T60 to T61 hard drive move - YES it works...

[underclocker]

I tried my first T60 to T61 drive move and it didn't work. Windows boots to the Windows logo screen then crashes with a blue screen error about the hard disk, suggesting a CHKDSK /F.

The disk boots fine in the T60.

I've been able to move drives around between T40/T41/T42 machines and I've been able to add certain IDE files to the \windows\system32\drivers directory along with a registry update to move IDE drives between computers., but I don't know what to do for the SATA drive move. Are there particular drivers and registry settings needed for this move to work?

Thanks for the help.

[underclocker]

O.K., I just found one solution. I changed the SATA setting in the BIOS from AHCI to Compatibility mode. It boots fine now.

I'll try to figure out what that setting does...

[Harryc]

Ed, I think if you install the SATA drivers for the T61 while the drive is in the T60, then shut down the machine and move it over it might work. Or you can just do the same where the drive is now, and switch back to AHCI on the next boot.

[underclocker]

That did work, thank you. I downloaded and installed the storage driver (Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver), shut down, changed the BIOS SATA setting to AHCI and rebooted.

(Although the T60 had the AHCI driver loaded and was operating in AHCI mode, it appears that the installation of the T61 chipset drivers plus a reinstall of the AHCI driver was required.)

The drive move from a T60 to a T61 was successful (ATI to Intel video, as well).

Summary of steps required;
1 (optional): Clone T60 drive to new drive
2: Change SATA option under Config in T61 BIOS to Compatibility
3: Boot new drive in T61
4: Install new chipset and storage drivers for T61 and shutdown
5: Change SATA option under Config in T61 BIOS to AHCI
6: Reboot
7 (optional): Delete old T60 drivers and/or install new T61 drivers, as appropriate

Note: After the move, the Lenovo System Update program can tell the machine type has changed and does produce an appropriate list of update packages to be installed (video, sound, etc.)