new hard drive, fresh install of...

[allen]

these are the hard drives i currently have:
100GB 7200RPM - contains a partition for OS, software, other partition for itunes music library
200GB 7200RPM in ultra bay - contains all other work and personal files
(not mentioning which brands/models to avoid that discussion here)

i'm planning on buying a 500GB 7200RPM for the ultrabay, since the 200GB one in there now is getting full.
i am thinking of putting the 200GB 7200RPM drive in place of the 100GB for operating system and software, and doing a fresh install, or potentially putting 500GB 7200RPM drives in both.

a couple issues come to mind:
1) cloning the 100GB drive might be easier, but i have a bug in my system now, causing bsod when waking from sleep.
2) if i do a fresh install from recovery cd/dvd, that's the only other way to make the hidden partition on a drive that didn't already have it right?
3) win xp pro sp3 vs one of the windows 7s? keeping in mind my 2GB RAM via 2 1GB DIMMs
4) is it worth getting used to and learning win 7?
5) fresh installs are quite a pain, with remembering and re setting all custom settings in the OS, services, software, etc etc.
does anyone really just use the OS without adjusting software, services, things in the startup, UI options, etc?
6) is it still necessary, in xp or 7, to do most computing with under a power user, instead of an administrator account?

any thoughts out there?

thanks,

[allen]

bump

[GomJabbar]

Just some opinions...

1) You could try cloning then do an upgrade install of XP.
2) You can clone the hidden partition with the OS and other partitions. I have done it, and the hidden partition did boot (you might have to press F11 at boot time).
3) My preference would be to go with Windows 7. It works just fine on my old T42 (ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 w/64MB VRAM, 1GB System RAM). XP is ok too though.
4) I think so.
5) I install a handful of IBM/Lenovo drivers and the requisite Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Java, browser of choice (I installed Opera and SeaMonkey), and an Office Suite (I installed WordPerfect Office). I don't worry much about tweaking services, but I do spend a little time getting my preferred settings in Opera. Takes about a day to get everything up to date, with perhaps the exception of copying personal files over.
6) For XP I have a Power User's account for everyday use. For Windows 7 I just use UAC.

[allen]

how does one do an upgrade install of xp without an xp cd.
i just have the set of discs i made with r&r.

going from XP to win7, a clean/custom install is necessary.
how would i keep the hidden partition in doing so? or create it on a new drive?

[GomJabbar]

I don't think you can do an upgrade install of XP without the CD. Not 100% sure though.

AFAIK, Windows 7 shouldn't remove the Hidden Partition unless you tell it to. Besides, you should be able to protect that partition in the BIOS. I am not aware of any Rescue and Recovery Repair Disk available for Windows 7, so even though the Hidden Partition is still there, you wouldn't normally be able to boot it up.

All is not lost though. You can use Grub to boot the Hidden Partition with a couple of changes. You can also boot the Rescue Media CD (if you made one) and access the Hidden Partition.

As far as creating the Hidden Partition on a new drive, you can either clone a drive that has this partition, or you can use the Product Recovery Disk set that you make or get from Lenovo to restore everything as when the ThinkPad came from the factory.

[allen]

all i have for cds are the r&r 1CD + 1DVD i burned.
it's confusing whether or not i can do an upgrade install of XP from that,
and, if doing an upgrade install requires me to re set everything, i'd rather not deal.

i thought win7 would remove the hidden partition because, i have to do a custom/clean install of it from XP, it can't just be upgraded.
from what i read, a custom/clean install formats the hard drive to clear it out.

since i can't just upgrade from XP to 7 easily, i'd prefer to just do the fresh win7 install when i have the larger hard drive in place.
which is why i'd want to know how to create the r&r hidden partition.
if i use my current recovery disks to restore everything, i'd end up with XP again, right?

also, the r&r partition maybe isn't crucial if you have disks? but i just did a r&r restore, and tried first to do it from disks, it didn't boot to the disks, it tried, but the system just rebooted repeatedly.

also, i just read, win7 creates a hidden partition as well... win RE, havent really seen/read any reviews on it though...
wondering if it the win7's winRE and system restore is just as good as thinkvantage r&r...

[GomJabbar]

all i have for cds are the r&r 1CD + 1DVD i burned.
it's confusing whether or not i can do an upgrade install of XP from that,
and, if doing an upgrade install requires me to re set everything, i'd rather not deal.

Using those disks deletes all existing data and files on the hard drive. No upgrade install from them.

