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    Reformatting the X61

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by hrungnir, Jul 14, 2007.

  1. hrungnir

    hrungnir Newbie

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    So I just ordered the Thinkpad X61 with WinXP Pro and a kind of crappy 80gb 5400rpm drive. I also opted not to get the Ultrabase, but instead got the USB Super Multi-Burner drive.

    One of the first things I plan on doing is to buy a separate Seagate Momentus 7200.2 160GB drive and replace the one currently in the laptop. What are the method available for doing this? (Preferably with the ability to have a clean install of XP)

    Direct drive transfer? Burning my own recovery CDs? (will the USB optical drive even be recognized when reformatting?) Buy the recovery CDs from Lenovo? And then what about any special drivers and things for the fingerprint reader etc? As far as the Lenovo rep told me, the X61 doesn't come with any driver or OS CDs to recover with.

    Also, what is the utility of the Lenovo partition it comes installed with? Would that work with a clean XP install if I kept it?
     
    hrungnir, Jul 14, 2007
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  2. swliu

    swliu Notebook Geek

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    I just removed hide partition reformatted the hard disk and.
     
    swliu, Jul 14, 2007
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  3. hrungnir

    hrungnir Newbie

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    er... and? It's a completely new drive. Install from another CD? Backup and copy?
     
    hrungnir, Jul 14, 2007
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  4. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Yes you can do a clean install while leaving the recovery partition. Do do so you'll need a Windows disc and a way to activate it.
     
    ZaZ, Jul 15, 2007
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  5. thiru

    thiru Notebook Guru

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    Check your BIOS to see if you can set a USB device first in the boot order (usually it's HDD, CD, USB, etc).

    Then you'd have to choose your method of installation... I'm sure Lenovo's CDs have crapware on them, so if you had your own OS it would be better. Or if you're satisfied with what you have on your current hard drive, you can buy the recovery CDs, OR burn your own recovery CDs (but I have no idea how that works).
     
    thiru, Jul 15, 2007
    #5