Seeking opinion -- ugrading T61 from 160 GB to 320 GB [ Edited ]

[Bajpai]

I have just ordered a Western Digital Scorpio 2.5" SATA, 320 GB, 3 GB/s, 8 MB Cache hard disk drive. I would like to upgrade my existing 160 GB 5400 RPM HDD on my T-61.

What sequintial steps do I need to take to upgrade and transfer the image of my existing drive on the new one.

I would also like to know if there are any potential issues and any impact on performance with such an upgrade.

Message Edited by Bajpai on 01-14-2008 10:15 PM

Message Edited by Bajpai on 01-14-2008 10:16 PM

[andyP Community SuperMod]

I would transfer the image using acronis. The new hdd installed as primary in you TP with either the original hdd in a bay adapter and boot from the acronis rescue cd, or the original in an external usb caddy and again boot from the cd.

re performance, I'm no performance-freak, I can't think of any negatives. If you need the space - go for it.  

[goretsky Community Moderator]

Hello,

Just to second AndyP's post, I would suggest using Acronis True Image to migrate your internal hard disk drive to a Western Digital WD3200BEVT 320 GB, 3 Gb/s, 8 MB Cache, 5400 RPM hard disk drive.  I did this successfully with my own T61p. 

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the first time you start the computer from the new 320GB hard disk drive, you may receive an error and need to boot your ThinkPad from a Windows Vista installation disc and perform a "repair" to the hard disk drive to write replacement Boot configuration Data (BCD) to the new hard disk drive, which is a fairly automatic process:  You just have to confirm the repair, which takes about a minute or two from the time you boot from the installation disc.  After that, the system will boot as normal from the hard disk drive.

This my be something which is fixed in newer versions of Acronis True Image, but you might want to verify the procedure with Acronis' tech support in their online support forum,

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[Bajpai]

Andy and Aryeh, thanks very much. My T61 does not come any Vista Installation Diskette. I have however got recovery discs and I have also made Recovery Discs using "Create Recovery Media". This has allowed me to make one set of Disks, and does not permit another set. Will these be the Vista Installer you refer to.

I'll need to purchase Acronis. Would "Acronis TrueImage 11 Home" be adequate. I have never used Acronis before, but going by the recommendations it should not be too difficult to get around.

Also, just for curiosity's sake are there any issues with ThinkVantage Product Rescue and Recovery provided by Lenovo?

Thanks again for your help.

Sushil

[goretsky Community Moderator]

Hello,

I actually removed the hard disk drive from my ThinkPad T61p when it arrived and installed a retail disc of Microsoft Windows Vista, so I never used the Lenovo-provided installation of Windows Vista Home Basic that came with my ThinkPad or created the recovery media for it.

What you might want to try doing is booting from the recovery media and seeing if it gives you an option to start the Microsoft Windows Vista installation and access the System Recovery Options menu.  The actual option off the menu is "Startup Repair."

Another possibility might be to check with Lenovo's technical support department via telephone.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[Bajpai]

Thanks very much. I will anyway purchase Acronis and keep a back-up handy -- just in case.

I will first try to use the Lenovo prescribed method, and if that fails use Acronis. In case that fails as well, I shall revert to the original disk.

Anyway, I will record the outcome, in this forum for anyone who might need the information.

In the meanwhile, I will still look forward to any other information that might be available with anyone.

I am presently located in India, and dread the prospect of calling a Call Centre. Unfortunately Lenovo does not appear to provide e-mail support.

BTW, does changing the hard disk void warrenty? I have paid for three year warrenty and additional protection, and would not want to lose that, for whatever it is worth

Thanks again for your help.

[andyP Community SuperMod]

As goretsky correctly said you may have to run a repair of vista. When I've had the error message there was an option to repair at the bottom of the screen, after clicking on it, it repaired itself.

Re the warranty, it will not void the warranty. Obviously Lenovo will not accept any resposibility should the drive fail, and it will probably not be covered by the protection.

[carbon_unit · Accepted solution]

Just so you know. The restore disks you made are not the same disks that Vista will need to do a repair. That would be a regular Vista install disk.
The restore disks will create a hidden restore partition and then you will reboot and restore Vista from the newly created restore partition. At that point you can do a selective recovery where you can choose which programs get installed and which do not.

[Bajpai]

First, thanks every one for the great tips. Each of those was indeed very valuable. I have succeeded in restoring the entire drive. I had to make two attempts.

I'll share what finally worked for me.

1. Made recovery disks using ThinkVantage "Create Recovery Media"

2. Installed Acronis True Image and made a Disk Image of my original disk on USB drive

3. Made bootable Acronis CD

4. Installed the new Hard Disk

5. Using the Recovery Media made by ThinkVantage got the laptop to factory state.

6. Installed Acronis True Image on the new disk

7. Connected USB drive that had Disk Image created by Acronis and recovered the disk image on the new disk

8. Acronis took 8 hours to recover the partitions

9. On booting the only error I got was to tell me that TurboMemory Disk was full and I should delete some files. Apparantly it was being read as another drive.

10. So I disabled the turbo memory, booted the system, and then re-enabled followed by another boot.

11. I usec Acronis Disk Director to recover usnused disk space by creating another partition.

12. And presto all my software and screen and settings are as they were.

Using this method I did not have to repair the windows in the end. Everything is back as it was earlier.

Thanks again.

Sushil

[carbon_unit]

The next time you do this you can skip a few steps. Since the acronis image overwrites the work done by the restore disks save the restore disks for a time when you want a new factory install.
If you want to use the acronis image just boot up to the bootable acronis disk you made with the USB hard drive already plugged in. Select restore and find the image on the USB hard drive. Give it a some time and you are done.