Upgrading to a new Hard Disk (> 160 GB) [ Edited ]

[zmdmw52]

I presently have a Lenovo ThinkPad R61 14.1W laptop with a 160 GB drive. If I want to upgrade to a larger capacity Hard Disk, (more than 160 GB) how can I migrate to a new Hard Disk, migrating all the partitions including the hidden (recovery) partition?

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PS:

The Hidden/Recovery Part. is the first one (unnamed) in the following image (you will need to d/l the pict from the URL, since this Forum won't allow pict attachments).

URL:

http://cid-f106e464b0b2d1e7.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Temp/05%7C_Hidden%7C_FAT32%7C_EISA%7C_Config...

http://cid-f106e464b0b2d1e7.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Temp/03%7C_NortonGoBack%7C_Msg%7C_Install%20...

The hidden partition is outlined in red in the first picture.

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Is there any way to do a partition copy of the Hard Disk to a new greater capacity Hard Disk, including the hidden (recovery) partition?

Thanks,

Message Edited by zmdmw52 on 06-11-2008 05:12 PM

[lewbobski]

I am a rookie here, but I think there are some programs that will allow you make an exact copy of a hardrive. You will need an outboard USB box. I did find that my Lenovo R61i has a non standard Hardrive interface, so check that first. It may effect what harddrives you can use and also the ability to use a generic hardrive case. Good luck, Lew

[andyP Community SuperMod]

zmdmw52, welcome to the forum,

Acronis seems to be the prefered tool for cloning / upgrading hard drives. If you search the forum you should find tons of information.

The hard drive has an industry standard S-ATA interface

EDIT: Typo

Message Edited by andyP on 06-14-2008 11:44 AM

[dawog]

Hi...

See these two Lenovo forum posts:
Triuble Cloning Think Pad's original hard drive using Symantec Ghost
R61e Hard Drive replacement?

Last month I successfully cloned the original 80GB hard drive to a 256GB Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS hard drive on the R61e, but it took two attempts.  On the first try, I used Acronis to clone both partitions (main & hidden), and allowed the main partition to be expanded to fill up the remaining space on the hard drive.  After replacing the internal 80GB drive with the newly cloned 256GB hard drive, it failed to boot.  Normally I've had great success with Acronis, so this may have been an error on my part.  I think I may have let the system "see" the newly cloned drive before removing & replacing with the 256GB drive.  I've read posts (on other forums) that state that you should NOT reboot (w/original drive) AND with the newly cloned drive still attached.  I also read some other posts that stated that the main partition has to be the same size as on the original hard drive.

My second attempt was with Paragon Hard Disk Manager, and this time I created an EXACT clone (same size for both partitions) on the new 256GB hard drive.  After cloning, I shut down the laptop & replaced the original 80GB hard drive with the newly cloned 256GB hard drive.  It booted right up first time.  I then used the Paragon Partition Mgr to move the hidden partition to the end of the drive, and then expanded the main partition to fill up the remaining space on the hard drive.  Rebooted & everything still worked like a charm.

Hope this helps.

-Bill

[cowpiewi]

This is not for newbies.

I used Apricorn EZ Upgrade to successfuly clone an 80 GB disk to a 320 GB Western Digital SATA hard drive, which I got for $62 American at Amazon. I got Apricorn EZ Upgrade Kit from a seller on Amazon Marketplace. I decided to use Apricorn because the upgrade kit is sold by Lenovo, and there was a $15 rebate, which meant that the kit cost me about $15, or what I would have expected to pay for a hard drive enclosure. The kit includes the cloning software, a hard drive enclosure, and a USB connection cable.

If you use Apricorn, be sure to read the FAQ on the Apricorn web site, because the directions that come with the kit are not what you use to clone a drive to a new drive on an R61i ThinkPad. You can also download the manual.

It took me two tries. First I went with the "Typical" clone and got an error message on reboot that said Windows couldn't be loaded. Being the patient type, I went back and used the "Custom" option, and it worked. The toughest part is having to use the eight little midget screws, but if I can do it, most can.

The steps are:

Insert the Apricorn CD in the CD drive. 

Boot and press F1.

Go into BIOS and make the first boot option the CD drive.

Shut down the computer and remove the power cord.

Remove the battery and the soon-to-be "old" hard drive.

Install the "old" drive in the hard drive enclosure that comes with the kit.

Install the new hard drive in the computer.

Install the battery and re-connect the power cord.

Connect the "old" drive to USB port.

Boot, which loads the Apricorn software.

You are asked to select the source and target for the clone operation.

Select "Custom" for cloning option. Cloning took about 45 minutes from the old drive, which had 47 GB used, as well as the "hidden" partition.

