Faster Hard Drive

[emeraldgirl08]

I was hoping someone could help me out with this. I am quite happy with the 760 MB of RAM I have in my comp. The thing that stops it from zipping along nicely is a faster Hard Drive. The one I have is only spinning at 4200 RPM.

I've been looking at a 60 GB Seagate HD that spins at 7200. It's a SATA; but I know there are IDE to SATA adapters that will let me use this. The thing is I got my T30 from EBay and there is no OS disc that came along with this. I really would love the faster drive but do not know what to do about transferring the OS to the new hard drive!

If someone could answer my question I'd be more than happy

I do plan on adding an external drive later when the $$$ sitch looks better.

Thank you.

[Harryc]

SATA is the wrong drive for a T30, you want an IDE drive. How much do you have to spend on a drive?

Here'a a good deal on a 5400rpm drive. That would feel much faster than a 4200rpm unit -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 822146042R

[emeraldgirl08]

I'm being a cheapie- I am looking for under $40.

I don't need 120-200+ Gb right now. I just need a faster drive! On the drive I have now- my applications take up 9 gb. That includes the recovery partition which has some progs. I don't really need. I am looking at Norton Ghost V14.0 and it seems like it might do the OS transfer for me.

This is all new to me. I have some computer skills but transferring OS' is new.

[Harryc]

Norton Ghost would work, most here prefer Acronis True Image for cloning drives. Good luck with your drive search. I can say with 99% certainty that you will not find a 60GB 7200rpm IDE laptop drive for under $40, but who knows.

[jronald]

http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?cat=414

I have done several Seagates from the above vendor
More than once I have picked up 60 gig for less than $30.00
In fact once I got a 60gig on sale for $21.00 shipped
Some may have issues with the recertified, I have never had an issue with the factory ones
Otherwise it USED and you need to keep that in mind
The 5400rpm have sereved me very well in the sub-2gig processor range, above that range I think the 7200rpm make a big difference
My opinion only

Ron

[RealBlackStuff]

If you buy a retail Seagate HD, you'll get the Seagate version of Acronis-Trueimage free with it, to clone your drive.
Don't go the Norton Ghost way, their program is not known for being reliable.
Here's a free clone utility (for if you get a bulk HD): http://www.miray.de/download/sat.hdclone.html

[emeraldgirl08]

Ok I'm a little confused here. So what type of hard drive will work with my T30? I know it's an IDE but I see some things that specify Ultra ATA. I just want some decent speed for the money. I'm looking at an 40gb maxtor 6e040L0 that has an IDE Ultra ATA interface for $14. If that works I'd settle for that.

[nikki605]

An Ultra ATA will work, it just won't run at the highest data transfer rate. It is still a PATA interface. As has already been said, don't get a SATA drive!

I have an Ultra ATA (actually, ATA-6) drive in my T21. Its been discontinued, now, but this is it:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6822146047

[dsvochak]

I'm looking at an 40gb maxtor 6e040L0

The maxtor drive won't work. It's a 3.5" drive. You need a 2.5" PATA (also described at times as IDE) drive.

[jronald]

For the sake of argument
And for our purposes:
2 sizes of hard drive
2 types of hard drives
These descriptions DO NOT cover everything
#1 What you need is....2.5 inch Pata or IDE "laptop" Harddrive
#2 What will not work....3.5 inch ANYTHING, anything DESKTOP, anything SATA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... name=ATA-6
http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?cat=414
http://computers.shop.ebay.com/items/Ha ... ec0Q2em282

I think I have separated these into IDE or PATA style only

Ron

[emeraldgirl08]

thank you all for your help. I think I have a pretty good idea of what to look for! The HD copy program is needing further reading. I ditched the Norton- bad reviews. Acronis didn't fare too well either. We'll see what happens after I do more research.

[Harryc]

Acronis works just fine, plus many folks here use it, so help (and advice) is readily available.

[nikki605]

As Harry already stated, Acronis works fine. While a lot of folks here use True Image, I actually used their Migrate Easy program when I upgraded my HDD. Very simple and straight forward to use. I had no errors or problems.

[sjthinkpader]

The other cloning SW choice is the Apricorn EZ Gig2. I've been using versions of it in the past 10 years.

[newyorkpaulie]

Norton Ghost would work, most here prefer Acronis True Image for cloning drives. Good luck with your drive search. I can say with 99% certainty that you will not find a 60GB 7200rpm IDE laptop drive for under $40, but who knows.

My advice is to stay clear of Norton. What a headache I had using Ghost. Acronis True Image is the one, you can backup the drive and then use recover to transfer to your new one. I do this all the time and never have problems.

[archer6]

<snip> My advice is to stay clear of Norton. What a headache I had using Ghost. <snip>

Just the word "Norton" gives me the chills.....oh what a pain in the .... well you get the picture....

[Masi_K]

I've been using the only good norton ghost for years. I mean Norton Ghost for Dos. Works well.

[archer6]

I've been using the only good norton ghost for years. I mean Norton Ghost for Dos. Works well.

I believe you... that's the way it is in so many cases. There are those that have had no problems and like it and others that simply have had nothing but problems.... an ambiguity at best.....

Cheers...

[ThinkPad560X]

You can get a Solid State hard Drive. It loads Windows faster than a hard Disk Drive. I have one in my IBM ThinkPad 560X.
You can also watch this video I found on Youtube that shows a Hard Disk Drive VS a Solid State Hard Drive. And it loads way more faster than a Disk Drive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUJ5Lka2aHE

Or You can get a IDE Compact flash Adapter off ebay for $5.00 and look for a Compact Flash Card. only problem is they don't make above 100GB yet 64GB was the highest I seen.
http://patbry.weebly.com/hard-drive.html

[sjthinkpader]

Slow CF is too slow for use as replacement to HDD and fast ones are too expensive.

[emeraldgirl08]

Thanks to all who inputed!

I like my T30 but now that I'm expecting a little extra cash I'm going to buy me a T43. I'd like a newer T60 but they are so expensive! I have not bought a HD yet but am waiting on a friend to hook me up with one. I'd pay for the S & H and she'd send me an HD.

I'm not very informed on the Thinkpads but see that the higher up in numbers for the T series indicates a newer model. I see a couple of T43's on SneeBay that are going for a comparatively same amount I paid for my T30. I think I may just wind up loaning my T30 to family members with stringent rules.

[Masi_K]

Be adviced that t43 requires thinkpad stamped hard drives. Some others may work.