Thinkpads Forum

Is it possible to install a 500 GB Seagate 7200 in a T60P?

taichi

Hello "Taichi"

Sure, i have been using that combination for the last year or so, but you can probably do better than the 7200.4 momentus today - it does feel a bit sluggish at times when writing/reading small blocks of data only. For long sequential read/writes it is extremely fast though.
Be careful when buying the 7200.4 if used, since it was released in two "editions". The first one was rushed out and many of these failed within a few months (late 2008/early 2009). The next batch was not produced until around May 2009, which features a new, different firmware.

the reason i ask is because i now feel i should get a hd to clone my internal hd.

ive used Apricorns enclosures and cloning software with success and ease. so they have one with a 7200 seagate

easy to remove from enclosure and swap with internal drive if necessary

the 500 gb goflex I bought yesterday will go back. It can do.backups but is useless for clones.

taichi

Go to www.seagate.com and download the cloning software...it is free.

The problem is that the hard drive can't be removed from the enclosure and swapped out with the Thinkpad's drive without voiding Seagate's warranty. The Apricorn is designed and warrantied for doing just that, so you can get a workable, bootable drive immediately back into the Thinkpad.

taichi

FYI: the Apricorn software is a limited edition of Acronis TrueImage.

And before you buy, see this post, especially the link from AIX.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=88576

Well, I'm wondering if I should keep the Seagate Goflex 500GB because it can be used as backup...file transfers...etc between both Mac and Windows. That might be useful.

My objective is to have a bootable clone drive for an easy swap if anything happens to my primary drive.

I even thought about an Ultrabay drive to clone to. \

Any ideas other than Apricorn's enclosure?

I wonder what drive is inside the Seagte 500GB GoFlex?

Thanks,

taichi

I'm wondering if there is some type of external universal drive enclosure that would allow easy installation and uninstallation of notebook and desktop drives which can be cloned and then used in an emergency?

The allure of the Apricorn unit is that it is easy to snap the drive in and out of the enclosure, although it is limited to notebook drives.

I realize now that the cloning software is the least of the matter.

taichi

You'd probably need to (easily) make that yourself.
Get an external case for two 3.5" HDs, and an adapter for 3.5" -> 2.5" HD.

Or, rather than cloning, take an image of the laptop HD and store that on the 3.5" HD (or on your PC) and leave it there till needed.

So there are no hybrid, universal desktop/notebook enclosures?

The only problem I see with your second suggestion, is that, as opposed to the clone-swap out, having an image or even a clone on a desktop drive wouldn't allow the notebook to boot up. Doesn't the notebook have to see the drive as boot drive?

What about the Ultrabay idea...having a second, cloned drive in there. Would the Thinkpad boot up from the Ultrabay drive if the first one went screwy?

taichi

When you load the image back onto the laptop HD, it can boot again from the laptop HD.
The image is put on while the HD is out of the laptop, connected via e.g. a USB enclosure or an Apricorn interface.

The main HD will be the C-drive, the UB-drive would be D: (or higher).
If the D-drive were a clone from the C-drive, it could not boot, because all the registry entries on the D-drive would point to the C-drive, which it isn't at that moment.
You'd first need to take the main HD out, so that the UB-drive becomes the C-drive.

It seems like, in any event, I'd need to install a new hard drive even to load the image.

All things being equal, doesn't the Apricorn solution seem a good one?

Alternatively, couldn't one boot from a CD or DVD in a crash?

On a sidenote, do you think it a good idea to have a little ESD safe vacuum to clean vents, etc?

Thanks, BBS

Sorry. It should be RBS, not BBS.

taichi

I just did the same cloning and the new hdd works fine, except one problem. I want to split the 500GB disk into 2 partitions. One the main partition and the other for data (i.e. a C: drive and a D: drive). However, whatever software i use, i got the same result that the hidden partition of lenovo cannot be unlocked so that no splitting can be done.

Any idea ?

Go into BIOS/Security/Predesktop Area and set it to Disabled
It then becomes accessible.
You practice/check this for yourself by using this BIOS simulator: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-64884