(Since I had already tried to clone the drive once, I got a warning here that said continuing would wipe out the files on the new drive would be erased. But it wouldn't boot anyway, so I soldiered on)

When it's done, close the Apricorn program, but leave the CD in the drive, and reboot.

Select "Windows" option, and, if you are successful, you're done. (At least I was) 

Message Edited by cowpiewi on 11-15-2008 01:28 PM

[Agotthelf Community Moderator]

Hello,

it is also recommended to clone from the extern hdd (old hdd - with your image) to the new one that´s into the thinkpad.

If you do it reversly the TP won´t boot.

[Jay559]

I've been trying to use Acronis True Image Home 2009 (build 9799) without success during a Backup process.  Acronis won't run when I have a USB wire connecting the external new HD 500GB - acronis says after rebooting during the backup process in a blue screen  "error: partition configuration has changed.  press any key to reboot your computer".  apparently the 9709 build for acronis has a fix for the MBR on R61i PCs; so i ran it again with both drives external after chatting with acronis and using 9709 build.  new HD still won't run when running acronis on the r61i PC.

so i tried running acronis with both drives on USB hookups on another PC.  After setting all options: manual, sector by sector, same part size and copying the three pieces found on the original lenovo HD (ntfs, fat32 , MBR) to the new HD, and upon trying to boot the lenovo on the  new drive a black screen states "error loading operating system" so its not seeing the operating system says acronis tech support.  i re-ran the backup and made sure the partitions showed up in the same order on both the old and new HDs - lenovo fat32 then NTFS, since the first time the NTFS showed up in first place.  Still wouldn't boot. i know i haven't tried non-sector-by-sector yet, however acronis tech sup says its shouldn't matter and to use SecBsector.

Reading this forum regarding cloning an R61i lenovo drive to a new larger HD (not so easy) I plan to buy Paragon's disk manager and use it.  Since i haven't seen anyone using two external HDs (old and new) is there a good chance i can get an EXACT copy on the new HD to run on the R61i using their software?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[PhilD]

it's not clear that the specific issue decribed below is what you are experiencing, but i'll give it a go anyway...

While attempting to either clone or restore an image of my T60 Vista hard drive using True Image 10, i receive a black screen with the following error message:

"windows failed to start.........

the file that is missing is 

\Windows\System32\Winload.exe"

True Image 10 apparently cannot correctly restore the MBR for Vista (although i thought i read that True image 2009 Build 9709 fixed that problem). You can correct this problem by booting to a Vista Install DVD, Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD, or bootable Vista Recovery Disc and choosing to repair your installation.  If you don't have access to any of of these discs (not provided by Lenovo), you can download a bootable Vista Recovery Disc ISO using the link at bottom.

you can read more here:

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=T400_series_ThinkPads&message.id=4298&query.id=9...

and here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=71104&start=30

Vista Recovery Disc ISO:

http://c4consulting.com.au/soluctions/vista/VISTA%20SOLUCTIONS.htm

Message Edited by PhilD on 02-03-2009 07:11 PM

Message Edited by PhilD on 02-03-2009 07:12 PM

Message Edited by PhilD on 02-03-2009 07:13 PM

[Jay559]

Following cowpiewi's lead (above) I used Apricorn and EZ Gig II ver. 10 build 5,114.

(see http://www.apricorn.com/faqs.php?id=1023&family=f  ) and it was a snap; finished cloning a 55GB disk in 45 minutes, hidden partition and all after the first try to a 500GB drive.  Apricorn was fast, as compared to 5-7 hrs for Acronis TIH (or 11 hrs for a raw Paragon Hard Disk Manager image) all of which ended up not working.  There seem to be a bunch of work-arounds for those routines and some have success, but I like simplicity.  These companies indicated that a clone using their software would provide no better results. 

Didn't try Apricorn's image save/restore routines since it is not supposed to work too well for the lenovos - probably would get the same non-workable images as obtained using acronis (tried 4 times) and paragon sftwr (tried twice).  So didn't save a restorable image to use in the future, however I'll take success, quickness and ease of use of their clone anyday.  Maybe their image would have worked.  Used xp disk manager to activate the unallocated disk space after the clone.

One note: Apricorn EZ Gig II and Acronis True Image Home are NOT compatible when installed on the same computer.  They use the same kernel file and bump into one another.  Acronis TIH does well with normal backup/restore situations (no lenovo hidden files and security architecture) so I'll use it for routine jobs, and use Apricorn for the lenovo.  

Message Edited by Jay559 on 02-03-2009 11:52 PM

Message Edited by Jay559 on 02-03-2009 11:54 PM

Message Edited by Jay559 on 02-03-2009 11:58 PM