Thinkpads Forum

Hi All,

I have searched and couldn't find an exact answer. I have a 760el (9547-U4F). What is the biggest hard drive I can safely/easily install, and does it have to be an IBM drive?

Thanks,

You can install just about any capacity drive if you use a program like Western Digital's E-Z Drive. This program looks at your BIOS and OS limitations, and partitions your hard drive accordingly. It's pretty easy to use.

You don't need a genuine IBM hard drive.

BIOS says 6gb max. Modern disk overlay software (some mention of it on the thinkpads.com main page) says whatever you can afford. I actually have a 15gb in my 380ED thanks to a drive overlay software.

Thanks guys. That helps a lot. I'm familiar with the drive overlay programs, as I've used them on desktops. Just didn't know if I could sneak it past the 760 or not. I've got a Toshiba 30gb that used to go to an external usb case. I'd like to try and get it running with the laptop, even if I have to partition it into 6gb partitions. I guess I'll have to play around with it and see what happens. Thanks for the replies.

EDIT: Just remembered, what thickness drive does this particular laptop take?

I have a 750P. It will use all of an 8GB drive, so I would expect you could use that too.

But, I have a 12GB drive in mine, running Linux. The part that boots has to be below 8GB, but then the OS doesn't use the BIOS, and it can use the whole drive.

Win95 or later should be able to use a large drive as long as your C: partition is on the first 8GB of the drive. I would try that.

Thanks for the info! I've got a 30gb Toshiba drive that I can partition and try. Does anyone know what thickness drive will fit in this laptop, before I start tearing the caddy down?

It will be thinner than the one in there now.
Not much to accessing the drives.
(1) Just open the display open until it is flat.
(2) Lay the keyboard down flat.
(3) Push the display latch releases towards the back of the laptop.
(4) Lift the front of the keyboard up.