DIY - Change out HD in T60 by newbie?

Hi all,
Can a complete newbie amateur change out a HD in a T60?
My 80 GB HD is full; I'd like a 250 (more space than I can use!)

I need detailed directions (what kind of HD specs do I need to look at? where can I get a good one cheap? Do I need special software to move everything from existing HD to new one? What else do I need?)

Thanks!

 

It's very easy to do. You take a panel off the side and slide the drive out. Swap the drive and put it back in. Replace panel. Consult the hardware maintenance manual on Lenovo's site. It will explain the procedure in detail. There are also videos on the site show how to do it as well.

Make sure you burn off the recovery discs if you haven't already so you'll have a way to put Windows on the new drive. Ghosting software like True Image works well too. Good Luck.

 

you need to clone (norton ghost or acronis) your existing drive to the new drive or do a clean install of your OS, search the clean install threads here for instructions, and the lenovo support pages have a pdf for your model with pictures and instructions on changing out the hd, utube might have some as well, and dont forget about the sata issue if you are running xp
good luck, its fun, terrifying and rewarding all at the same time lol

 

What is the SATA issue?

 

The SATA issue refers to doing a clean install of XP which it doesn't sound like you want to do. I might suggest getting a Seagate hard drive. If you do, you can get a free download of DiscWizard from Seagate's website. It is essentially True Image. It will allow you to make an image of your present drive and image it onto the new one. You will need an external drive to store the image. It works real slick. I use it myself.

 

Hi ZaZ,
Thanks for replying!

I've read the clean install threads a couple of months ago and got so nervous I ignored my HD issue for a couple of months! So I guess, that would be no, I'd rather not!

I have the Office Pro 2007 suite on my machine, so I don't want to lose the money I spent on that. I have all my data backed up externally, so that's not a problem.

I already own a huge Seagate External HD (about 2 years old), so I could figure out how to get the free DiscWizard program. That's great!

So, now I need to figure out if I can get a faster HD. The factory on is 80 GB 5400 rpm. How do i know if the system can handle a faster rpm drive?

Finally, what do i then do with the "old drive" - e-junk?

Thanks!

 

Rest assured, your T60 can handle a faster drive. The drive inside the notebook needs to be a Seagate for you to be able to use DiscWizard. They're selling the 250GB Seagate 7200.3 hard drive for around $150 on Pricegrabber. The 320GB goes for about $20 more.

How did you get Office? If it came with your ThinkPad, you should have gotten the discs.

You could probably sell the old drive for a few bucks. It probably doesn't have a lot of value. One option might be to buy a case for it and make it an external drive for backups, which you should always have.

 

I hope to be in the same situation soon (swapping out my t60 hard drive for a massive 250 or 320G one), and I have a follow up question: what is the best strategy for moving data from the old drive to the new one?

I understand that the OS will have to be installed from recovery CDs, but in terms of moving the ~60G of crud that's taking up my system at the moment: how do I copy it over? If I was building a desktop I would just put it on the other ATA bus and leave the case open; is there something similar I can do with my T60?

Or, should I get an external enclosure and just mount it via USB? If so, can anyone recommend a good enclosure to work with notebook harddrives?

Thanks!

 

use acronis, i like it better than ghost, it takes a "picture" of your data so the transfer is much quicker

 

Good suggestion, thanks. I'm curious, though, about how to physically connect two HD devices at once. How should I handle that?