New HDD for T41

[Hippogriff]

Good morning all,

I am fond of my old T41 workhorse - 2373-TG5. I would like to keep it and upgrade the internal disk as it's still working but is rather noisy these days, and seems to be "clicking" away, even though a file monitor does not indicate files are being accessed all the time. It might be on the way out, I'm not sure, but I figured it was time to investigate options.

Now, the last time I looked into this I could have sworn there was definitely no option to look at SSD technology with a T41. I've read through the stickies at the top of this forum and I'm enthused by what might be possible.

If an upgrade to an SSD is possible - can someone tell me what is now considered the simplest upgrade path?

If an upgrade of a T41 to SSD is not possible (or not easy) - can someone please give me some advice on the best spinning disk to go for as a direct replacement... capacity doesn't have to be huge (current HDD is 40GB) but speed improvements and noise reduction would be very welcome things indeed.

If I'm able to receive a clear recommendation on what to purchase I think I'll do it straight away. I appreciate any guidance.

Cheers, Hippo

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the Forum.

An IDE-adapter/mSATA is the best option to go in the direction of an SSD.

The best HDD option would be a PATA/IDE 160GB Samsung HM160HC, 2.5", 5400rpm, 8MB cache.
Even at 'only' 5400rpm it is faster than the average 7200rpm drive!
These drives are renowned for their fast and quiet behavior.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads ... ve.264209/
I have a brand new one available for $65 shipped within CONUS.

[Hippogriff]

Thank you for the welcome and for that specific recommendation re. a replacement HDD in the Samsung HM160HC. I see I can purchase that for a reasonable price and that, if I choose to go with it, I might need to act quickly as some sites list it as end-of-life... I'm sure eBay will always have some.

Does anyone have a similar specific product set recommendation for the IDE-adapter / mSATA option for going to SSD? I am happy to weigh up the pros and cons and jump either way at the moment. I would be much more reassured if someone could recommend something they knew, for sure, would work... I obviously realise I'm talking T41 here.

Cheers, Hippo

[RealBlackStuff]

FYI, on eBay nobody in USA offers new Samsung HM160HC drives!
Just for fun: compare prices with Newegg...

[ajkula66]

Does anyone have a similar specific product set recommendation for the IDE-adapter / mSATA option for going to SSD? I am happy to weigh up the pros and cons and jump either way at the moment. I would be much more reassured if someone could recommend something they knew, for sure, would work... I obviously realise I'm talking T41 here.

One word: Addonics. Costs a lot more than random no-name stuff that you'll find on feebay, but is well worth it in my opinion, presuming you choose to go with the mSATA option.

http://www.addonics.com/products/adms25ide.php

[GACrabill]

Now, the last time I looked into this I could have sworn there was definitely no option to look at SSD technology with a T41. I've read through the stickies at the top of this forum and I'm enthused by what might be possible.

If an upgrade to an SSD is possible - can someone tell me what is now considered the simplest upgrade path?

Are you running XP or Win7 on that T41 ?

Win7 is 'SSD-aware' and does TRIM automatically.
XP does not do TRIM.

[Hippogriff]

It's XP.

Cheers, Hippo

[Hippogriff]

One word: Addonics. Costs a lot more than random no-name stuff that you'll find on feebay, but is well worth it in my opinion, presuming you choose to go with the mSATA option.

I like the look of this indeed. Have you had personal experience of slotting one of these into, say, a T41?

I am trying to figure out whether I can get it in the UK...

Cheers, Hippo

[ajkula66]

One word: Addonics. Costs a lot more than random no-name stuff that you'll find on feebay, but is well worth it in my opinion, presuming you choose to go with the mSATA option.

I like the look of this indeed. Have you had personal experience of slotting one of these into, say, a T41?

I had it in a T42p - which for the purposes of this conversation bears no meaningful difference to T41 - along with an old Samsung 810 SSD and loved it.

I am trying to figure out whether I can get it in the UK...

No clue, but you should give it a try.

[Hippogriff]

This looks like the same kind of thing, right?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/lycom-st ... -ssd-drive

I mean, pictorially it looks almost exactly the same, but I should not assume.

Cheers, Hippo

[ajkula66]

This looks like the same kind of thing, right?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/lycom-st ... -ssd-drive

I mean, pictorially it looks almost exactly the same, but I should not assume.

I *believe* - given that my recollection about what was discussed on the subject matter here on TPF is not 100% clear - that it actually is the same adapter...

[RealBlackStuff]

Here's an outfit in Holland, that ships Addonics all over Europe: http://www.webconnexxion.com/index.php? ... e=addonics

[automobus]

This looks like the same kind of thing, right?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/lycom-st ... -ssd-drive

Scan sells the real deal, genuine LyCOM. Addonics are liars, relabelling LyCOM parts, pretend to manufacture their own.

Remember, all Tforty owners, to check your firmware version (BIOS revision) if planning to use bridged SATA storage.

[Dekks]

I am trying to figure out whether I can get it in the UK...

Cheers, Hippo

http://www.aimtec.co.uk/addonics-online/i-o-converters

[Hippogriff]

Thanks all.

