T61 - removing hard drive

i am planning to upgrade the hard drive on my t61, running on XP-Pro SP2. The unit is working fine right now.

the current drive is a SATA, seagate# 980811AS

2 questions--

1. if something goes wrong, and i re-install the original drive, is there any reason (built in memory, battery, etc.) that will cause the laptop not to recognize the drive & boot up as before, i.e, no harm done, back to origfinal??

2. i have ordered for transferring the system...it claims the process is very simple and it will transfer all drivers, settings, data. True? any quirks to watch out for??

 

I have removed the hard drive from a T61 and then put it back in and it worked fine, but I didn't put a different drive in while it was out, or turn it on. I just wanted to see how easy it was. Dunno if that's any help.

 

thanks, at least partially.. i.e., just removing the HD does not cause the laptop to hate you.

 

You won't be able to transfer your program files but any other files are ok. Simply taking your hard drive out and putting it back in doesn't do anything bad as long as you handle it with care (this applies to any components you remove from your system. Make sure you unplug your power and take the battery out first, then ground yourself to rid all static electricity).

 

thanks for the esd reminder.

question...so what happens to the program files? acronis claims the sw creates an exact image of the partition/(drive). What am i missing??

 

if u are cloning the hard drive.. your programs and everything will be exact like it was before.. just on the newer hard drive..

i use drive snapshot daily at work.. in windows.. clone clients drive to my server. and back to a new drive.. easy..

xxclone.com works too

 

You left "Acronis" our of your original post. It's my understanding that the "cloned" image that TrueImage makes from the original drive will be restorable to the new one.

I've read that you need the latest version of TI in order to restore SATA drives.

 

i don't have an additional server or other computer. I did buy a USB2 500G external drive to store the image of the original.

I am not familiar with either snapshot or xxclone...will they work with a laptop with only and an external USB2 drive?

 

ooops...my bad....yes, i should have said acronis true image 11...just ordered, that is their latest. hope it works to restore SATA.

gmaster has suggested 2 other cloning SWs.... i am looking into that too as a backup if TI does not work

 

TI version 11 should be fine. It was the earlier versions which were SATA challeneged when restoring or so I read.

I plan on purchasing TI for my own uses once my machine arrives to make things easier than messing with recovery discs (although I will be making a set) and letting me create an image of the machine the way I want it after tweaking. Help with acronis can be found at http://www.wilderssecurity.com/

 

Sorry for jutting in, but, any 2.5" HD will fit in the bay, right? Are there any other specifications that I should be careful about?

 

As far as I know, any 2.5" HD should fit the T61. I assume all of the drives are SATA and 7200RPM vs 5400RPM is a matter of preference.

I haven't run across them before, but I read a post that there were some previous IBM notebook models that had HD restrictions.

 

Thanks for confirming. But can anyone else comment on the HD restriction thing?

 

no...not all all drives are SATA. There are other types, e.g. IDE.

 

So IDE's can't fit into the T61p slot? Is the Western Digital Scorpio 320Gb compatible?

 

easiest way to determine what you have SATA or PATA is to remove the drive.. my new R61 is SATA.. u can tell cause there are no small ide type pins.. its just the small L shaped SATA connectors..

drive snapshot and xxclone you can use inside of windows to clone a hard drive.. however if you only have one computer i dont think it would work for you.. i use a usb to ide/sata adapter similar to this one..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156017

i hook the clients hd to that adapter.. use drive snapshot to make an image.. hookup new hard drive and clone it back.. simple.. easy.. job done

 

I see. Thanks.