Thinkpads Forum

I have a legal copy of Trueimage v10 which does absolutely everything really well.

But it won't image the Thinkpad's mysterious ~ 4GB partition (which contains the software that runs when you press the blue button) to another HD.

I did copy one HD to an SSD using TI, using the sector by sector method which it said was the only way to do it, but the restore failed to create the second partition (I am writing this from memory).

Is there some other (preferably free) imaging tool or method which can do it?

On one x60s which I upgraded (Intel 80GB SSD) TI worked on C: and that is OK though obviously not ideal. Now I have another x60x and would like to do the same.

Many thanks in advance for any tips.

You have to make the partition visible and workable through BIOS, then it should be fine.
Restore partitions are notoriously finicky when it comes to copying etc.

Tim S

Where in the BIOS? I cannot see such a config.

Once the OS is running, the BIOS is no longer relevant. Trueimage examines the HD directly. It sees the extra partition OK but as far as I can tell the partition is intentionally marked as nonstandard in the partition table. Some info is here: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Rescue_and_Recovery

How do people here install SSDs in these Thinkpads?

peter-h wrote:How do people here install SSDs in these Thinkpads?

I sent you instructions via a PM (Private Message). Good luck!

Does clonezilla see the hidden restore image?

I can't test yet...mines in the mail..

If you have restore discs, perhaps you can do a full retore to the SSD, which would create the recovery partition, then clone just the main partition onto the SSD from the old drive. I'm reaching here, and I have no idea if this is feasible.

Many thanks EOMtp Unfortunately I don't see how this will work given I can connect only one or the other drive at any one time. One has to store the ~ 30GB image somewhere, temporarily. Will Ghost support the x60s's ethernet controller and windoze networking?

NorrisCell - your idea would certainly work but I have no disks - with either of my two x60s laptops. The first of them already has an SSD, minus the debugging partition because I lost it during the transfer using Trueimage.

Another solution would be to somehow get hold of a DVD which writes the debug partition. Such a DVD does exist, I believe.

Clonezilla will detect usb drives. So I guess use a caddy.
Or clone in windows using something like driveimage xml, then write that image to the sdd in a usb caddy...
i'm just guessing so far, the hidden image bit is annoying. and my x60 is in the mail.

Do you have enough free space on your SSD?

I once was cloning a PC, and True Image wouldn't clone my disk, so i was thinking: WHY???

And then i discovered that the original HDD was using more space than the SSD had available

Yes, I replaced a 60GB HD with a 80GB SSD.

TI said it needs to do a sector by sector image, but it then failed to restore sector by sector; it would restore only the drive c: partition.

Interestingly it does identify the 2nd partition as an "0x12 Compaq" one.

Does anyone have a guide, step by step to install a SSD in x61s, I know that I have to update my bios, but what more do I have to do before I put in my new disk? I don’t want to transfer any old files, A clean W7 install =)

I don't use Windows 7 but XP is very easy to install if you make a small (about 1GB) FAT32 partition to store XP installation files and you boot into DOS from an USB stick. You can start the installation from DOS and from the hard drive, avoiding completely the necessity to have a CD drive.

I think it's easier to just make a set of recovery disks (or use the ones you've already made) and start over. That's what I did when I installed my SSD and it definitely worked fine.