Bootable External USB DVD-RW / CDRW drives for X60/x60s

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caltrinity · #1 Post by **caltrinity** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:46 pm

hello all,

I have just purchased a new x60s but the config I ordered has a measly 40gb hdd. I want to upgrade to at least 120gb.

I have requested the recovery CDs. But now I have to find a compatible Bootable External USB DVD-RW / CDRW drive for X60/x60s.

Does anybody know if the infamous Lacie external usb drives work?

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10102

I have read somewhere that not all external cd drives are bootable... It would help me out a lot of any of you can give me exact models of external cd drives that are bootable.

Also, does the BIOS on the x60 disable certain HDDs? Or is that an issue just for the T40s series?

Thanks for your help!

#2 Post by **BillMorrow** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:34 pm

you're RIGHT..
not all external CD drives WILL work on the X60s..

BUT, most ANY SATA HDD WILL work and i suggest sticking with the 7200 RPM versions..

i must say, here, that this X60s i have will wind up in the museum, i like it THAT much..

it is built like jewelry..

i don't know if there is a list of external CD drives that will work so if you get one, be sure you'll be able to send it back if it does not..

what I did was get the X6 base and use the CD from my T60p..
i kinda shot myself in the foot by doing that since the X6 base is not much good for much more than a port replicator and the UB slim devices it can hold..

i would have been better served by getting an IBM (or lenovo) USB CD with all the formats supported..

you should create your recovery CD's first, before you trash that 40gig drive..
you can get a USB external box for that 40gig and use it as a 40gig memory "key"..

welcome to the club..

devilsrejection · #3 Post by **devilsrejection** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 6:22 pm

must resist temptation to buy x60s

want tablet dammit

caltrinity · #4 Post by **caltrinity** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:13 pm

Thank you for your insight Bill. Could you please do a quick rundown on the pros and cons of the 7200rpm SATA drive and why you think I should get it instead of the 5400rpm?

I'm still looking to see if anyone else knows of a bootable external CDRW or DVDRW drive that works for the x60s.

Thanks!

smvp6459 · #5 Post by **smvp6459** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:51 pm

For an external DVD-RW:

I bought this:
NEC 8X DVD±R Slim DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-6750A - OEM

and stuck it inside this:
http://www.thetechgeek.com/content/prod ... 44&cid=219

My X60s boots from it without any problem. The enclosure was about $30 and the drive was about $70...I suspect you can stick any slim DVD drive you want into the enclosure and it would still boot.

caltrinity · #6 Post by **caltrinity** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:47 am

Thanks for that info. I was sorta looking for something in the size and form factor as the Lacie I mentioned above.

Also, is there a good freeware program out there that will clone my original notebook hard drive so that I can copy it to my new 120gb hard drive?

Thanks!

ychandrani · #7 Post by **ychandrani** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:28 am

so, caltrinity, have you tried the lacie external DVD-ROM/CD-RW that you mention? am curious, because I am looking for a bootable external optical drive for my X60s. the lenovo super multi-burner is steep ($299) and am considering either of these three options:

1) The Lacie Slim DVD±RW at http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10390

or

2) http://www.meritline.com/nec-nd6750a-8x ... urner.html

or

http://www.meritline.com/panasonic-uj-8 ... -disc.html

2 & 3 would be paired with the MAPOWER external slim case
http://www.thetechgeek.com/content/prod ... 44&cid=219

From the support pages, it appears that the Lenovo drive is a dressed up TEAC slim drive. Of the three that I list above, the panasonic specs resemble the Lenovo drive's specs except that the panasonic is a slot loading drive. Am curious to know if anyone has the tried the panasonic with an X60s and if it works as a bootable device?

#8 Post by **tomh009** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 1:12 pm

caltrinity wrote:Also, is there a good freeware program out there that will clone my original notebook hard drive so that I can copy it to my new 120gb hard drive?

g4u will do that for you:
http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/

It's UNIX (NetBSD) based, but that's really just what it's built on. Boot with the g4u CD, and you can easily clone a Windows-based hard disk to a new one.

SkiBunny · #9 Post by **SkiBunny** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 2:32 pm

ychandrani wrote: the lenovo super multi-burner is steep ($299)

Part number 40Y8638 is Cdn$179 in canada, available to anyone with a visa card via visaperks.ca

That's the lenovo/ibm bootable USB 2.0 super multi burner.

It costs only Cdn$99 when bundled with an X60 at time of purchase, as you will see on the site (or call the phone number on the visaperks site to ask/request it when purchasing an X60 model)

ychandrani · #10 Post by **ychandrani** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 5:44 pm

Thanks, Skibunny. I saw your earlier posts about this and was jealous of the canadian price. Anyway, I don't think they will ship it to me here in NYC. Or will they? If I am wrong, then do inform......

its ok, i just went to Lenovo's Canada site and found out they will only ship to Canadian addresses......makes sense, it would undermine their US prices if they started shipping the burner from Canada to all US-based Visa card holders..

schmaud · #11 Post by **schmaud** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:17 am

caltrinity wrote:hello all,
I have just purchased a new x60s but the config I ordered has a measly 40gb hdd. I want to upgrade to at least 120gb.

I have requested the recovery CDs. But now I have to find a compatible Bootable External USB DVD-RW / CDRW drive for X60/x60s.

Hi,

you can get a new harddisk running with the system without a need for a bootable cd-drive:

buy an external enclosure for your harddrive, its really only few bucks. If you look through the Forum you will find plenty of threads how to clone a build in Hardrive on an exterenal drive. ( make sure you keep the absolute not the raltive size of the recovery partition.).

With this approach you will get also a very convinient transport/backup media: the original 40GB drive in the xternal exclosure (after you switched the drives).

cheers

ralf

caltrinity · #12 Post by **caltrinity** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:35 am

UPDATE: I have the LaCie slim CDRW drive. I was able to make a recovery CD and use the LaCie drive to boot with the recovery CD. I then installed my new hard drive and used the recovery CD to recovery the factory contents to the new hard drive.

I hope this helps.

ychandrani · #13 Post by **ychandrani** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:07 am

Thanks. I tried my X60s with a borrowed lacie slim dvd burner: http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10390 yesterday and it worked. Made one startup recovery CD and a one DVD and did a recovery that went perfectly. Turns out the lacie is a TSST (Toshiba Samsung Storage Technoliges Corp) dvd drive dressed up as a lacie.

Thinkpad760XD · #14 Post by **Thinkpad760XD** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 2:39 am

I'm on the verge of getting an X60, but just can't afford the X6 dock or an optical drive for it.

I, however, do have an old Microsolutions Bantam Backpack re-writer (A slimline TEAC laptop CD-RW in a USB/PCMCIA/Parallel connectable enclosure).

While it's a long shot that anyone here would know for certain if it would be recognized as bootable, I thought I'd ask. (Too bad they went out of business

)

At the very least, does the X60 BIOS allow for booting from PCMCIA?

smvp6459 · #15 Post by **smvp6459** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:45 am

I don't believe boot from PCMCIA is an option.

Thinkpad760XD · #16 Post by **Thinkpad760XD** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:06 am

That leaves USB then. I hope it will recognize it.

TP60 · #17 Post by **TP60** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:05 am

I have the LaCie Slim Combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM and it works as a bootable device on the X60.

Spif · #18 Post by **Spif** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:16 pm

Can anyone recommend me an disc drive that works with Linux and can be used as a bootable device on the X60s?

Bootable External USB DVD-RW / CDRW drives for X60/x60s

Bootable External USB DVD-RW / CDRW drives for X60/x60s

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