Upgrade of Thinkpad's Hard Drive

[kele]

Hi everyone.

Just thought I could share with you my experience with upgrading my laptop's hard drive. Hope this might be helpful to someone.

As of March 2004, I am the owner of a Thinkpad T41 (Product Number 23733JG). It's original configuration was:

P M 1.5GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB 5400rpm HDD, 14.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, 32MB ATI Radeon 9000, 16x10x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD, Intel 802.11b wireless(MPCI), Bluetooth/Modem(CDC), 1GB Ethernet(LOM), Secure Chip, UltraNav, 6c Li-Ion, WinXP Pro

(One may find out about that at Lenovo.com -> Support and Downloads -> Enter Product Number. To find out the Product Number, one may load Windows, then go to Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Information. The Product Number is the same as the System Model value)

I recently added another 512MB to my RAM (510MB PC2700 CL2.5 Non-Parity DDR SDRAM SODIMM) and my system now has 1GB of RAM. I bought the RAM from Lenovo. I checked the type of RAM I should get from Lenovo's site.

(I did that at http://shop.lenovo.com/us/accessories and I put my Product Number to filter only those products compatible with my machine)

Then the time came for my 40GB (5400rpm) hard drive (2.5''). I asked my local dealer for a 100GB hard drive I found on the Lenovo's list of compatible hardware and the price they quoted seemed to me to be astronomical. Hence, I went for a workaround.

I checked that all the hard drives listed as compatible with my system had the ATA-100 interface. I had to find a hard disk with the same interface. I also remembered that somehow I had found that my laptop's hard drive was a Hitachi and thus I went and bought an 80GB (7200rpm) Hitachi ATA-100 hard drive (2.5''). I made sure that 7200rpm hard drives were also allowed or so. I also bought an external case for my hard disk. I chose Fantec map-h21u2g 2.5'' hdd usb 2.0 enclosure.

Nonetheless, I also had to find a way to clone the entire old hard drive to the new one. For this I bought the Acronis True Image Home 10 over the web. I created the rescue disk which they recommended, during the installation (one may create it later on, of course) of the product.

I put the rescue disk in the drive, I fixed the new hard drive into the external enclosure and connected it to the USB port of my USB hub and I restarted my laptop. I pressed F12 to boot from another device and I chose the CD.

I found the info on the site http://www.crn.com/white-box/60403842 useful. From the options of the menu which came up when I booted from the CD, I chose Full Version which supports USB drives (the Safe version does not) and I made sure I was cloning the old drive to the new one and not the other way around. I chose the cloning to transfer the data 'as is' (not in a proportional manner). After a little while, I got the message the the cloning was successful. I shut down my machine and I was ready to swap my drives.

(Originally, I tried to clone my hard drives running True Image from my old hard drive. The cloning - the program reported - was successful but when I swapped my hard drives Windows Explorer could not load at all)

I found the info on the site http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11379_7-6445033-1.html useful. I switched off my laptop and took my new hard drive out of the external enclosure. I followed the instructions on the web address I just mentioned and took my old hard drive out of my laptop.

The info at http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 50021.html was not that useful since it did not mention that the hard drive of my laptop was in a case. Hence, I found myself at a loss when I discovered that the cover seemed not the only thing to be removed from the old drive.

The new hard drive worked but I had to scan the disk for errors (actually, some errors were reported. All were fixed). I defragmented the drive and now I am having my laptop with an 80GB hard disk.

(Originally, I tried to defragment my new hard drive before swapping my drives. That process was not successful and somehow the drive got some errors to it).

All in all, the whole process was a bit troublesome but necessary. I saved quite a lot of money I have to say. However, I no longer have the IBM programs which protect my disk when I am moving my laptop while it is operating and the other diagnostic and other types of programs that load when one presses the 'access ibm' button during startup. I guess this is why the price on Lenovo disks is so high.

I hope this could be useful and I am sorry if that was more graphic than it should.

Any comments would be welcome.

kele

[Johan]

Thanks for sharing all this information!

You might want to check these threads: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=35194 ("Upgrading Hard Drives, Blinking Cursors, and the MBR") and http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=27721 ("Hard Drive Cloning HOW TO") and http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=33820 ("HPA Information") - that might help?

Best regards,

Johan

[kele]

Hi!

Thanks very much for your reply. I had a look at the links you provided. All are quite useful. I am not sure I have entirely understood everything in the posts you quoted, however, it seems that it is possible to copy the programs that can be run before Windows loads, by pressing the 'access ibm' button. Actually I did not know - and I hope I understood it correctly - that this is called HPA and that it could be transferred to a new drive. I have to read a little bit on this to be sure. Is it necessary to have the ATA-5 interface, and isn't the ATA-100 the same as the ATA-5? (ok, it does not seem to be if you just look at it......but I read somewhere that the 5 in ATA-5 stands for the mode and 100 in ATA-100 for the transfer rate or something. Of course one could say that not only mode 5 has the 100 transfer rate but I don't know...befuddled...

