Hard Drive Swap between a T61p and W500 [ Editado ]

[eecon]

Presently, I can swap my main WinXP SP3 Operating System hard drive back and forth between my older July 2007 Built emergency spare T61 15.4" T7500 WSXGA+ Nivida NVS 140M ThinkPad and my newer Aug 2008 Built T61p T9300 WSXGA+ Nividia FX570M daily user ThinkPad w/o any problems or extra steps per my testing (just in case of a future emergency ..... "Be Prepared" .... Boy Scout/Eagle Scout Motto and all that stuff).

I have an opportunity to pick up a W500 T9500 15.4" WSXGA+ ATI FireGL V5700 ThinkPad in good working order at a very reasonable price to replace my older emergency spare T61 (instead of replacing it with another T61p built after Aug 1, 2008 as originally planned). I always use my T61p docked (Advanced Mini Dock M/T 2504-10U) with the screen lid closed and an external monitor, keyboard and mouse, so any minor screen or cosmetics issues of the W500 would not be relavent.

I believe I should be able to make the same HDD swap between the W500 and T61p which, except for the ATI vs Nvidia Graphic driver difference, is similar enough to the T61p where the machine would first default to the standard VGA driver and then I'd only have to take the extra step (in an emergency swap) to thoroughly cleanout the old video drivers and then install the correct video drivers via System Update.

If this kind of W500 to T61p HDD swap is actually feasible, I'd then probably make the T61p my emergency spare and use the slightly more powerful W500 as my docked main desktop replacement for another year or two before upgrading both unit's to Lenovo's latest offering in late 2012 or early 2013.

Note that both the T61p and W500 use the same Advanced Mini Dock M/T 2504-10U (plus even the same batteries), unlike the newer W510 or W520  for instance.

Any comments, advice or issues I've overlooked here?

Thank you.

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[richk]

One thing is a disk password. If you have passphrase set to OFF on both machines (on is the default), there is no problem. A drive can be locked in a T61 and mounted in a W500. If passphrase is on, you can not use it in a T61. Encryption algorythms are different

[eecon]

Not quite sure what you mean ..... I use Seagate FDE units with on-board hardware based encryption that is activated by setting a HDD PW via BIOS.

My BIOS Passphrase setting option (which is different from my HDD PW setting) is already set to off and it has always been that way.  I can not toggle up to even enable the Passphrase setting in BIOS.  Maybe it's because I have enabled the Supverisor PW setting to protect my BIOS settings?  Would I need to disable the Supv PW also?

I realize that I'd first have to disable the HDD PW in the T61p before swapping the drive, then first boot up the W500 w/o a HDD PW and get the new video drivers working, etc.   Then reboot into back into the W500 BIOS and activate the HDD PW again to enable FDE encryption on the Seagate.

So are my settings and procedure okay for a try at it based on what I'm reporting?

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[richk]

If you turn off the password, there is no problem at all. When you need to use an "emergency backup", you cannot always plan ahead.

[eecon]

Now I understand what you are attemping to say ....... good point.  However, since all the encryption keys are maintained on the FDE drive itself your concerns may be moot.   I swapped my FDE HDD with its PW still enabled between my T61p and my T61 and there was no problem.   As long the emergency spare machine is okay the FDE's PW works in the spare machine since the FDE's encryption keys are not stored on the computer (it's all on the HDD). 

As a correction to my earlier post:

I would not have to first disable the FDE HDD PW and then clean out my old Nvidia or ATI drivers before a machine fails (assuming one machine is a W500 and the other is a T61p).   I'd just swap the FDE HDD and start the spare machine, enter the HDD's PW, and WinXP will bootup with the standard VGA driver.   I can then do the old driver cleanout while on the spare machine, then reboot and run system update to obtain the proper drivers for that spare machine

Please see this link about FDE HDD PW portability:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-69621.html

Also, I do not use a Power On PW since the FDE drive PW is more than sufficient (thus one less PW to enter).

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[richk]

I am not talking about encryption of data. The HDD password setting in the BIOS is my concern. If you have set a HDD password, and passphrase is turned on, an encrypted key is stored on the HDD in an area that cannot be accessed via normal means. The encryption is built into the BIOS code. The T61 wnd W500 use different routines.  That means that at startup, it will prompt for the HDD password.  You will enter the correct password on the W500 and it WILL NOT MATCH.

[eecon]

Oh okay .... I get it ..... since  my Passphrase is always automatically disabled (whenever an FDE HDD is used), I'd be okay then ..... right?

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[richk]

If passphrase is disabled, you are fine.

[eecon]

I think passphrase gets automatically disabled whenever I use an FDE drive ..... I can not even access the passphrase setting options in BIOS when there is an FDE drive in the main HDD bay.

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[richk]

My guess is that you have either POP or Supervisor passwords set. If that is the case, you cannot switch back and forth (passphrase enabled/disabled) until you clear them all. If that were not the case, you could have some passwords encrypted and some not. Your system would be unusable