Starting T42p after hdd change

[Patrik28]

Prologue:
It was a little weird case, when I bought a new T42p, but there was only Lotus Smartsuite cd. Why there aren't drivers and specially Winxp media disc's? - Now when I have changed the original hdd to a bigger clean one, I just have the Winxp licence sticker. If this is for cutting out disc-price, it really stinks. (Sorry my mood, I thought that a system disc would be obvious matter, and it really was with my earlier IBM Aptiva machine)
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The question: is it possible to clone the original hdd (60 Gb) to a new one (80 Gb). Do I have to make a 60 Gb and 20 Gb partitions to new hdd. What cloning program should I use? Can I do cloning with T42, by using an ultrabay hdd adapter?

[richk]

I like Acronis True Image. You cam make whatever size partitions you wish. An Ultrabay HDD adapter is the best way to do it.

[Johan]

First, relax!

Second, don't bother about the "Lotus Smartsuite" stuff; I also received this with my T42p (which came from the seller of refurbished IBM laptops "ibmfactoryoutlet"; a company similar to "ThinkPad World"). Google on your own after Lotus, and see what it is (I don't remember; never used it - it is stored somewhere). You most probably don't need Lotus, particularly when you don't even know what it is!

Third, what you need - the Windows XP installation media - you already have (unless you have wiped your old harddisk!). Newer ThinkPad's have a co-called service partition on the HDD, which is a hidden (FAT32) partition which holds all the SW that was installed on the (user visible NTFS) partition at the time the ThinkPad left the factory. So, in the instant you get a real bad virus, or if you by accident delete all your Windows files... then just press the blue "Access IBM" button on your T42p and restore the OS and all pre-installed programs.

But! What if your HDD with the hidden partition (HPA) completely dies? Then.. you're in serious trouble... unless you have already made yourself a set of the IBM Rescue & Recovery Media. Which you should absolutely make straight away! How to do this? Read many places on this forum, e.g. Create Recovery Disk problem; see the post by GomJabbar of Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:29 pm.

Fourth; cloning: Cloning your old HDD to a new one... many, many (many!!) threads on this forum are discussing this, see e.g. How I Cloned My IBM ThinkPad T42 Hard Drive - Step by Step or Confirm info for upgrading hard drive in T42. All you need is the free trial-version of Acronis True Image, then you're flying!

Good luck!

Best regards,

Johan

[carbon_unit]

if you have not already wiped your 60gb drive I would recommend putting it back in and making a set of recovery discs. Then install the 80gb drive and use the recovery discs to install XP. Then store the recovery discs in a safe place.
If you have already wiped the 60gb disc maybe someone can give you a set of recovery discs, ask in the Marketplace.

[bill bolton]

I thought that a system disc would be obvious matter

Hardly any mainstream suppliers provide system disks for any class of PC now a days, and that's been the case for several years. Since you have a new machine, you can burn a set of product recovery disks yourself, using the software installed on your T42.

The question: is it possible to clone the original hdd (60 Gb) to a new one (80 Gb).

Yes.

Do I have to make a 60 Gb and 20 Gb partitions to new hdd.

Some cloning software will allow you to expand the partition size as part of the cloning operation... see below.

What cloning program should I use?

I personally use Acronis True Image, which also seems to be a popular choice with many other participants here. It will adjust partion sizes during cloning, if you want it to.

Can I do cloning with T42, by using an ultrabay hdd adapter?

Yes, that's what I do.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[Patrik28]

Ok, thaks for advices.

I managed to find the hidden partition and take a copy - problem solved!

After starting with those burned cd-r's it was like my old IBM Aptiva. Just format hdd and run recovery program.

But I still think that it would be much more helpful to get recovery discs with computer. I have seen many hdd crashes that I won't trust to hdd's anymore.

ps. Does anybody know, if it is possible to switch OEM WinXP language? Or can I buy a different language WinXP media and use the same licence key with that.