If I wanted to clone my old disk along with the HPA I would have to do the same old thing again, that would be reinstalling my old hard drive, formatting my new one, and doing whatever the appendix on the HPA white paper says? Actually, on that appendix it mentions a diskette drive. I have no diskette drive (did not come with my laptop and I did not buy one)...is there something I could do about that?

thanks again.

kele

[Temetka]

In order to re-create the HPA you need to reset your drive to factory install. I have a set of IBM restore discs which will do this for you. Then you can hit the Access IBM button before booting and it will boot you into the HPA.

These discs will wipe the HD, and reset it to the state it was in when it left the factory. You will be left with a clean install of XP Pro SP2, the IBM software and nothing else. You should backup you user data and files.

If you really want to do this, PM me and I can send you a copy of the discs. If all you want is the IBM software utilities without re-formatting the hard drive, you can download software update and go from there. It should reload all of the Thinkvantage software for you.

Congrats on installing a nice hard drive in your machine. 80GB of space is great, and the 7200RPM speed will ensure that your programs run nice and quick. From the specs you listed it would appear that you have a very nice laptop on your hands. I can only assume that you have as much love for your T41 as I do for my T41P.

[kele]

Hi there!!

...and THAAAANKS!!!! But I really don't want you to get into all that trouble of sending me those disks. It is very kind of you and I appreciate it quite a lot but, for now, I will try the other way you suggested to get back the HPA on my system.

But let us suppose that I had those disks. The working scenario, in broad terms, would be to insert disk 1 or so and boot from it, follow the prompts and format my new hard drive (which I would leave intact) to factory settings and everything. At the end of the process I would have, as you mentioned, a newly installed version of Win XP SP2 with HPA and all the IBM software. I wouldn't need to swap my new disk with the old one and restore my system to the state it was before the upgrade, or? I just insert the disk to my cd-rom drive having my computer at the state it is now, or?

If that description could be considered ok and the answer to the 2 questions is 'no', it sounds real good. However, call me whatever you like , but I don't really have the courage to re-install everything on my pc from scratch. It may be a very good option in case my op.sys crashes for some reason or other and please let me assume that I could ask for those disks sometime in the future if the need arises, but, for the time being, I will try the other way you suggested.

The software I would need in order to install the HPA would be found on Lenovo's site?

I'll have a look and post my findings in a while.

Thanks very much again.

kele

[kele]

sorry, the answer to the questions for the dream scenario would be no and yes... ...

[kele]

Hello again.

I found a document here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-57590

which discusses how to Ghost (using Symantec's Ghost) an entire hard drive, including a hidden partition.

Even though I have Acronis True Image 10 which I am using to clone my disk, in that article there is a suggestion I did not follow in my original cloning, that of disabling the security on the HPA (which I suppose is in a hidden partition) and thus making it visible to the cloning software.

Suppose I do that in my system. In that same article it mentions that one should use the -IB switch for Symantec Ghost. What does this switch do, and does anyone know if there is any equivalent with True Image?

Steps 3 and 4 I do not really understand. On step 3 it says that I should disable the security on my target disk. How would I do that iif the disk is seen as a USB external disk? Then, in step 4, it says that I should restore the image created in step 2. Dunno what that means...possibly because I have not used Ghost...but it would be enlightening if someone has and could give me an idea of what this means...

Has anyone performed a disk cloning with True Image and managed to also clone HPA?

Thanks.

kele

[pae77]

True Image worked for me when I cloned the factory drive on a T30 over to a larger replacement drive. The service partition was cloned along with everything else and it required no special settings in the bios.

Perhaps it might be different on a T4x, but I doubt it.

[kele]

Hi there!

Thanks for your reply. Nonetheless, the IBM HPA did not get transferred when I cloned my hard drive. Perhaps your hard drive was purchased directly from Lenovo...dunno...I am more than certain that whenever I hit the Access IBM button when my system boots I get a black screen with 3 options : ESC -normal Boot, F1 - IBM Bios and F12 - Auxiliary Boot Device, if I remember the keys and what they do, properly...

kele

[goodgirl]

I cloned a T43p 100GB HDD to annother HDD of same size and make with Acronis True Image.

When I boot from the new cloned HDD, the hidden partition is not hidden, it's being assigned drive letter D:

I tried to change the BIOS setting for protection of the hidden partition, it was set to normal, I tried to set it to secure, back to normal, thinking this might hide it, but it's still visible in XP.

Is there any way to hide it and I would like to know why this is occuring, too if anybody knows.

[kele]

Hi.

I might not be the best person to answer this but I can tell you what I think...In general terms, there is a way to hide a partition. One way forward is to use Microsoft's Tweak UI (you may find it here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/down ... rtoys.mspx)

Run Tweak UI and go to My Computer (an option on the left panel of Tweak UI's window). Select Drives from the submenu. Uncheck D: and click apply. Drive D: should be hidden next time you boot. I've never done that so I cannot tell from experience but this is what is being suggested in some web pages I had a look (e.g have a look here: http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/1638).

I have Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 and according to Acronis, that program can also make certain partitions hidden and everything. If you have it, you may like to hide your partition using it. Run it and then select the partition you want to hide. Then click on Hide on the lower left panel of Disk Director's window. I have not done this as well, hence I cannot tell if it worked for me or not...

I hope this helps a bit...

kele