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    Upgrading my hard drive

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by matt_nics, Jul 16, 2009.

  1. matt_nics

    matt_nics Newbie

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    Hi Guys,

    Ive just brought a 400GB hard drive to replace my 100GB hard drive which came with my T61. How do I go about transfering my programmes and data to the new hard drive?

    Thanks
     
    matt_nics, Jul 16, 2009
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  2. Lew

    Lew Notebook Deity

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    (1) Buy or borrow a cheap USB drive enclosure or a SATA Ultrabay Hard Drive adapter (note the T61 version is different from the T400/T500 version). Put the new in this enclosure.

    (2) Using Acronis or other backup software, clone the existing drive to the new drive. If running Vista you may need to clone the partitions as they are now then expand the main partition after the fact. I'm sure there's also freeware to do this, but someone else will need to recommend it since I use Acronis for my backups.

    (3) Take new drive out of the enclosure and install it into the computer.
     
    Lew, Jul 16, 2009
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  3. matt_nics

    matt_nics Newbie

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    matt_nics, Jul 18, 2009
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  4. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    The enclosure is probably the easiest method. I have had good luck with SelfImage (copy the old disk to the new disk sector by sector). However, this won't expand the image to fill the larger drive so you will need to extend the partition (Disk management under Vista, or use the System Rescue CD to extend the partition).

    That's really all there is to it.

    You may get better results of the process if you can perform the transfer when your OS is not currently being used (try the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows and run SelfImage from there).
     
    jonlumpkin, Jul 18, 2009
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  5. matt_nics

    matt_nics Newbie

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    The laptop picks up the hard drive but the laptop isnt bootin vista. Just has a black screen with a cersor flashing in the top coner.
     
    matt_nics, Jul 19, 2009
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  6. Lew

    Lew Notebook Deity

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    I'm not familiar with Norton Ghost so I can't really offer any help other than to ask if you are 100% sure you cloned the partitions AND the MBR (Master Boot Record).

    Interesting link, but I don't think it's relevant. I've upgraded the hard drive in my T400 twice with no problems at all using Acronis True Image Home and both drives were just plain regular drives purchased from Newegg and Microcenter. (250/5400->250/7200 a year ago when I bought my T400, then 250/7200 to 320/7200 a couple months ago when I decided to try Win7RC).
     
    Lew, Jul 20, 2009
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