OEM Hitatchi 100gb SATA drive...Format?

[stephenaron]

I bought a new OEM drive from Newegg. Do i need to do anything to it before installing windows? Going to use this drive to mess around with Vista.

[kf_man]

I don't believe there is anything, I've had my HD completely clean before with no problems at all. Go ahead and try to install Vista making sure to partition and format the drive during setup. Also, you might want to make sure that the Predesktop Area is disabled in the BIOS. I don't think it really makes a difference, but it's probably a good idea to turn it off if you won't really have one.

[stephenaron]

Predesktop is the hidden partition? Wont exist on the new drive, right? Is there a way top create one after Vista is up and running?

[hoya]

there was some discussion a few months ago about disabling NCQ, Compatibility mode, etc. on an off-the-shelf hard drive.

in my own experience, the 100gb 7200rpm drive I tried in a T60 was never as fast as the 120gb that shipped with my T60. I remember reading that Lenovo changes the firmware on the drives but perhaps that has changed with the most recent T60's.

[stephenaron]

So you are saying as well that we dont need to change anything? Again, is there a way to create the hidden partition with an image of my new clean vista install?

[hoya]

I was able to clone my facotry-shipped drive, including the hidden partition, by using Acronis. however, you need an image to start with so I'm not sure how that would apply if you are buying Vista at retail.

I would recommend taking a look at this page:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63685

there are some hdd firmware updates recently released which apply to the 7k100.

[stephenaron]

Thanks for the input

[pinesol]

So you are saying as well that we dont need to change anything? Again, is there a way to create the hidden partition with an image of my new clean vista install?

I do not know why you need to create the hidden partition with Vista. Once Vista is installed, you will never be able to go back to XP unless, of course, clean install XP. In case of such an extremely unlikely event, one needs a set of R&R CD and DVD.

[stephenaron]

when i refer to wanting to create the hidden partition, i would want to do it for this reason: I would like to have an IMAGE that has all the drivers already installed, with many patches included. Otherwise, when i need to wipe the drive and reinstall, it takes forever.

[pinesol]

when i refer to wanting to create the hidden partition, i would want to do it for this reason: I would like to have an IMAGE that has all the drivers already installed, with many patches included. Otherwise, when i need to wipe the drive and reinstall, it takes forever.

Havn't you been upgrading the drivers with Thinkvantage system upgrade? I am not sure why you have to go back to old drivers that came with the notebook? You will need to upgrade them anyway.

[stephenaron]

I guess you are right. Just nice to have the laptop work with preinstalled drivers from the get go.

[kf_man]

I know it won't be configured and customized, but the default Vista install had all the drivers I needed with the exception of the fingerprint reader. This is nothing like XP where there are very few usable drivers included in a base install.

[stephenaron]

Had the Verizon drivers too?