Thinkpad 600 Hard drive capacity / Upgrade

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henpike · #1 Post by **henpike** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 10:44 am

Hello. I own a IBM thinkpad 600 model 2645. I currently have a 20 gig hard drive in there now. I was wanting to upgrade toa 40 gig drive. Does anybody happend to know the drive capcity of this thinkpad 600. Would a larger driver other then a 20gig be compatiable and work in it. Has anybody ever done this or have thinkpad 600 with a larger drive ? Do you think I would need to do a bios upgrade to put in a 40 ? Any help would be greatly appreiated. Thanks much appreciated !

Gary

gazingwa · #2 Post by **gazingwa** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:36 am

It will work just fine, I had a gb 40GNX(great drive by the way, still use it in my x20) in my 570e(same idea)

henpike · #3 Post by **henpike** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:53 am

gazingwa wrote:It will work just fine, I had a gb 40GNX(great drive by the way, still use it in my x20) in my 570e(same idea)

Thanks for replying. Will I need to do a Bios update do you think ?

JHEM · #4 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:49 pm

henpike wrote:Thanks for replying. Will I need to do a Bios update do you think ?

More than likely on that old of a machine. What's the version of your current BIOS?

Regards,

James

gazingwa · #5 Post by **gazingwa** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:37 pm

You shouldn't but I have seen weirder things. Couldn't hurt.

henpike · #6 Post by **henpike** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:08 pm

JHEM wrote:
henpike wrote:Thanks for replying. Will I need to do a Bios update do you think ?
More than likely on that old of a machine. What's the version of your current BIOS?

Regards,

James

James, the current bios version 1.06 IBET37WW 12/17/98 How involved is it to update the bios. Do I need a floppy ? If you can give me guidlines and or instructions that would much appereciated. Thanks !

Gary

JHEM · #7 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:16 pm

Here's the link to the latest BIOS: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... SHY-3VRJPK but you should really post your entire model number (2645-xxx) so that we're certain of what exact model 600 you have.

Yes, you need a floppy drive and you also need a working battery.

Read the directions on the above URL, they're pretty self explanatory, but don't be afraid to ask for help.

Regards,

James

henpike · #8 Post by **henpike** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:26 pm

James entire model number is 264551u78kb443

JHEM · #9 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:30 pm

The URL I posted is the correct BIOS for your machine.

I have the same model 51U here and I've had 60GB and 80GB hard drives in it with no problems.

Regards,

James

wa8yxm · #10 Post by **wa8yxm** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:46 pm

My laptop is a 600E, when the Hard Drive started giving me warnings that it might just be on it's last I called Bill Marrow (Our esteemed host here) and asked, He suggested 60 Gig would fit....... HE also suggested Acronis True Image 8.0

I got the software, created an image of the drive and 2 weeks later when total drive failure happened headed to a local computer store.

Picked up a 60 Gig Samsung in a re-label box, And the man asked me if I'd ever taken the hard drive out of a laptop before (I pull old hard drive out of pocket, I mean this is a thinkpad folks, it's designed for easy drive replacement, very well designed, You need two tools, one nickle to remove the retaining screw on the bottom and a small phillips head screwdriver to remove the drive from it's carrier and install the new drive therein)

Fired up MAXBLAST to partition and format, (Takes about 2 minutes, I once purchased a Maxtor drive so I have Max Blast) and fired up ACRONIS from the Rescue CD I made with the desktop computer

ONe hour and a few minutes later I had a working computer with LOTS of drive space... Took 20 gig away for the "Acronis Secure Zone) and still had 20 GIg free on the drive.

You may sign me "Happy Camper"

40 Gig should be no problem...Mine took 60 2645-8AU latest bios

shadynet · #11 Post by **shadynet** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 5:12 pm

Hello
I own a Thinkpad 600 Model 2545-450 (poor baby is getting soldered by my tech friends in school) which has an 80 gig hard drive made by Hitachi built in and it runs perfectly. I have the IBET54WW BIOS on it which would be the newest one.

MsGeek-CatseyeLabs · #12 Post by **MsGeek-CatseyeLabs** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:31 am

The first partition on either a 600 series or 570 series needs to be under 8GB. If you want to dual boot, both boot partitions need to be under 8GB.

You will have a world of hurt (IE a drive that will not boot) if you ignore this requirement. It might boot the first time but you will be disappointed sometime in the future.

This limitation still exists in the most recent bioses.

Michelle

MadeInJapan · #13 Post by **MadeInJapan** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:53 am

What are you talking about Michelle? First partition under 8Gigs? I use my entire 40Gig HDD (that's a first partition, and only partion) and my computer (also 600E) has been booting fine for many many years. Maybe I'm not getting something here, but what you're saying sounds foreign to me. I have Windows 2000 on mine.

shadynet · #14 Post by **shadynet** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 1:36 pm

i have my 80GB as first partition with windows 2000 on a Thinkpad 600 without problems, i dont know if windows 98 needs 8gb as first partition but windows 2000 runs perfectly

Thinkpad 600 Hard drive capacity / Upgrade

Thinkpad 600 Hard drive capacity / Upgrade

entire model number

hard drives for a 600

8gb limit for first partition with newest BIOS...

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