How to clone a new drive for X201

My new X201 will arrive soon. It comes with a 320GB HDD but I'm going to install 120GB SSD right away. What is the proper way to clone the HDD with it's restore partition to the SSD?

 

Well, some SSDs come with cloning software. For instance, Intel SSDs pack the Intel Data Migration Software (which is based on Acronis). Or you can use Acronis itself.

 

I know you want to keep your restore partition but there is no way to clone the drive without having a misaligned drive that will run slow. The only way to have a correctly aligned ssd is to do a fresh install with Windows 7. You will lose your partition, there is no way around it, sorry to say.

 

Acronis will not correctly align an SSD, been there, done that...

 

There are also many free utilities that supposedly can do the job, but it have no idea how they perform.

I have to agree with dlai, though; I would go with clean install.

 

I second clean install idea. With SSD it's going be really fast anyway.

 

What brand and model of ssd do you have? Intel and Acronis just released a program referenced in this article:

Intel offers free Acronis clone utility to SSD customers - TechSpot News

that might work with cloning your drive. I don't know anyone who's tried it however. I tried using the full blown retail Acronis 2010 to clone my ssd's and in both cases the drives were not aligned correctly and ran super slow. After reading a ton of threads here, I decided to do a clean install and both drives are correctly aligned now and run great. That's my experience so yours might differ. Just trying to save you some time and frustration....

 

I'm getting OCZ Vertex 2, 120GB.
As far as I know, I can use of the ThinkPad utilities to create a restore DVD set. So I guess I should do that first. Than, I can use that media to "fresh install" Windows 7? Is that what you mean?
Does this restore-media-set will basically install EXACTLY the same software as the restore partition? If it will, it's even better that way as I wont loose space on SSD for the restore partition
Anyway, as I prefer to keep a copy of the original HDD anyway, I will clone it to another, smaller HDD (I have an old 30GB somewhere here ). Can I use the same utilities you mentioned to close original HDD to the 30GB HDD?

 

Using that media will install exactly the same software as the restore partition, but by clean install they mean backing up your Activation Key and using the Windows 7 DVD itself to install windows, without the unnecessary, resource consuming software included with the original restore media.

Of course, if you want all that extra stuff, you can just use the recovery disks to reinstall on your SSD. What do you mean by 30GB HDD, is that another hard drive you have? If so, then the same utilities should work.

 

Fatpolomanjr. yes, 30GB it's another HDD I have that I will use to keep the copy of an original HDD's restore partition. How do I backup the Serial number? And than, I just download a installation of Win7 Ultimate 64bit (thats what I got) from any Warez site and install it using that Serial #?

 

Yes, you would have to get an installation disk of Win7 Ultimate 64-bit somehow. To back up your Activation Key, google orev ABR activation backup. He has a guide explaining how to use it to restore you windows 7 activation without having to call Microsoft and telling them the key on the bottom of your laptop. Just make sure to download the ABR corresponding to Windows 7 (it is a Beta, but it worked for my Win 7 Home Premium and Acer 1830T laptop).

And again, that's only if you want to clean install. If you've never clean installed before it could be a challenging thing to do; there's a certain order that is good to follow, starting with the most important driver of all: the chipset driver. Then video, sound, touchpad, etc., etc. Be aware that when you clean install you need to get necessary drivers for all of your hardware. This is where your laptop manufacturer's driver support page, original hardware company's driver support page, and/or Microsoft Update comes in handy. It can take a while.

To take the easy way out, just use the recovery center / recovery disks.

 

Fatpolomajr, thanks for the info. Just to make it somewhere clearer: I have a very good knowladge about "clean installes" and how to do that things. I've been doing is since Dos 6.20 and Win 3.1 (and OS/2 and others....). For the last couple of years I took a step back from the IT thingy, so all the "activation" bull is something I'm not experienced with. So you say this "ABR" will "backup" the activation? Can't I just order a set of Win7 Ultimate CD from Lenovo, instead of getting an illegal copy?

 

When you run the ABR utility it backs up your OEM activation info currently on your laptop, Then after you clean install, you run it again and it puts the activation info back onto your laptop.

I don't think it's illegal to download a windows 7 DVD, but I know it is illegal to get a hacked version or to use a crack to activate it. If lenovo offers the original Win7 DVD without all of the bloatware then that works. Otherwise you might as well use the recovery media.

 

Not illegal!!! Illegal would be to download a key or something that can break the activation. Here, you will just use Lenovo's activation code, which is tied to your computer, and for you which you have paid when purchasing your laptop.

 

But a given license is good for ONE processor.

Here is an interesting fact about windows. Windows "knows" what hardware you are running on and will allow you change hardware to an extent and then, it won't fully boot. "fully boot" means I don't know what is cut off or how much change a scheme will torerate.

Renee