Thinkpads Forum

Hey everyone,

I have a 7k200 that I bought for my T60. I installed all the software on the disk, and then removed it because I still had files on my old one. The drive has been sitting in a drawer for the last few months, since I never got around to installing it again. Long story short, I now want to install that same disk in a new T400.

So my question is, how do I go about reformatting the disk so I can install in on the new TP? Do I need an enclosure? I have Lenovo recovery discs for Vista Ultimate, so that would be the route I want to follow (do a complete "recovery" or installation from the T400 specific discs).Thanks a lot for your help.

You don't have to do anything special. When you restore your system using the restore discs, the new HD will be formatted automatically.

Could you not just put the drive and use your Ultimate recovery discs or burn off the ones from your T400 and use those.

Thanks for the replies.

I guess my hesitation is, since the drive has the software and drivers from the T60, what's going to happen if I just pop it in the T400? That's the part that I am unsure about. Do I reformat it first, or just put it in, and not turn on the T400 until I have put the discs in the DVD drive?

This might seem obvious to many of you, but I just want to make sure so as not to ruin anything

Since I am asking about the T400, I have an unrelated question. How do I get rid of the three-second black screen right before you log on? My X61 does not do this, it "wakes up" from stand by right away.

rmendoza wrote:... just put it in, and not turn on the T400 until I have put the discs in the DVD drive?

This might seem obvious to many of you, but I just want to make sure so as not to ruin anything

yes, this is essentially what you will do. Very simplified: you put in the HD as is and boot via the DVD drive. When you turn on your Thinkpad (you won't be able to open the DVD drive if the system is not powered on), make sure you hit F12 (which will allow you to choose the device to boot from) and select the DVD drive to boot from and put your first DVD in the drive. From here it should be straightforward (similar, maybe identical, to what you did with the T60 earlier).