newb trying to clone HD

[oam]

Hi,
I know this has been posted before many times but i have researched around and haven't really found a clear answer yet. I currently have a thinkpad t40p with a 40gb HD I just bought a 60gb HD and wanted to swap them without having to reinstall everything. I used nortons and cloned the original hd but like many other have experienced, get a blinking cursor after teh IBM logo on boot up. I have read that there are partitions that are hidden and stuff like that but could someone jsut kinda of give me a step by step of what needs to be done. I also tried to use the IBM recovery and backup util but it says insufficient disk space to make a back up. Thanks.

[PaulS]

You first have to install the predesktop area onto the new drive. This is not done by the backup software. The link to the instructions was previously posted.

I have had mixed results restoring a backup of the old drive onto the new drive using IBM Rapid Restore Ultra 4. When I first restored a backup from an USB drive onto the new drive, the new drive would boot. When I did a subsequent restore onto the new drive, the new drive would boot with errors that prevented programs from executing. I posted my problem on this forum but I did not get a response. I think the reason is that IBM Rapid Restore Ultra 4 does not do a complete backup of the harddisk (excepting the predesktop area).

Copying an image (using DriveImage 5) of the old drive to the new drive with the predesktop area already installed produced odd behaviour when attempting to boot from either drive as described in one of my previous posts.

Using another backup software may avoid the above problem but I have not investigated the issue further.

A search of author on this board may provide some links that may answer your questions.

[oam]

Thanks for the help. if anyone else has any other info it would help. Another question i have is that I cannot get teh recovery cds form ibm without paying but my friend just bought a t41, will the recovery cds for that model work with my t40p? Do i even need the recovery cds to make my new cloned HD work? basically i'm up to the point where I have cloned the HD but it I can get past a blinking cursor on boot up. Any help is appreciated. thanks

[erasmus]

Hi,
I have made several cloned images of my system disk with Norton Ghost. Currently I am using a clean install and thus can not remember the exact name of the disk that IBM predesktop creates for you (the one where windows is installed). Note: this explanation will only clone your working windows partition and not the hidden partitions.

Sounds like you already have tried ghost, but that is what I have used! What you need is a norton ghost 8 (or higher) floppy/cd with usb support
Windows XP install cd (no key is needed)
USB for connecting your second hd to the thinkpad.

..and then forget about all the hidden IBM stuff (it is still on your old hd, in case you need it later).

First of all - in ghost you only need the “partition to image” and “partition from image” functions. If you try the “disk to image / and from” functions then it will not work due the hidden partitions.

I always divide my disk into 2 partitions, one for windows & programs and the other for that stuff that I want to backup. I guess that you only have one partition on the old drive, except for the hidden IBM drives. Thus, check how much “used” space you got on your 40 GB hd. The less the better, try to backup as much as possible of app, mp3, avi’s etc. else where - that will make you image smaller and limit the size of the system partition. Personally I like 15-20 GB for the system & programs and 40 GB the second partition.

Switch the disks in your TP. Now boot with the windows install cd and start the installing process, when it prompts you with the partitioning and format part. Delete all existing partitions and crate a new that is at least the size of the used space you just checked on the old drive. Now let it format in NTFS and start installing WinXP. You do this for creating a master boot record on your new hd. Probably you can take out the cd after a min. or so, normally I just wait until it wants to reboot. Shut down the TP and switch the disks again, and connect the new HD to the computer via USB. Go to “disk management” and create “extended partition” and “logical drive” for the unused space on the new hd. For orientation lets call it the X drive. Now you should have the new hd partitioned into two partitions with a master boot rec. on the first and the X drive as the second

Shut down the computer and boot up in Ghost. Make an image of the windows partition of the old drive – use ”partition to image” (remember only the “partition” not “disk”, save it to the X drive on the new hd. When finished – shut down computer.

Switch disks so you now have the new hd in the computer. Boot again in Ghost and select “partition from image” find the image you just saved on X - restore it into the other partition (the one with the master boot rec.). Let it restore the image and reboot normally when finished. Now you should have the cloned WinXP on your new drive.
…………
You can also use the X drive to store the backup files from the old drive. Just remember to leave enough space for the image. That is relatively, due to the more you backup, the less space you need for the image file(s).

Good luck,
Raz

[hhy2k]

Hi

The way to clone the EXACT hd is th following.

You MUST have the backup CD, otherwise the backup partition can not be cloned (up to my experience... I made the same swap a week ago on the same computer and I tried many methods).

You need:

-backup CDs
-external USB hard drive connector
-Acronis true image 8.0 (free downloadable trial)

I used Acronis and that worked. I tried others but they made a horrible and slow copy of the drive. I mean the clone was slower than the original even with a faster drive.

So... you swap the drives first. then you run the backup CDs with the new drive. It'll install the backup partition in about 5 minutes and starts to reinstall windows. the windows installation you can stop at any point, you won't need that. Now you swap back the drives (old hd in the PC) and hook the neww hd to a USB port. Use acronis to copy the HD. DO NOT DISABLE THE BIOS SECURITY SETTINGS... you don't need to disable it. When it is done (acronis copies the disk outside of windows so it reboots twice!!!), so your system runs on the old drive againjust turn it off and swap the drives. DONE.

One more thing. if your thinkpad is set for booting from USB device, turn that off, because this might prevent to boot the pc from the hd at the first place.

I hope this helps... it works, done that, have been there...

[bootleg2go]

Regarding hhy2k's method,
You do not need any of the CDs to make a duplicate of your hard drive including the hiden partition area. All you need is the newest version of Ghost(8.0 or newer) and select clone==>disk to disk. It will backup the hidden partition as well as the system partition. I've done this and restored to a new drive before...Very easy and no IBM CDs required.

Jack

[hhy2k]

Hands down for a non-recovery CD method. I think the only thing you might consider is that Northon Ghost will cost you $70 (if you can't borrow it and Acronis True Image is yours for 14 days for free after you spend two minutes with the download. And he also have the recovery CDs of a friend. So it makes this solution a bit cheaper, may be not that elegant.

Also I have serious doubts that without turning the security option off in the BIOS you can copy the hidden partition. If any program could see that part of the HD without turning the security off, that would be ODD as where is the security then? Not if turning it off would take more than 20 seconds

[oam]

Ok so I managed to get a copy of Ghost 9.0. When i go to clone a drive and go to next what settings should I click? Should I make active? What about Copying MBR? So is it really possible to upgrade drives and all my info without the recovery cd's? thanks