Replacing HD in T60, necessary to have 2.5 inch enclosure?

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Muse · #1 Post by **Muse** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 4:48 am

Do I need to buy a 2.5" external enclosure or is it feasible to swap drives without that?

I'm getting frequent messages from the default defrag program in my T60 to defrag my stock 60 GB HD, although it's got 20 GB free. Rather than buy a more sophisticated defrag program I figure the efficient route is to replace the 60 GB 5400 RPM with a 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA drive, and I see a Seagate that looks OK.

I'm running XP Pro.

My optical drive doesn't write to DVD's, so backing up the OS to disks isn't feasible. Having a 3.5" USB external 500 GB HD, I figure I can use that to at least back up my data. Can I use that to swap the drives too if I use Ghost? I have a ~5 year old version of Ghost (Norton Systemworks 2003 CD), and some experience using Ghost, although I have never used the command line methodologies. I used to back up my OS partitions and restore them occasionally, but not lately. I have created a couple of CDs that are bootable and can run Ghost.

#2 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 5:59 am

Are you talking about defrag reminders from Diskeeper Lite? I would not scrap or replace a drive based on reminders fom Diskeeper Lite. If you need the capacity that's another story. At lease run PC-Doctor or preferably a diagnostic from the hard drive manufacturers website first. Also, dump Diskeeper Lite, it is junk. Use something like PerfectDisk 2008.

msb0b · #3 Post by **msb0b** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 7:09 am

Muse wrote:I'm getting frequent messages from the default defrag program in my T60 to defrag my stock 60 GB HD, although it's got 20 GB free.

How about just run the defrag to shut the program up.

The bundled diskkeeper lite can do that; you don't need to upgrade to the pro version or get another defrag program.

I don't see any reason to replace the hard drive from what you have written. The current hard drive is not being slow, not running out of space, not facing imminent failure or not making noise.

Muse · #4 Post by **Muse** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:45 pm

msb0b wrote:
Muse wrote:I'm getting frequent messages from the default defrag program in my T60 to defrag my stock 60 GB HD, although it's got 20 GB free.
How about just run the defrag to shut the program up. The bundled diskkeeper lite can do that; you don't need to upgrade to the pro version or get another defrag program.

I don't see any reason to replace the hard drive from what you have written. The current hard drive is not being slow, not running out of space, not facing imminent failure or not making noise.

I don't currently need the capacity, but a 250 GB drive would give me plenty of headroom for the future, and presumably shut up Diskkeeper Lite. Yes, it's an expense, but at under $90 OTD, not so bad, and I wouldn't be throwing good money after bad with a purchase of PerfectDisk, or whatever that superior disk defrag program is.

The thing is, I did do a defrag to shut up D Lite the other day and a day or two later when I woke up the machine it started needling me again.

Tired of defragging, I figured why not just buy a big & fast drive and be done with this nonsense? No, I'm not rolling in dough, so I have to rub my chin at the comments to stick with my 60 GB for now.

basketb · #5 Post by **basketb** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 4:36 pm

Here's a revolutionary idea: uninstall Diskkeeper light and it won't bug you again (and if you so desperately need to spend $90, send them to me).

msb0b · #6 Post by **msb0b** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 5:11 pm

More space is always nice to have, but it is still necessary to defrag periodically. Diskeeper will still nag no matter how much the space there is. Personally, I don't like Diskeeper Lite's combination of nag and the lack of scheduler to run automatically. It makes the user think there is something wrong with the computer, which is what they want to do, so the user buys their commercial Pro version.

IMO, there are not that big difference between the different disk defrag programs out there. Some may have a faster heuristic to calculate the optimized ordering, some may be able to run on a schedule. The bottom line is they all do the same thing.

Anyways back to your original question, you will need some way to connect a second hard disk to your ThinkPad. It can be the UltraBay adapter, USB external enclosure or cable adapter. I have done a switch like this. I bought an external portable drive and swapped the disks around. It may cost less than disk inside alone, but I voided the warranty when I cracked open the case.

Volker · #7 Post by **Volker** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 7:27 am

If you have a minimum of mechanical skills then you won't void your warranty by opening an external enclosure

80GB 5400 -> 250GB 7200 is definitely a speed upgrade, even if you don't need the space.

msb0b · #8 Post by **msb0b** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 7:53 am

Speaking for the Hitachi external drive I bought, there are temper-proof serial number stickers covering the holes for screw fasteners. I consider myself mechanically adept, but I don't want to have an argument with the manufacturer over temper proof stickers. It's not a battle that I can win.

The Hitachi external enclosure is perfect for housing other SATA hard disk drives.

awolfe63 · #9 Post by **awolfe63** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:55 pm

I bought an external 2.5" SATA case and a bare drive the other day. The screws on the case were covered by "void if removed" stickers.

Pretty funny on an empty disk case. Then I look in the bag with the screws and there are replacement "void if removed" stickers included!

DenTP4rm · #10 Post by **DenTP4rm** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:16 am

awolfe63 wrote:Pretty funny on an empty disk case. Then I look in the bag with the screws and there are replacement "void if removed" stickers included!

Hey Andrew,
Thanks, I got the biggest laugh out of the spare "void if removed" stickers. There might be a market for those...

Hi Muse,
I have used two different external 2.5" enclosures that I can recommend.
#1 Apricorn's EZ Upgrade Kit. I have used these for years without a problem and they come with all the necessary software, cable, etc.
#2 IoGear eSATA 3Gbps / USB 2.0 Combo ION™ Drive Enclosure This is my preferred enclosure now as it has eSATA as well as USB 2.0. I have an eSATA ExpressCard that allows me to add this as a second drive. Transfers are way faster than with USB 2.0. I recommend though that for cloning you use it in USB 2.0 mode and follow Paul Pavlik's post Cloning T60 With Apricorn (Update).

My thought is that more drive space is always useful, so, I'd say go for the upgrade. Just be sure to follow Paul Pavlik's advice and put your old drive in the enclosure and clone to the new drive in your Thinkpad. That seems to be a key factor in the success or failure of these clones, at least the first time around.
Good luck,
DenTP4rm

Replacing HD in T60, necessary to have 2.5 inch enclosure?

Replacing HD in T60, necessary to have 2.5 inch enclosure?

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