Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone.
I am writing here for the first time, you have a very helpful forum here.
I have a question, is my thinkpad T400 it will be compatible with sata 3 ssd?
I am planning to clone windows 7 from old hdd to new sdd.
Sorry for my english, I translate using chrome translator.

Any 2.5 inch SATA SSD will work on the T400. For example, the Crucial MX500 and WD Blue 2.5 SATA, and Samsun 870 EVO.

I've installed SATA SSDs on laptops even older than the T400 (X60 and X61) without any issues.

Thank you for your quick reply. I'm looking for a new sdd.

Having a SATAIII drive versus a SATAII drive won't make much of a difference in practical terms, so I would on price. Used on eBay, which gives you a 45 day warranty, is where the best value lies, but perhaps it's different in Polska.

I find cloning old hard drives onto new SSDs never works well. I do a clean install on the new SSD, then clone the new SSD, which can be put easily in my experience, but it's certainly possible you are better at this than I am. Good luck my friend and welcome.

Cloning is OK, but I try to do two things before cloning a hard drive with a Windows installation:

1. Use Disk Cleanup to remove temporary files and other waste data
2. Defragment.

As for the cloning procedure itself, I've had good success with two different methods, both requiring bootable USB disks:

* One with a bootable Linux disk (I have Debian Linux on an external SSD), and use Clonezilla

* The other with a bootable Windows disk (I have https://www.hirensbootcd.org/ on a 4GB flash drive), and use the included Macrium Reflect Free.

As for SSD choice, I prefer brands with a good track record (WD, Samsung, Crucial) and avoid dirt-cheap ones unless it's for non-critical use.

I realize that a sata 3 drive will be slower on older machines, but the new sata 3 drives are more accessible.
Good idea with that used ssd, I'll have to rethink that.
I've never cloned a hard drive before, I'll have to learn it, maybe I'll practice on another Thinkpad beforehand.
I'm not an expert, I'm passionate about old thinkpads.
I would like to keep the system and I have the apps I need there, there is also a recovery partition.
That's why I want to clone this old hdd. Which program is best for this?

Tom81 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:02 am

I realize that a sata 3 drive will be slower on older machines, but the new sata 3 drives are more accessible.
Good idea with that used ssd, I'll have to rethink that.
I've never cloned a hard drive before, I'll have to learn it, maybe I'll practice on another Thinkpad beforehand.
I'm not an expert, I'm passionate about old thinkpads.
I would like to keep the system and I have the apps I need there, there is also a recovery partition.
That's why I want to clone this old hdd. Which program is best for this?

I have cloned entire OS from Hdd to SSD with macrium reflect and I am still using those cloned SSDs after the successful cloning.
Its easy when you clone from 100gb disk to 200gb disk, its more difficult if you want to clone from 500GB to 120GB, but its still doable.

Thanks Bionickman, that's the info I needed.
Regards Tom.