Do I have to buy a external USB 2.5" HD Adapter or an I

[snorlax360]

if i want to install a brand new HDD? can i just use acronis? because i dont want to spend an extra 25 bucks on a adapter that i will only use once.

[SHoTTa35]

you want to clone your HD from one to another? That's what you're hoping? I guess there's always the "backup" method where you'd burn some DVDs/CDs with Ghost or something then slap the other drive in and run the DVD/CDs and that'll put everything back the way you want but Acronis i guess can do it on the fly, sector for sector.

As for me i usually hate that, if i install anything new on my machine (hardware wise, not like memory or a new optical drive) i tend to want to format and install a clean fresh Windows.

[sokos]

an external USB disk will do just fine, just try go for a brand such as WD, Lacie, etc.

And also after you finish, you can use it as backup disk, or to store various files (Mp3's, movies, pics) that you can't have them take up the limited space of the thinkpad drive.

win-win situation, specially now that external slim usb disks are less than 70 euros (for 80gb)

[snorlax360]

what i what is I do not want to go out and buy an adapter for my new HDD. How do i install the HDD to make it work

[GomJabbar]

AFAIK, if you do not have a way to have the original hard drive along with the new hard drive connected to the laptop simultaneously, you cannot clone with Acronis or any other cloning software.

You should be able to do what you want with Rescue and Recovery. Make a Rescue and Recovery backup to CD's or DVD's, and make the backup bootable or make a Rescue Media CD to boot from. Boot up off of the Rescue Media CD and restore your backup to the new hard drive.