Any Hard Drive Compatible with ThinkPad T60?

I am considering replacing my hard drive for my T60 and was wondering if I should buy it from Lenovo(VERY expensive) or can I buy any brand from somewhere else?

Also, how would I go about adding the IBM customizations to it and the partitioned space? Would buying the Recovery CD be enough to bring the laptop back to normal or do I need to do something more?

Thanks in advance!

 

The best place to buy a hard drive is at newegg.com. They have VERY competitive prices and have excellent service.

As for the IBM customizations, if your T60 came with all the drivers, operating system CD, etc, then you should be able to get them all back. If you only have a recovery CD, i don't think that can do. You will need to purchase the operating software separately, then install all your drivers/IBM software

Hope this helps!

 

I've recently bought the following from NewEgg to install in my T60 (Machine type-Model: 2008ZMF):

Seagate Momentus 5400.3 ST9160821AS 160GB 5400 RPM Serial ATA150 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM (NewEgg Item#:N82E16822148184)

ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter Model 40Y8725 - Retail (Newegg Item#: Item#:N82E16834995069)

I swapped the primary hard drive with the Seagate, did an install of CentOS5 (aka RedHat Enterprise Linux 5) off CD and was able to boot and run without any problems.

I then swapped the original hard drive back, installed the Seagate in the "Hard Drive bay adapter", and was able to boot off it again without any issues.

I understand the concern with HD compatibility, as I previously had a T23 that didn't like the newer 7200rpm HDs at the time...

 

So I am going to need discs for the drivers and the operating system as well? Then would buying a hard drive from Lenovo itself be better? The cost is around $430, I am not sure, but I assume this includes all the drivers and the OS etc.

 

I had inquired about this myself earlier. From what I was told the security feature that is built into the Thinkpads may not be compatible with every drive out there, so best to get a good return policy just in case. newegg prices look great as does zipzoomfly.com but they'll charge you the restocking fee I think in case things go sour (which they may not, just a precaution.) As for the disks, well here is something you can do. Either call Lenovo and ask them to send you recovery disks (which they may or may not do unless you have a genuine problem, in my case I explained that my system would not do a restore from the partition because the Thinkvantage private disk function froze during making a partition and now it just won't boot) or go buy one of these cloning software kits that will backup your entire current hard drive and comes with an external case and usb cable to connect to the new drive, that way you can get an exact copy and then switch hard drives and use the old one in this hard case you got as an external extra HD. I can't remember the exact name of said kit. But you're right, the lenovo hard drives are really expensive. And will they come preformatted with you're T60's requirements? I am not sure, you might be in the same boat regarding the software part. So get those disks from Lenovo.

 

Thanks for that awesome response! As for the discs, which ones should I be asking for? Just the Recovery disc or the OS system as well as the drivers?

And I have an external hard drive, can I just copy the bad HD's info onto the external HD and then copy it back onto the new HD? Thats what you are saying right? Thanks for all the help.

 

Maybe this will help. As for what HDD to buy, I'd go for newegg and pick the best priced.

You can probably get some ghosting software but I'd stick with the fresh format but you might lose your hidden partitions. Everything else should be download able though.

 

You can create recovery discs from your current drive if it's working. You can then use those to load your new drive IF it works. I have had good luck replacing drives in IBMs in the past, but things have been changing so be sure to get a good return policy. A Fujitsu, Hitachi or Seagate drive is your best bet. Lenovo uses those brands at least.

If you need recovery CDs call lenovo and tell them you are trying to recover your system with the hidden partition and it won't work. You don't have to mention you are trying to recover it to the NEW drive. They will send you a set of discs. Still it's easier just to burn them yourself. Read up on Rescue and Recovery.

 

When using the restore disks on a clean drive, does it restore the hidden partitions? I remember some past OEM machines would use the hidden partitions along with the restore disks to restore your machine to factory defaults. I don't know if this is true for Lenovo.

 

That's a good question. I also would like to know if the Recovery CD's will restore the hidden partition on a new hard drive.

 

bump

<--- hates wasted space

 

Bump Bump.

 

Not sure if it does, the techie said it wouldn't but some here said it would on this forum. But when I used base software administrator and then tried to do a factory restore from the hidden partition it failed, I assume it doesn't exist there anymore. Weird thing is now that I have gotten my old backup from my external hard drive after I had previously used the recovery disks I think that it left the hidden partition space but there is nothing there now of course, its just wasted hard drive space now. I should try to get it back or maybe leave things well alone, not sure.