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  9. bryanw1995

    bryanw1995 Notebook Guru

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    Windows backup and restore will only work with your current hd. You could image your drive, but when I installed an ssd in my laptop I ended up just manually reinstalling windows 7. If you do that, make sure that you make a copy of the drivers and note the destination path from the SWSETUP folder before swapping drives.

    edit: These videos showed me everything that I needed to do btw:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj7akQQrACQ
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpuzfkygb2g
     
    bryanw1995, Dec 31, 2011
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  10. michaelearth

    michaelearth Notebook Geek

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    Well that really blows that Windows Backup wont work on my new HD. And your links are for an ssd. My new drive is not a full blown ssd.
     
    michaelearth, Dec 31, 2011
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  11. bryanw1995

    bryanw1995 Notebook Guru

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    That's true, but it doesn't matter what kind of drive it is, the install process is still the same. The hardest part is figuring out how to get the drives setup/moved around properly, and installing the drivers. The windows install we've all done a million times before.
     
    bryanw1995, Dec 31, 2011
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