Need advice on upgrading Hard Drive

[lutami]

Have an R51...as below...the HD is supposed to be 40GB...each time i reformat and reinstall it seems to decrease in size...down to 30GB at the moment and just about full.

I want to buy a larger drive only the IBM FRU will cost around 320 GBP...GULP

Have been searching but get confused...really don't want to mess this up by buying the wrong one.

Was looking at this but i'm unsure
http://www.morecomputers.co.uk/extra.a ... er=Froogle

Or if can someone recommend a decent drive at a reasonable price and could i fit a larger RPM without having to upgrade anything else.

This is the recommended 80GB one from IBM...so i need something with same specs...maybe larger!

ThinkPad 80GB High Speed 5400RPM hard drive

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-54389

Cheers guys

[JHEM]

You can use any 2.5" PATA (IDE) HD in any capacity you desire.

Hitachi HDs are preferred, but your choices aren't limited to any one manufacturer.

You don't need to do anything to your laptop in order to use a faster HD than the one presently in your R51.

James

[lutami]

Thanks James...appreciated.

Will opt for the Hitachi drive.

Searched here and the Lenovo site for more info...have searched with all the terms i can think of but as yet can't find what i'm looking for.



Found this



Installing drives over 137GB. Most ATA laptop
systems employ a 28-bit addressing system for data transfer between the operating system, BIOS, the system chip sets and the hard drive. 28-bit addressing is limited to a maximum addressing capacity of 137GB. 48-bit LBA addressing, increases the limit to 144 petabytes.
Hardware and software solutions are required from your O/S, BIOS and Chip Sets to enable the 48-bit address feature set.

So I need to define the R51s BIOS limitations to determine the largest size...don't want to buy a 160GB if it will only recognize 100 of it.

[lutami]

I'm going round in circles here....nowhere in the manuals or anywhere on the net can i find out if this R51 supports 28-bit or 48-bit addressing.

I've mailed Lenovo...mailed from UK site...had a mail back from US support saying as i was in UK i was to ring a certain support number...it's a premium number and they are closed 'til Wednesday (Easter Holiday)

Tried opening a support request...i'm out of warranty so cannot do so.

I've even contacted the online retailer where I bought it and am told that i would have to contact Lenovo.

Can anyone tell me where else i could find out if this machine is 28-bit or 48-bit addressing.

[Brad]

You can use any IDE drive. I am using 160gb drives in more than one of my A22p's with no problem at all. These A22p's have BIOS's from before your ThinkPad so you should be able to use any IDE drive. Just plug and play. Get the largest and fastest drive you want.

Cheers~!

Brad

[mas98110]

Hi Lutami,
I have purchased a lot of hardware and regret not buying OEM.
I checked out the drive on your link and it looks good but pricey! WOW
stuff in England is expensive but at least it will work.
How are you going to format and load your OS? Mike.

[lutami]

Cheers guys.

Mike....anything IBM over here is expensive

How are you going to format and load your OS? Mike.


Haven't even thought about that yet...i've just found and ordered an Hitachi Travelstar 5K160 from here


http://www.shopmagenta.com/product/AD2-19705D99.aspx

When it gets here i'll most probably sit and look at it for a while then be back to ask for instuctions...need to consult the R51 manual to find out how to fit it yet!

Bought Nero to back up and transfer...but i'm having problems with it...will get them sorted before i try to switch drives...still a lot to learn.


No way was i going to pay all that for an 80GB from IBM...this is twice the size and less then half the price...searching for one i found these drives have been tested by Hitachi


HTS541640J9AT00
HTS541660J9AT00
HTS541616J9AT00
HTS541612J9AT00
HTS541680J9AT00

and are good for


IBM Thinkpad T41 82801DB(ICH4M)
IBM Thinkpad T43 82801FBM(ICH6M)
IBM Thinkpad A31p 82801CAM(ICH3M)
IBM Thinkpad R40 82801DB(ICH4M)
IBM Thinkpad R51 82801DBM(ICH4M)
IBM Thinkpad R52 82801FBM(ICH6M)
IBM Thinkpad G40 82801DBM(ICH4M)
IBM Thinkpad G41 82801DBM(ICH4M)
IBM Thinkpad X31 82801DBM(ICH4M)



Compatibility Summary
Hitachi Travelstar 5K160
2.5 inch ATA/IDE hard disk drive

Compatibility
The SIT Lab tests Travelstar drives for compatibility with a wide variety of systems, operating systems, and BIOS versions. Testing was done to demonstrate compatibility with the following hardware and software. Other combinations of hardware and software may function with this drive, but have not been tested.


An absolute mine of info on this site from you guys...once i was told what i needed it was plain sailng...Big thanks..AGAIN.

[lutami]

Drive arrived this morning...very quickly...wasn't expected 'til next week.

Can i just pop the new drive in then use the set of restore discs?

[mas98110]

Hi,
I think you can load the OS if the BIOS is set to boot from the CD-Rom Drive.
There are some things to know when loading or cloning an OS onto IBM's.
There is a lot of info within this R,A & G series. Do a search for
"cloning IBM laptops". hope this helps, Mike.

[charlienyc]

hey lutami,
there's an FAQ at http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=27721 on cloning your drive if you want a seamless upgrade.

please let us know how it goes.
cheers,
-c

[lutami]

Drive fitted although i had a little trouble using the Restore Discs...after installing it says reboot to load Windows...reboot took me back to R&R insert disc was going round in circles.

After searching this site i found you then had to go back to the Restore Factory Contents button...if members hadn't posted that info here i would have been completely lost so thanks to those posters

So alls loaded and running nice and quietly and i can't believe it was so easy! wouldn't have been mind you if it wasn't for this site!

Now have a 5400RPM...40GB Fugitsu HD...model MHT2040AH...ASM P/N 13N6780...FRU P/N 13N6773. COMES WITH CADDY...SCREWS AND THE LITTLE BLACK COVER.

Can anyone tell me the best way to wipe it completely before selling it.

Also what would be a fair price to ask/expect to get.

[Thane_Bitter]

Can anyone tell me the best way to wipe it completely before selling it.

If you have access to a floppy drive, IBM had a tool called Secure Data Disposal; Lenovo has assumed control of the tool. You can find in on the "ThinkVantage Technologies downloads" page.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-61432
Install the software, run the program and select which level of cleaning you want, the Department of Defence (DoD) is quite secure but slow, SDD will build a floppy with the program. Shut down your system, switch back to the old hard drive and boot up with the SDD floppy and follow the prompts.

Thane

[lutami]

Cheers Thane...just have a USB floppy... machine won't boot from that

Looks like i can burn it to CD...download page says i can use... 3rd Party CD Burning Software (to burn optional bootable ISO image to CD-ROM).

[mas98110]

Hi Lutami,
I would suggest using a freeware program called Eraser.
You can control what files you wish to erase and keep the OS
on the machine in case you want to give or sell your computer,Mike.

http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/download.shtml