Looks like the Lycom ST-173-7 mSATA SSD to 2.5" IDE SSD Drive Converter coupled with something from here - http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-har ... 0gb-512gb) - maybe the mSATA 850 EVO 250GB SSD Samsung Solid State Drive found at http://www.scan.co.uk/products/250gb-sa ... e-520mb-s- would be a nice combination.

Can I enquire, then, whether it's simple for me to clone my current ~30GB HDD onto a ~250GB mSATA device and get the system back up and running without re-installing the OS and years and years of stuff? If I had all the time in the world a fresh install would be preferred, but I'm wondering whether it's possible to do a simple transfer of data and change of hardware?

Cheers, Hippo

[ajkula66]

Can I enquire, then, whether it's simple for me to clone my current ~30GB HDD onto a ~250GB mSATA device and get the system back up and running without re-installing the OS and years and years of stuff? If I had all the time in the world a fresh install would be preferred, but I'm wondering whether it's possible to do a simple transfer of data and change of hardware?

Yes, you can clone your old HDD onto a new SSD, Clonezilla is my weapon of choice although there are numerous other utilities that can do the job.

With that being said, I'd *strongly* advise against cloning in this situation because by the time you're done tweaking that clone to work properly on the SSD you'll spend just about the same amount of time as you would on a fresh install.

[GACrabill]

Yes, you can clone your old HDD onto a new SSD, Clonezilla is my weapon of choice although there are numerous other utilities that can do the job.

With that being said, I'd *strongly* advise against cloning in this situation because by the time you're done tweaking that clone to work properly on the SSD you'll spend just about the same amount of time as you would on a fresh install.

Many of us have never had a serious problem cloning an HDD or SSD to another HDD or SSD.
I have used Acronis True Image, Paragon Migrate OS-to-SSD, Paragon Drive Copy, AOMEI Partition Assistant (Migrate OS-to-SSD option), but I have never had the need to use Clonezilla.
The only 'tweaking' needed after a cloning process is the 'Auto Tweak' button of 'SSD Tweaker'.
I have had cloning processes run 30 minutes and others run 90 minutes (ATI always seems slow to me).
Switch the drives, boot, install 'SSD Tweaker' before or after the cloning process, enjoy your 'new' PC ... no fresh install required.

[ajkula66]

Many of us have never had a serious problem cloning an HDD or SSD to another HDD or SSD.
I have used Acronis True Image, Paragon Migrate OS-to-SSD, Paragon Drive Copy, AOMEI Partition Assistant (Migrate OS-to-SSD option), but I have never had the need to use Clonezilla.

And I've never used anything but Clonezilla. To each their own.

The only 'tweaking' needed after a cloning process is the 'Auto Tweak' button of 'SSD Tweaker'.

We're dealing with XP here. How will the partitions get properly aligned? SSD over-provisioned? SSD Tweaker does absolutely nothing in this respect.

I have had cloning processes run 30 minutes and others run 90 minutes (ATI always seems slow to me).
Switch the drives, boot, install 'SSD Tweaker' before or after the cloning process, enjoy your 'new' PC ... no fresh install required.

IDK. I do a lot more with my SSDs than "SSD Tweaker" allows for, but - once again - to each their own.

[GACrabill]

The only 'tweaking' needed after a cloning process is the 'Auto Tweak' button of 'SSD Tweaker'.

We're dealing with XP here. How will the partitions get properly aligned? SSD over-provisioned? SSD Tweaker does absolutely nothing in this respect.

The partitions get aligned automatically during the cloning process ... any up-to-date cloning software should already be SSD-aware and will make sure that correct alignment is done. A number of the new SSDs also come with a free cloning software package (ie.- Crucial includes a special version of ATI-Home with their SSDs).

If you prefer more over-provisioning than the SSD comes with, some Toolboxes will allow you to choose whatever you want. There are also free partition management tools which can be used within Windows to change the sizes of existing partitions so that one could make the decision now or later to have unallocated space that is never used, thus providing 'virgin' sectors for the over-provisioning concern.

When I install an SSD for someone, I can't tell them that I am going to wipeout their system by re-loading the operating system ... and then spend hours re-installing all of the Windows updates, re-load their personal data files, and then tell them that they are on their own for re-establishing wireless, printers, etc.

Cloning works fine, a few standard SSD tweaks, a 'fast' SSD instead of a slow or dead HDD ... everyone is happy.

[ajkula66]

When I install an SSD for someone, I can't tell them that I am going to wipeout their system by re-loading the operating system ... and then spend hours re-installing all of the Windows updates, re-load their personal data files, and then tell them that they are on their own for re-establishing wireless, printers, etc.

I have no problem telling people to perform a fresh install. The only time that I agree with cloning is when there's old/proprietary/obsolete software that would be difficult or impossible to replace involved.

Cloning works fine, a few standard SSD tweaks, a 'fast' SSD instead of a slow or dead HDD ... everyone is happy.

While I understand the convenience of the approach that you prefer, I'll stick with proven performance of my chosen one.

To each their own.