Thinkpads Forum

I have a T60, and noticed that its performance has been degraded substantially over the past two years I've been using it. Since the main cause is most likely the all the garbages it has collected from various sources (e.g., web, trial programs, etc.), it appears it is about time I should replenish the system with a fresh re-installation of Windows. I am also thinking about using this opportunity to upgrade to Vista, and get a new, larger hard drive (Most likely Western Digital 320GB).

Since reinstalling an OS is a daunting task that could go seriously wrong, I am considering to first install it on a hard drive using the UltraBay SATA adapter. If everything goes well, I plan to swap it with the internal hard drive. I haven't done this, so I am concerned if this would cause any problem (or if this is possible at all). Thus, I would like to ask you (all the tech savvy users out there) for an advice. I would appreciate your feedback.

I would install your new drive in place of your old drive. If Vista doesn't work out put your old drive back in or install XP on your new drive. Leaving your exisiting drive as is will give you the opportunity to always go back instantly.

If you decide to continue with Vista and your new drive then and only then can you erase or reuse your old drive. Changing your old to your new is only four screws. Or find another caddy and cover and have both ready to go.

Brad

drblue wrote:I have a T60, and noticed that its performance has been degraded substantially over the past two years I've been using it..

At the risk of overstating the obvious, have you done a defragmentation recently, preferably with a good 3rd party defrag program? Also, running CMD you could do "defrag C: -b" to defrag the prefetch folder (hidden, but legit feature)

Plus, what services might be running that are from old programs, or other junk that is not needed.

If you have an image of your factory install or Rescue & Recovery CD set, you might re-do the machine to factory original and then clean out the program you don't want.

The downside to that is a lenghy Windows Update and patch run to bring the operating system up to today's specs, or run XP's service pack3 which would do the same thing but faster.

Hi Brad:

You are right. Installing in the main HDD bay is probably a safer bet. The reason I was considering to re-install OS in an Ultraybay HDD was because I wanted to minimize the impact on my work. My T60 is my main PC, and re-installing OS takes a long time (not just the OS installation, but all the customization required to make a PC run same as before). Because I cannot afford a whole day to do this, I was thinking about doing it over time. For this purpose, the ultrabay is an attractive option because I can work on the installation for a couple of hours, and resume my work simply by restarting the PC from the main HDD. But I agree with you that it probably makes more sense to put a new HDD in the main bay and the old one in the ultrabay. Thank you for your comment.

Hi mgo:

No, you are not overstating the obvious. I've seen many people who are complaining about PC performance without doing what they are supposed to do.

I did my dues before I decided to re-install OS. I use "Diskeeper" to defragment HDD. I tried to remove all the junk programs and unnecessary services. These all helped.

However, I've learned that, over time, a PC collects all sort of garbages that are not detected by an amateur like myself (e.g., Windows ini files and registry), and tends to slow down things and make the PC unreliable. Thus, I routinely re-install the OS partition (I partition my drive into 2: OS partition and data partition) using an image I made with Acronics. However, since I am trying to update to Vista, I cannot use my old XP image.

Thank you for your comments.

drblue wrote:Since reinstalling an OS is a daunting task that could go seriously wrong, I am considering to first install it on a hard drive using the UltraBay SATA adapter. Thus, I would like to ask you (all the tech savvy users out there) for an advice. I would appreciate your feedback.

Funny...I have done exactly that! So yes, it is possible, and the Ultrabay is SATA also, so it will run just as fast. Make sure to set the partition, if applicable, to Primary whenever you install an OS.

In my T60, I've found the factory install of XP to automatically work in the original main bay, or in the SATA ultrabay, with the bios set to either SATA: AHCI or SATA: compatability. (That's four combinations).

I don't have any Vista experience, but perhaps there might be a slight advantage to installing it in the main SATA bay, in the hope that you'll end up with a drive that can automatically work in either SATA mode, and in either drive bay.

Of course you still need to change the default boot order to start with the drive you want, or use F12 on boot to choose which to boot each time.

There's advice from IBM/Lenovo somewhere that you shouldn't change the main drive too often, or you can cause damage. I don't know if they mean the SATA & power connections, or the rubber rails on the sides of the drive. After maybe 5-10 drive changes on my T60, the part of the rubber covering the screws is a little shredded in a place or two. If planning to do a lot of switching, I'd consider replacing the screws with ones not as thick at the top, though that may make the drive a little less tight.

But in your case, I guess you could put the new drive in and leave it there, using the old drive in the ultrabay until you're happy with the new one.

You also should be able to move the old drive to the ultrabay, and see that it works there, before putting anything else in the main bay. At least that worked in my T60.

eyestrain,

Thank you for your tips. Yes, I was also concerned about swapping HDDs too often. I've already upgraded the drive twice (100GB->160GB->200GB), and swapped them a few times. So, more swaps could have potentially bad effects on the integrity of the shock absorbing system. But as you suggested, one more swap won't be that bad. I probably have already damaged it with my previous swaps Thank you for your comments.

I just completed a new drive changeout last week. Ordered 7200/160gb drive and SATA ultrabay adapter from Lenovo. Purchased "Acronis True Image Home 11" after a recommendation from a fellow forum member. I cloned the new 160 and installed a perfect copy into my Thinkpad as the new primary drive. I removed the previous 100 gb drive and I'm keeping it for a backup if needed. Acronis 11 also gives you the capacity to completly wipe the old drive if you want to use with the adapter for extra storage.
Really turned out to be a "goof-proof" way of installing larger capacity drive. No issues.
Good luck .

Mic1,

Thank you for your suggestion. I also use True Image. It has its fair share of issues, but I think it is better than Ghost (which is getting worse with each new version). Unfortunately, I won't be able to use this strategy this time because I am planning to upgrade to Vista Business (currently using XP Pro). I will certainly make an image as soon as I am done with installation.

doh!!! I just went back to the thead topic and see you want to upgrade the OS. Sorry about that. I can say my t60p has been fine with Vista Ultimate installed. No major issues that others have reported. Take care.

Mic1,

Of course, no problem. I appreciate your willingness to help. Indeed, it is good to know that Acronis can clone Vista without a problem. Thanks.