Windows 7 has a separate boot partition, but it is nothing like the Hidden Partition of Lenovo's.

[malnitz]

2) You can clone the hidden partition with the OS and other partitions. I have done it, and the hidden partition did boot (you might have to press F11 at boot time).

How did you do this?

which Software should I use?

I expect to insert the new hdd into the ultrabay and clone from the internal to the ultrabay hdd - I just need to know which Software to use

Malnitz

(I have a T60 with a 120 GB HDD and would like to clone the Harddisk to a new larger (500 GB) harddisk, and subsequently make a system recovery on my new HDD and have a fresh start (without all the programs and drivers which have been installed over time))

[allen]

honestly i might have to ditch the r&r and it's hidden partition when switching to win7, and just use win7's supposedly new and improved backup, system restore, and hidden partition, trying to figure out how to keep the r&r partition is harder than computing should be.

[GomJabbar]

How did you do this?

I used the cloning software that came with my Ultrabay Slim 2nd Hard Drive Adapter. I believe it was called EZ Gig II or something like that. It was made by Apricorn software. This cloning software came on a floppy and you had to use the external USB floppy drive with it. I cloned a 40GB Fujitsu drive from IBM to a 40GB Fujitsu drive I bought from New Egg. This was XP Pro, which is what came installed on my previous T42. I put the cloned drive in the T42 and it was just like the original factory drive. It had a working Rescue and Recovery partition and a working Windows XP partition with all the factory software installed.

You should be able to accomplish the same thing with other cloning software such as Acronis. Norton Ghost back in the day would work, but required a special command switch -IB (or something like that) to copy the Hidden Partition successfully.

[jetmn]

I think you missed the part where he is switching to Win7 I have searched as well and I don't think there is any way to keep the lenovo hidden partition and get it to work with Win7. If there is I would be happy to hear it as well!

[jingorm]

I just got a new Scorpio Black drive for my T60p. Can I just plug it in the main drive bay and run the rescue and recovery disks to replicate the original factory installation? I then plan to install the old drive in the ultrabay and copy the data files to the new "clean install" drive. I would rather not clone my current hard drive since I want to do a fresh install of the OS/Lenovo utilities anyway.

1. Is this possible?
2. Will the R&R program create a hidden partition on an entirely new drive so I can run R&R from the new Scorpio Hard Drive in the future?
3. Or will I have to clone the current drive, then run R&R to get back to the original factory settings (after backing up the data first, of course).

It seems to me if you have a hard drive failure and have to buy a new one, the R&R disks should allow you to replicate the original factory installed state on a brand new hard drive, right? Am I missing anything?

thanks in advance for your help!

[goofyGAguy]

I just got a new Scorpio Black drive for my T60p. Can I just plug it in the main drive bay and run the rescue and recovery disks to replicate the original factory installation?

That is exactly what I did recently on my T60. I replaced the factory 60GB Hitachi with a new 200GB Hitachi. Worked perfectly, and the disks should create a recovery partition. They did for me, anyway.

[GomJabbar]

...I then plan to install the old drive in the ultrabay and copy the data files to the new "clean install" drive.
<snip>
Am I missing anything?

I have read that you do not want to have 2 indentical copies of Windows in the same computer, as one of them will become corrupted when you boot up. You *might* be able to plug the Ultrabay drive in after booting up and do the copying then. A safer way would be to backup or copy the data files to other media and copy from that to the new hard drive. Another option would be to boot Rescue and Recovery and use it to copy your data files over.

[allen]

hey again everyone,

my new hitachi 7k500 500gb drive is about to be delivered to me from newegg.
it'll go in my ultrabay, and the 200GB 7k200 that's in the ultrabay now, will go in the primary hard drive spot.

looks like i might have to stick with winXP pro, using recovery disks, to do a fresh install with recovery partition.
i would really like to switch to win7, but don't want to buy it, or download it illegally due to potential security holes and potential activation issues when installing microsoft updates...

i do want to have a 2nd visible partition on my primary drive, as i do now, a C: and D:

is this the correct order of operations?
place hard drive into primary drive slot,
run the recovery cds, to get the hidden partition,
then split the primary partition, by using a version of linux?

thanks!

[GomJabbar]

I suggest you run the Recovery Discs and get Windows installed and booting. Next run a defrag utility to get all the files at the beginning of the hard drive. Then use a Linux disc to shrink the C: drive that Windows is located on. Finally, create a new partition with the available free space, and format it.